Scuba Diving in Massachusetts, United States

30 mapped sites

Best dive sites in Massachusetts, United States

Showing 25–30 of 30

Garbage Beach

Massachusetts · 1.5–21.3 m

Garbage Beach - officially Woods Hole Waterfront Park - is a well-known local dive in Woods Hole Harbor, Falmouth: a small lawn and pocket beach next to the Marine Biological Laboratory piers. Divers enter from the beach stairs or giant-stride off the second MBL pier into an eelgrass meadow with depths from about 5 ft near shore to as much as 70 ft at high tide farther out. The site must be dived around high slack water because Woods Hole's tidal currents are powerful, and harbor boat traffic is heavy in season. Visibility is typically modest, but the eelgrass and pilings hold abundant invertebrate and fish life.

IntermediateShore entry

Folly Cove

Massachusetts · 3–24.4 m

Folly Cove, straddling the Gloucester/Rockport line on Cape Ann's north shore, is widely regarded as the area's premier shore dive. A cobble beach between two long rocky points leads to a sheer west wall — the 'great wall' — carpeted with frilled anemones and dropping toward 70-80 ft at the left point, while the cove's sandy center holds skates and flounder. It is dived day and night year-round; the only real frictions are slippery low-tide rocks and resident-only parking at the landing.

IntermediateShore entry

White Horse Beach (Flag Rock)

Massachusetts · 1.5–9.1 m

White Horse Beach in the Manomet section of Plymouth is a shallow Cape Cod Bay shore dive centered on Flag Rock, the landmark boulder at the north end of the beach that has carried a painted American flag since 1941. The rocky bottom around the rock holds lobsters and typical New England bay life in roughly 10-30 ft of water - about 35 ft is possible only on the highest tides - making it a good beginner or cobweb-shakeout dive. Average visibility runs around 16-20 ft. Summer parking is the main challenge, with resident restrictions near the beach.

Shore entry

(Approximately 65 ft long steel fishing trawler) Wreck

Massachusetts · Up to 27.4 m

An unnamed steel stern trawler of roughly 65 ft rests on top of Stellwagen Bank in just over 30 m of water, inside the outbound Boston shipping lane that crosses the national marine sanctuary. Decades on the bottom have split the wreck apart: the pilothouse stands upright with helm, throttle, and radio gear still visible, while the hull and stern lie separately near a lone trawl net reel, with patches of blue and white paint still clinging to the steel. NOAA and a local dive charter installed a subsurface mooring here, and divers visiting the site are helping investigate the wreck's still-unsolved identity.

IntermediateBoat entry

Magnolia Rocks (Kettle Cove)

Massachusetts · 4.6–15.2 m

Magnolia Rocks (at Kettle Cove in Gloucester's Magnolia village) is a long granite ledge sloping into the sea, fronting a sand bottom strewn with medium and large boulders that run several hundred yards offshore. The boulder field shelters abundant lobsters and fish life, but the bare ledge entry is fully exposed to southerly swell and is considered one of the most hazardous entries/exits on Cape Ann — strictly a calm-day site for experienced divers.

AdvancedShore entry

Stage Fort Park

Massachusetts · 3–4.6 m

Stage Fort Park on Gloucester Harbor offers two protected training beaches — sandy Half Moon Beach and rocky Cressy Beach — with easy walk-in entries and depths of only 10-15 ft. The best diving follows the rock slopes east of Cressy or south of Half Moon, where lobsters and crabs hide among the boulders. With restrooms, a snack bar in season and big paid parking lots, it is one of the most facility-rich (if shallowest) dive venues on Cape Ann.

Shore entry