Scuba Diving in Michigan, United States

33 mapped sites

Best dive sites in Michigan, United States

Showing 25–33 of 33

Smith Moore Wreck (Alger Underwater Preserve)

Michigan · 21.3–32 m

The Smith Moore was a 230-ft wooden steam barge that sank in 1889 in the East Channel between Grand Island and the mainland after a collision, and is the deepest and best-known wreck in the Alger Underwater Preserve near Munising. She sits upright and largely intact in 70-105 ft of water with the deck reached around 80 ft. Divers find her boiler, engine, deck winch and broken mast, and open hatches allow trained divers a look into the holds.

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Grecian Wreck (Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary)

Michigan · 22.9–30.5 m

The Grecian, a 296-ft steel bulk freighter launched in 1891, sank in 1906 while under tow after a collision and now lies in roughly 100 ft of water in Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary off Alpena. The deck is reached around 75 ft, and divers can explore the triple-expansion engine, boiler, decks and cargo holds; the collapsing midships section can be disorienting. NOAA typically places mooring buoys on both bow and stern in season.

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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.

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Sandusky Wreck (Straits of Mackinac Shipwreck Preserve)

Michigan · 21.3–25.6 m

The Sandusky is an 1848 two-masted brig, the oldest known dived shipwreck in the Straits of Mackinac Shipwreck Preserve, lost with all hands in a September 1856 gale while carrying grain from Chicago to Buffalo. Her hull sits intact in about 85 ft of Lake Michigan five miles west of the Mackinac Bridge, slightly heeled to port, with deck depths around 70 ft. A replica scroll figurehead adorns the bow below the intact jib-boom, and the windlass, bilge pumps and centerboard winch remain in place; a seasonal mooring buoy marks the site.

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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 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.

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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

Chester A. Congdon Wreck

Michigan · 6.1–61 m

The Chester A. Congdon was a 532-ft steel bulk freighter that ran onto Congdon Shoal at Canoe Rocks in fog in November 1918 and broke apart, becoming one of Lake Superior's first million-dollar losses. The bow section with its intact pilothouse sits upright in roughly 70-110 ft on the south side of the reef, while the intact stern lies on the north side, with wreckage running from near-surface shoal depths down past recreational limits. It is one of the signature dives of Isle Royale National Park, marked by an NPS mooring buoy.

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Hennepin Wreck

Michigan · Up to 70 m

The Hennepin, built 1888 and converted in 1902 into the world's first self-unloading bulk carrier, foundered on August 18, 1927 about 15-20 miles off South Haven; her entire conveyor and A-frame unloading system is still in place. Located by Michigan Shipwreck Research Associates in 2006, she sits upright in about 230 ft of Lake Michigan within the Southwest Michigan Underwater Preserve. This is a serious trimix technical dive — cold, dark, and far offshore — but historically one of the most important wrecks in the Great Lakes.

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