United States Dive Sites — Page 15

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

Del-Jerseyland Inshore Distribution - Gregory Pool

Delaware · 31–40 m

The Gregory Poole was a WWII Admirable-class minesweeper (AM-215) later converted to a menhaden fishing vessel, sunk on the tri-state DelJerseyLand artificial reef roughly 26 nautical miles from Indian River Inlet. The wreck rests on a 121-131 ft bottom near the reef's other vessels, including the destroyer USS Arthur W. Radford, and is a staple advanced wreck dive for Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey charters.

AdvancedBoat entry

Deliverance Tugboat

Florida · Up to 25.3 m

The Tug Deliverance was scuttled as a public artificial reef in the Escambia County reef zone off Pensacola Beach and lies on sand in about 83 feet of water, only a few hundred yards from the Soule Barge. Storms have destroyed her midships section, leaving the engine standing exposed between the more intact bow and stern. The broken hull is rich in encrusting growth and shelters snapper, grouper and clouds of baitfish.

IntermediateBoat entry

Devil's Den

Florida · 4.6–16.5 m

Devil's Den is a privately owned prehistoric spring inside a collapsed karst cavern near Williston, entered by a wooden staircase through a chimney in the cave roof. The 120-ft-wide pool stays 72 F year-round, with average depths of 20-35 ft and a maximum around 54 ft depending on rainfall; ancient rock formations and fossil beds dating back 33 million years line the walls. Open Water certification is sufficient for the open cavern, making it one of Florida's most accessible 'cave-like' dives.

Shore entry

Dierkes Lake

Idaho · 2–7.6 m

A small spring-fed lake of about 5 acres adjacent to Shoshone Falls Park near Twin Falls, widely used by southern Idaho dive shops for open-water training. The lake has an average depth around 21 to 25 feet with submerged platforms and obstacles set up for instruction. Visibility typically runs 5 to 15 feet, and the easy shore access makes it one of the most dive-friendly spots in the state.

Shore entry

Dive Land Park

Alabama · 4.6–45.7 m

A spring-fed flooded quarry dive park near Glencoe in northeast Alabama, between Gadsden and Anniston off US-431. Depths run from about 15 to 150 ft with visibility of 20-70 ft, a boulder-strewn bottom, sunken boats, and a semi trailer positioned over the cold spring. The park operates seasonally and caters to open-water training, certified divers, and snorkelers in a quiet picnic-friendly setting.

IntermediateShore entry

Diver's Cove

California · 3–12.2 m

Small, protected sandy cove off Cliff Drive in Laguna Beach with a series of mini-reefs beginning almost immediately offshore in 10-35 ft of water. It is one of Orange County's most heavily used open-water training beaches and can be combined with adjacent Fisherman's Cove as a loop dive. The cove sits inside the no-take Laguna Beach State Marine Reserve.

Shore entry

Diving Area

California · 4.6–24.4 m

The designated diving area of Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, comprising Whalers Cove and Bluefish Cove south of Carmel — widely regarded as the best diving in the Monterey area. The reserve has been fully protected for decades, so fish are large and unafraid, kelp forests are pristine, and access is capped at ten buddy teams per day via a State Parks reservation system. Entry is an easy concrete boat ramp into sheltered Whalers Cove (15-80 ft), with more dramatic walls and pinnacles in Bluefish Cove reachable by long swim, kayak, or small boat.

IntermediateShore entry

Dixie Arrow

North Carolina · 18–27 m

The Dixie Arrow was a 468-ft American tanker torpedoed by U-71 on 26 March 1942 about 15 miles south of Hatteras Inlet, lost with 11 of her 33 crew. She rests upright on her keel in about 90 ft of water, with portions of the bow rising 30 ft off the sand and the boilers and triple-expansion steam engine standing at the stern. The wreck is a NOAA-documented WWII battlefield site and hosts abundant marine life, including resident sand tiger sharks.

IntermediateBoat entry

Doll’s Lump/Hackett’s Point

Maryland · Up to 7.9 m

Artificial reef built from Reefballs, concrete pipe

Boat entry

Dominion Reef at the Gooses

Maryland · Up to 10.1 m

Artificial reef built from Concrete rubble, shell

Boat entry

Doug Mellichamp Jr. Reef

South Carolina · Up to 32 m

Artificial reef built from Approximate Center of Reef

AdvancedBoat entry

Dry Tortugas National Park

Florida · 1–21.3 m

Dry Tortugas National Park protects seven remote islands and some of the most pristine coral reef in the continental U.S., 70 miles west of Key West around historic Fort Jefferson. Access is only by ferry, seaplane, or boat; snorkelers can shore-enter along Garden Key's moat wall and beaches, while scuba diving — including the popular Windjammer (Avanti) wreck in about 20 ft off Loggerhead Key — requires a private vessel or the park's approved dive charter since tanks are banned on the ferry and seaplane. Expect superb visibility, abundant sea turtles (the park's namesake), and large grouper in a lightly fished ecosystem.

Shore + boat

Duane

Florida · Up to 36 m

Artificial reef built from 327' USCG Cutter, the "Duane", Upright Deck is 90 feet deep

AdvancedBoat entry

Dublin Lake

New Hampshire · 0–30.5 m

A clear 240-acre glacial lake at about 1,480 feet elevation beneath Mount Monadnock, popular with regional divers and training classes. Shore access points along the northeastern shore off Route 101 lead to a bottom that slopes steeply to about 60 feet past glacial boulder fields before flattening into silt that reaches 90-110 feet. Visibility averages over 30 feet, unusually good for a New England lake; altitude diving procedures apply.

IntermediateShore entry

Dunedin Reef

Florida · Up to 8.5 m

Artificial reef built from 22 pieces of Concrete Culverts and Rubble

Boat entry

Dyer Cove (Two Lights)

Maine · 1.5–12.2 m

The cove below the Cape Elizabeth 'Two Lights' lighthouses, entered from a clear sand beach that gives way to rocky bottom and ledge slopes. The better dive follows the left-hand ledge toward the cove mouth where the terrain takes on an open-ocean feel; up to about 40 feet of depth is available in the bottom of the cove at high tide. Overhangs hide anemones, and a torpedo ray has been recorded here.

Shore entry

Eagle

Florida · Up to 33.5 m

Artificial reef built from 287' Freighter, the "Eagle", Originally the "Aaron K", on Side

AdvancedBoat entry

Eagle's Nest

Florida · 21.3–94.5 m

Eagle's Nest is a remote sinkhole in the Chassahowitzka Wildlife Management Area near Weeki Wachee, often called the 'Mount Everest of cave diving.' An unassuming pond drops through a narrow chute into an enormous ballroom and deep upstream/downstream tunnels mapped to 310 ft. It is acclaimed as one of the deadliest cave-diving sites in the world, with more than ten fatalities since 1981, and is restricted to fully cave-certified divers who register with FWC for each dive.

ExpertShore entry

Eagle's Nest Reef

South Carolina · Up to 21 m

Artificial reef built from Approximate Center of Reef

IntermediateBoat entry

East Flower Garden Bank (Flower Garden Banks NMS)

Texas · 16.8–39.6 m

A salt-dome-capped coral bank about 100 miles off the Texas coast in the Gulf of Mexico, part of Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary and home to some of the healthiest coral reef in the western Atlantic region. The reef cap sits at roughly 55-90 ft with massive boulder star and brain coral heads, and is reached by overnight liveaboard charters out of Freeport/Galveston using sanctuary mooring buoys. Famous for mass coral spawning about a week after the August full moon and seasonal manta and whale shark encounters.

AdvancedBoat entry

East Ocean View Reef

Virginia · Up to 8.2 m

Artificial reef built from concrete

Boat entry

Eber Ward Wreck (Straits of Mackinac Shipwreck Preserve)

Michigan · Up to 44.2 m

The Eber Ward was a 213-ft wooden steamer built in 1888 that was holed by ice and sank in April 1909 about five miles west of where the Mackinac Bridge now stands. She sits upright and intact in roughly 145 ft of Lake Michigan with her cabin and wheel in place, the fatal ice gash visible in the bow, and her yawl boat flattened off the stern. Depth puts this dive at the edge of recreational limits, and it is one of the signature advanced/technical dives of the Straits of Mackinac Shipwreck Preserve, with two seasonal moorings.

ExpertBoat entry

Edisto 60' Reef

South Carolina · Up to 18 m

Artificial reef built from Cooper River Bridge rubble

Boat entry

Edisto Offshore Reef

South Carolina · Up to 24.1 m

Artificial reef built from Cooper River Bridge rubble

IntermediateBoat entry