United States Dive Sites — Page 20

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

Herring Cove Beach

Massachusetts · 3–6.1 m

Herring Cove Beach in Provincetown, part of the Cape Cod National Seashore, is a calm west-facing shore dive over a gently sloping sand bottom bordered by rocky stretches and patches of eelgrass, with depths of roughly 10-20 ft close to shore. It is best known for snorkeling and easy diving on bottom dwellers like crabs, lobsters, flounder, and sea robins, and locals rate it as one of the best night dive spots in the area. Strong tidal currents run offshore toward Race Point, so divers should stay within the cove. Visibility of 30-40 ft is possible around slack high tide.

Shore entry

Hershey Lake

Nebraska · —

A small, shallow sandpit reservoir west of North Platte that is a favorite of new divers and the training lake for the local dive shop. The lake holds plentiful panfish plus sunken ornaments and statues placed for divers. Entry is from a dock on the west side or by shore diving the north side.

Shore entry

Hesper Wreck

Minnesota · 5–15 m

The Hesper was a 250-foot wooden bulk freighter that sank in a May 1905 storm and now lies broken alongside the west breakwater of Silver Bay's marina in roughly 15-50 feet of water. Two main hull sections with scattered timbers, framing and machinery make it one of Minnesota's most accessible Lake Superior wrecks, divable from shore off the breakwall or from a boat using the GLSPS mooring. Its shallow depth and easy navigation make it a favorite first Lake Superior wreck, provided divers are equipped for very cold fresh water.

Shore + boat

Hetty Taylor shipwreck

Wisconsin · Up to 32 m

The schooner Hetty Taylor (1874) capsized in a squall and sits on a sandy bottom in 105 ft of water five miles east of Sheboygan, within the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary. Summer water temperatures run 40-60°F with visibility from 10 to 50 ft. The Wisconsin Historical Society installs a seasonal mooring buoy; the dive is recommended for advanced divers.

AdvancedBoat entry

Higgins Lake (Northwest Shore / State Park Area)

Michigan · 0–16.8 m

Higgins Lake in Roscommon County is regularly cited as one of Michigan's clearest inland lakes and a popular freshwater shore dive, with the most-dived area off the northwest shore near the boat launch by North Higgins Lake State Park. Divers cross a long shallow sand flat to a drop-off and find several small sunken boats in roughly 40-55 ft of water, with abundant panfish and usually very good visibility. It is a long surface walk/swim, and the nearest air fills are about an hour away, so divers bring filled tanks.

Shore entry

High Point

Georgia · Up to 3 m

High Point is a dive site located in United States. Depths run to roughly 3 m. The site is reached by boat.

Boat entry

Hilton Head Reef

South Carolina · Up to 17.1 m

Artificial reef built from Approximate Center of Reef

Boat entry

Hl Site - Huggins

Florida · Up to 27.4 m

Artificial reef built from 150' Steel Freighter, the "Huggins"

IntermediateBoat entry

HMCS Yukon

California · 18–32 m

The HMCS Yukon is a 366-foot, six-deck Canadian Mackenzie-class destroyer escort prepared by the San Diego Oceans Foundation and scuttled in July 2000 about two miles off Mission Beach as the centerpiece of Wreck Alley. She sank prematurely the night before her planned sinking and settled on her port side in about 100 feet of water, with the hull starting around 60 feet. Dozens of access holes were cut so a diver is never far from an exit, but the sideways orientation makes navigation disorienting and penetration is for trained wreck divers only. Heavily colonized by white Metridium anemones and strawberry anemones, it is widely considered the signature wreck dive of the US West Coast.

AdvancedBoat entry

HMS Culloden Wreck

New York · 4.6–7.6 m

The HMS Culloden, a British 74-gun warship, ran aground and was burned to the waterline off what is now Culloden Point near Montauk on January 24, 1781. In about 15-25 ft of water in Fort Pond Bay, it became New York's first designated underwater preserve and has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1979. It is a shallow shore dive, though notoriously hard to locate—usually only rust stains and scattered hull remain visible; artifact removal is prohibited.

IntermediateShore entry

Hog Heaven

Florida · Up to 21 m

Artificial reef built from 170' X 70' X 11' Derelict Barge, Light House Towers, Dredge Pipe

IntermediateBoat entry

Holland Point

Maryland · Up to 10.1 m

Artificial reef built from Concrete rubble, monotubes

Boat entry

Hollicutt’s Noose

Maryland · Up to 6.1 m

Artificial reef built from Rubble, o ster shell, marl,concrete cubes, tire units

Boat entry

Home Wreck

Wisconsin · Up to 50 m

The two-masted schooner Home (built 1843) sank after colliding with the schooner Fiske on October 17, 1858, and lies upright and mostly intact in about 165 ft of water off Centerville, between Manitowoc and Sheboygan. Found by divers in 1981, it is the second-oldest shipwreck located in Wisconsin waters; the recovered foremast is displayed at Rogers Street Fishing Village in Two Rivers. A cold, deep technical dive within the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast NMS.

ExpertBoat entry

Homestead Crater

Utah · 0–19.8 m

A 55-foot-tall beehive-shaped limestone dome in Midway enclosing a geothermal spring naturally heated to 90-96 F year-round, making it the only warm scuba destination in the continental US interior. Divers enter through a tunnel cut into the rock and descend from a deck to platforms in the hourglass-shaped shaft, with mounted lights at roughly 20 and 40 feet. The hole is about 65 feet deep but divers are asked to stay above 45 feet to avoid stirring the silt bottom. It is a privately operated, reservation-only facility at the Homestead resort.

Shore entry

Honolua Bay

Hawaii · 3–18.3 m

A Marine Life Conservation District on West Maui's north tip with dense coral gardens along both sides of the bay in 10-40 ft, a sand channel down the middle sloping to ~60 ft at the mouth. Decades of protection mean rich fish life and frequent turtles. Divable in summer; in winter it transforms into one of Hawaii's most famous surf breaks.

Shore + boat

Hoover Dam Aggregate Plant (Lake Mead)

Nevada · 21.3–30.5 m

The submerged remains of the aggregate washing and classification plant that processed more than 6.5 million tons of sand and gravel for Hoover Dam's concrete, flooded when Lake Mead filled. The site spreads over roughly 8 acres of Boulder Basin and includes train tracks, a track hopper, tunnels, underground rooms and massive sorted aggregate piles. Local operators dive it as two separate sites (the Track Hopper and the Aggregate Piles) at about 70-100 ft, normally by boat charter; winter visibility can exceed 100 ft.

AdvancedBoat entry

Horsetooth Reservoir - Sunrise Beach

Colorado · 1.5–15.2 m

Sunrise Beach is the commonly used shore-entry dive area on Horsetooth Reservoir, the long foothills lake immediately west of Fort Collins. A gradual slope, silty bottom, submerged timber and rock make it a workhorse site for checkouts, refreshers and cold-water practice, with typical maximum dive depths around 50 feet and 5-10 ft visibility. As at Carter Lake, divers must notify Larimer County Natural Resources 24 hours before diving.

Shore entry

HubLine Boston Harbor

Massachusetts · Up to 7.9 m

Artificial reef built from Rocks

Boat entry

Hunting Island Reef (6HI)

South Carolina · Up to 15.8 m

Artificial reef built from Approximate Center of Reef

Boat entry

Huntington Beach A Center

California · Up to 18.3 m

Artificial reef built from Quarry Rock

IntermediateBoat entry

Huntington Beach B Center

California · Up to 18.3 m

Artificial reef built from Quarry Rock

IntermediateBoat entry

Huntington Beach C Center

California · Up to 18.3 m

Artificial reef built from Quarry Rock

IntermediateBoat entry

Huntington/Oyster Bay

New York · 14.3–16.2 m

The Huntington/Oyster Bay Reef is a 50-acre NYSDEC artificial reef in Long Island Sound, about 1.16 nautical miles northeast of Lloyd Point, in 47-53 ft of water. Built from concrete buoy sinkers, it is a lower-relief Sound reef that attracts tautog, black sea bass and scup. Visibility is typically 10-20 ft and varies with tide, making it an intermediate boat dive.

IntermediateBoat entry