United States Dive Sites — Page 40

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

Town Neck Beach (Sandwich Town Beach)

Massachusetts · 1.5–7.6 m

Sandwich Town Beach (Town Neck Beach) is the most popular shore dive on Cape Cod, a shallow Cape Cod Bay site with an unusual series of clay shelves and banks that lobsters burrow into, making it a favorite spot for new lobster divers. Depths run about 15-25 ft, with moon snails, crabs, sea robins, flounder, and tautog over the sand and clay. The site is diveable through the whole tide cycle but is easily blown out by north or east winds and offshore swells, which suspend the clay and create rough entries. A large paid lot sits just over the dunes from the water.

Shore entry

Townsends Inlet - Howard Preston Bahnsen Reef

New Jersey · 14.9–17.1 m

Artificial reef built from Northstar Marine Deck Barge (90'x26'x6') NJDEP deployment record: Ship, material: Northstar Marine Deck Barge (90'x26'x6'), deployed 2010.

Boat entry

Townsends Inlet - Strathmere Fishing and Environmental Club Reef

New Jersey · 14.9–15.8 m

Artificial reef built from Great Lakes Dredging and Dock Co Del River Dredge Rock NJDEP deployment record: Ship, material: strathmere barge 3, deployed 2019.

Boat entry

Train Wheels

California · 18–30 m

Train Wheels is a quirky Point Loma boat dive where two full-sized sets of train wheels on their axles rest in a rocky slot canyon at about 95-100 feet, possibly dumped as ship ballast or during a Navy exercise. The surrounding terrain sits within one of Southern California's largest and healthiest kelp forests, with prime diving between 60 and 80 feet along ledges and canyon walls. Reliable macro life - especially nudibranchs - and dramatic kelp seascapes make it a favorite with photographers; tidal currents are common.

IntermediateBoat entry

Triangle Reef

Virginia · 21–30 m

Triangle Reef (the 'Triangle Wrecks') is one of Virginia's signature offshore dive areas, a VMRC artificial reef 16.5 nautical miles from the Chesapeake Light Tower. Four Liberty ships stripped to their main decks and a Coast Guard cutter sit on a roughly 100 ft bottom with 28-32 ft of relief, drawing sea bass, tautog, spadefish, amberjack and seasonal pelagics. It is dived regularly by Virginia Beach charters and is a premier spearfishing destination.

AdvancedBoat entry

Triumph Reef

Florida · —

Triumph Reef is a shallow patch reef on the outer reef line at the southeastern edge of Biscayne National Park, north of Pacific Reef Light. Like the park's other named outer reefs (Long, Ajax, Pacific), it is boat-access only and protected under National Park rules, with healthy hard corals, sea fans and abundant reef fish in clear, warm water. Its shallow crown suits snorkelers while the surrounding slopes give easy novice scuba profiles.

Boat entry

Troupe Creek

Georgia · Up to 3 m

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

Boat entry

Troy Spring

Florida · 1.2–21.3 m

Troy Spring is a first-magnitude spring on the Suwannee River in Troy Spring State Park, with a clear bowl dropping to about 70 ft — one of the deepest open-water spring dives in Florida that requires no cavern certification. In the shallow spring run lie the ribs of the Madison, a Confederate sidewheel steamboat scuttled in 1863 to keep it from Union capture. Diving is open-water only: certified divers with a buddy, no lights and no cave penetration.

Shore entry

Tug Mars Wreck

Massachusetts · 29–38 m

The Mars, a 117-ft iron steam tug built in 1890 by J.H. Dialogue & Sons, sank on 13 September 1942 after the coastal tanker Bidwell sheared off her bow in a collision east of Manomet Point, Plymouth. She rests upright and largely intact on a hard clay bottom in 95-125 feet of water, with the pilothouse lying on the bottom off her starboard side. The site is a BUAR exempted wreck open to recreational divers without a permit.

AdvancedBoat entry

Tug Ocean Wind

Florida · Up to 25.3 m

Artificial reef built from 87' X 25' X 31' Steel Tugboat, the "Ocean Wind"

IntermediateBoat entry

Tugboat "Zuess"

Florida · Up to 32.6 m

Artificial reef built from Tugboat, the "Zuess", 2nd of 2 loads

AdvancedBoat entry

Turkey Ridge Dive Site (Yokum Quarry)

Iowa · 1.5–10.7 m

A small flooded limestone quarry in the Turkey Ridge Wildlife Area southwest of Janesville, north of Cedar Falls, managed as a public dive site. It has scuba staging platforms on shore, an underwater training platform at about 17 ft, and DNR-sunk fish cribs. Maximum depth is roughly 31-35 ft with average visibility of 16-20 ft.

Shore entry

Turquoise Lake

Colorado · 6.1–30.5 m

A 1,780-acre mountain reservoir near Leadville at roughly 9,900 feet, making it one of the highest commonly dived lakes in the United States. Clear, very cold water offers around 20 feet of visibility over depths of 20-100 feet, with boulder fields and submerged forest along the shores. The extreme altitude makes specialized altitude-diving planning essential; air fills are available in Leadville.

AdvancedShore + boat

Twelve Mile Reef

New York · 37.5–43.6 m

Twelve Mile Reef (the '12 Mile Reef') is an 850-acre NYSDEC artificial reef in the Atlantic Ocean about 12 nautical miles from Moriches and Shinnecock Inlets, in 123-143 ft of water. It holds two vessels, 16 steel center-beam railcars, rock and ECOncrete and is referenced by Long Island wreck divers, but its depth places it at or beyond recreational limits—an expert/technical boat dive. Black sea bass, tautog and scup populate the structure; visibility is variable.

ExpertBoat entry

Twin Lakes Scuba Park

Texas · 0–15.2 m

A 31-acre aquifer-fed lake in Manvel, about 20 minutes south of downtown Houston, run as an RV resort and scuba training park. Sunken attractions include several fishing boats, a school bus, a jet ski and an Airstream trailer, with shallow platforms used heavily for open-water classes. Visibility averages 10-20 ft, dropping below 30 ft of depth.

Shore entry

Two Step (Honaunau Bay)

Hawaii · 3–30.5 m

The Big Island's most famous shore dive, named for the natural two-step lava ledge entry beside the Honaunau boat ramp, next to Pu'uhonua o Honaunau (Place of Refuge) National Historical Park. A shallow coral shelf drops quickly down a steep slope to sand at about 100 ft, with superb hard coral and frequent spinner dolphins in the bay. Beginner-friendly in the shallows but easy to get deep.

AdvancedShore entry

Tygart Lake - Henderson Rocks

West Virginia · —

Tygart Lake, a 1,750-acre Corps reservoir near Grafton in north-central West Virginia, reaches depths of about 130 ft and is one of the state's most-dived lakes. The best-known site is Henderson Rocks, a line of underwater cliffs running parallel to shore off the Pleasant Creek boat ramp: about 20 ft from shore, in 8 ft of water, the bottom drops vertically over the cliff face. Dive-club guides describe it as an easy wade-in wall dive.

IntermediateShore entry

U-1105

Virginia · 19.8–27.7 m

U-1105 'Black Panther' is a Type VIIC/41 U-boat fitted with experimental synthetic rubber anti-sonar skin, surrendered in 1945 and scuttled by the US Navy in 1949 in the Potomac River off Piney Point, Maryland. It sits upright in about 91 ft of dark river water with the conning tower at ~65 ft and has been Maryland's first Historic Shipwreck Preserve since 1995. It is an advanced low-visibility dive accessed by private boat via a seasonal mooring buoy; the wreck and artifacts are fully protected.

AdvancedBoat entry

U-352 (wreck)

North Carolina · 27.4–35.1 m

U-352, a Type VIIC U-boat sunk by US Coast Guard cutter Icarus on 9 May 1942, is the signature wreck of North Carolina's Graveyard of the Atlantic. The intact hull lists about 45 degrees to starboard in 110-115 ft of water 26 miles south of Morehead City, with the conning tower rising to about 90 ft. Gulf Stream water often delivers tropical visibility, and the site is dived several times a week in season. It is a war grave for 15 German sailors and must not be penetrated or disturbed.

AdvancedBoat entry

U-576 (wreck)

North Carolina · Up to 219.8 m

U-576, a Type VIIC U-boat, was lost with all 45 hands on 15 July 1942 in a battle with convoy KS-520, minutes after sinking the freighter Bluefields, which lies only ~220 m away. The pair was located by NOAA in 2014 about 30 miles off Cape Hatteras at a depth of 721 ft (220 m) and surveyed by crewed submersible in 2016. The site is a protected German war grave at submersible-only depth and is not a scuba diving site.

ExpertBoat entry

U-701 (wreck)

North Carolina · 30.5–36.6 m

U-701, the Type VIIC U-boat that mined the Chesapeake approaches and sank the tanker William Rockefeller, was bombed by an Army A-29 Hudson on 7 July 1942 off Diamond Shoals. The wreck sits partially buried in sand in 110-120 ft of water about 20 nautical miles east of Cape Hatteras, where colliding currents make conditions notoriously changeable. Rediscovered by diver Uwe Lovas in 1989, it is an advanced, rarely dived German war grave - not the deep technical dive it is sometimes assumed to be.

AdvancedBoat entry

U-85 (wreck)

North Carolina · 27.4–33.5 m

U-85, a Type VIIB U-boat sunk by USS Roper on 14 April 1942, was the first German submarine lost off the US East Coast in WWII. The largely intact hull lies on its starboard side in about 90-110 ft of water 14 miles east of Oregon Inlet on the Outer Banks, with the four forward torpedo tubes exposed. It is a German war grave for the 46 crew lost and one of the most historic recreational wreck dives on the East Coast.

AdvancedBoat entry

U-853 (wreck)

Rhode Island · 30.5–39.6 m

A German Type IXC/40 U-boat sunk by US Navy and Coast Guard depth charges on May 6, 1945 - one day before Germany's surrender - after it torpedoed the collier Black Point off Point Judith. The submarine lies in about 130 feet of water roughly 7 miles east of Block Island and is one of southern New England's most famous boat dives, with the conning tower, periscope and depth-charge blast holes visible. It is a war grave: penetration is hazardous and removing artifacts is illegal.

ExpertBoat entry

U-869 (wreck)

New Jersey · 60–73 m

U-869 is a WWII German Type IXC/40 U-boat lying in about 230-240 ft of water roughly 60 miles east of Point Pleasant, New Jersey. Discovered in 1991 by a team led by Bill Nagle and John Chatterton and finally identified in 1997, the mystery wreck ('U-Who') was made famous by the book Shadow Divers; three divers died exploring it before identification. It remains one of the US East Coast's premier expedition-level technical wreck dives - trimix decompression diving for experienced teams only.

ExpertBoat entry