Michigan, United States Dive Sites — Page 2

Continued from the Michigan, United States dive sites guide, which covers seasonality and planning details.

SS America Wreck

Michigan · 0.6–26 m

The package freighter America ran onto a reef in the North Gap of Washington Harbor in June 1928 and slid down the slope, where she lies on an incline with her bow just 2-4 ft below the surface and her stern at about 85 ft. The midship and stern remain intact, including the engine room, galley, and numerous passenger cabins, making her the most dived and most beloved wreck at Isle Royale — visible even to ferry passengers passing overhead. Her sheltered location makes her divable in most weather.

IntermediateBoat entry

SS Cayuga Wreck

Michigan · 20.4–31.1 m

The Cayuga, one of five early steel sister-ship steamers, sank in 25 minutes on May 10, 1895 after the wooden steamer Joseph L. Hurd struck her starboard side in dense fog near Ile Aux Galets, west of the Straits of Mackinac. She lies in 67-102 ft with a slight port list: the bow is broken off and rotated while the relatively intact stern allows limited penetration, and pontoons from failed 1890s salvage attempts still litter the site. Because she sits on the shipping lane just outside the preserve boundary, careful boat handling and surface protocol are essential.

AdvancedBoat entry

SS Cumberland Wreck

Michigan · 6.1–24.4 m

The Cumberland was a wooden side-wheel passenger steamer that grounded on Rock of Ages Reef at Isle Royale's western tip in July 1877 and broke up. Large sections of her wooden hull, her huge side-wheel, and a boiler lie in 20-80 ft, intermingled with wreckage of the steel freighter Henry Chisholm, which struck the same reef 21 years later. The two-wrecks-in-one site is a fascinating archaeology dive at moderate depth, though the reef is fully exposed to Lake Superior weather.

IntermediateBoat entry

SS Emperor Wreck

Michigan · 7.6–53.3 m

The Emperor, a 525-ft Canadian bulk freighter, struck Canoe Rocks on June 4, 1947 while her exhausted first mate had the watch, sinking in under an hour with the loss of twelve crew. The wreck is essentially intact apart from the damaged bow area, sloping from about 25 ft at the bow down to 175 ft at the stern, where the engine room and crew quarters draw experienced deep divers. With NPS moorings on both sections, she is widely regarded as the signature wreck dive of Isle Royale alongside the America.

AdvancedBoat entry

SS George M. Cox Wreck (ex-Puritan)

Michigan · 4.6–30.5 m

Built in 1901 as the passenger steamer Puritan (serving in WWI as USS Puritan), this elegant ship was refitted and renamed George M. Cox in 1933 — then ran hard onto Rock of Ages Reef at 17 knots on May 27, 1933, on her first voyage under the new name; all 125 aboard were rescued by the lighthouse keeper. Today her twisted hull lies on the reef's east side in 15-100 ft, boilers at 40 ft under the NPS mooring, with the stern rolling inverted down to 100 ft and luggage carts, sinks, and her propeller shaft still visible. A bow debris field scatters across the shallow shoal in 10-20 ft, making this a rich two-part dive at Isle Royale's western tip.

IntermediateBoat entry

SS Henry Chisholm Wreck

Michigan · 6.1–45.7 m

The Henry Chisholm, a big wooden bulk freighter of 1880, ran onto Rock of Ages Reef in October 1898 — the same reef that claimed the Cumberland in 1877 — and her wreckage lies intermingled with the older steamer's in 20-80 ft of water. The highlight is her monstrous double-compound steam engine with drive shaft and propeller, which sits upright at the base of the rocky wall in about 150 ft, rising to roughly 110 ft. The combination of shallow archaeology and a dramatic deep engine dive makes this one of Isle Royale's classic sites.

AdvancedBoat entry

SS Kamloops Wreck

Michigan · 53–79 m

The Kamloops, a Canada Steamship Lines package freighter, vanished with all 22 hands in a December 1927 storm and was not found until 1977, lying on her starboard side off Twelve O'Clock Point in roughly 175 to 260+ ft of near-freezing water. She is astonishingly intact and undisturbed — cargo still in her holds and crew remains aboard, including the well-preserved body divers call 'Grandpa' in the engine room — making her both Isle Royale's ultimate technical dive and a de facto gravesite that must be treated with respect. Only fully qualified trimix/CCR divers on expedition charters should attempt her, and several divers have died here.

ExpertBoat entry

SS Monarch Wreck

Michigan · 3–24.4 m

The Monarch was a heavily built Canadian wooden package freighter that smashed into The Palisades cliffs near Blake Point in a December 1906 snowstorm; most of her crew escaped to the ice-covered rocks. Large sections of her massively timbered hull lie scattered down the slope in roughly 10-80 ft of water beneath the cliff face, with artifacts like her famous bathtub photographed by NPS divers. A moderate-depth but exposed dive at the wild northeastern tip of Isle Royale — not to be confused with the tug Monarch in the St. Clair River.

IntermediateBoat entry

SS Pewabic Wreck

Michigan · 47–51 m

The sidewheel steamer Pewabic sank within minutes on August 9, 1865 after turning into the path of her sister ship Meteor off Thunder Bay, killing between 75 and 100 people — one of the Great Lakes' worst disasters. Salvagers recovered most of her copper cargo by 1917, wrecking the cabins but leaving the 200-ft hull upright and largely intact with its deck at 155 ft and the bottom at about 165 ft. Today she is a classic entry-level technical dive in the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, sobering both for her history and for the divers lost on her over the years.

ExpertBoat entry