United States Dive Sites — Page 43

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

Willow Springs Park (Willow Springs Quarry)

Pennsylvania · 3–16.8 m

A spring-fed former quarry in Richland, PA, run as a commercial swim and dive park and one of the busiest training sites in the region since Dutch Springs closed. Sunken attractions include a small plane, school bus, railroad caboose, Volkswagens, a crane, a cabin cruiser and the 72 ft boat 'Quest'. Depths average 30-40 ft with a maximum around 55 ft; visibility averages 16-20 ft and water below the thermocline stays cold (around 49 F at depth even in summer).

Shore entry

Wilson Lake (Hell Creek dive area)

Kansas · 1.5–19.8 m

Wilson Lake, a 9,000-acre reservoir on the Saline River in the Smoky Hills, is widely regarded as the clearest lake in Kansas and is the state's most-used open-water dive site. Most divers use the area just past the Hell Creek bridge in Wilson State Park, where there are small underwater ledges, rocky cliffs and a sunken dive platform. Visibility typically runs 1-5 ft in summer algae blooms but improves to 10-15 ft in late May to early June and in fall.

Shore + boat

Windmill Point Reef

Virginia · Up to 9.1 m

Artificial reef built from reef balls

Boat entry

Windy Point Park (Lake Travis)

Texas · 0–48.8 m

The best-known scuba park on Lake Travis northwest of Austin, with shore entry to a steep underwater point dropping well past 100 ft. Training platforms at several depths, sunken boats, cars and metal sculptures (diver, sea turtle, shark, manatee) line guide lines from shore. Visibility runs 15-30 ft and the deep water stays cold year-round; depths depend strongly on the lake level.

IntermediateShore entry

Winston Perry Memorial Reef

South Carolina · Up to 10.1 m

Artificial reef built from Concrete Culvert pipe (92 pieces, various sizes)

Boat entry

Wisconsin Wreck

Wisconsin · 27–40 m

The 204-foot iron-hulled Goodrich steamer Wisconsin (1881) foundered off Kenosha in an October 1929 gale after her cargo shifted, taking part of her crew with her. She lies fully upright and intact in about 130 feet of water, her deck rising 30 feet off the bottom with cargo including iron castings and automobile remains below. One of southern Wisconsin's signature advanced wreck dives, she is serviced regularly by Kenosha and Milwaukee charters.

AdvancedBoat entry

Woahink Lake Dive Park

Oregon · 4.6–15 m

A shallow freshwater lake south of Florence on the east side of Highway 101, with a state-designated dive park at the old west boat ramp. Dive shops regularly run Open Water training here, and the bottom is dotted with purpose-sunk oddities including a submarine, several boats, a sunken kayak, a life-size shark sculpture, logs and other curiosities. Divers can wade out and descend to about 15-20 feet, with a thermocline and colder water below 40 feet. A reliable backup or 'rinse' dive when ocean visibility is poor.

Shore entry

Wreck Alley - Sentinel Island (Lake Mead)

Nevada · 6.1–91.4 m

A diver-created wreck park on the northeast side of Sentinel Island in Boulder Basin, where the local technical diving community has gathered roughly a dozen sunken boats found around Lake Mead. Several wrecks are linked by permanent high-visibility cave line starting near 140 ft and descending past 300 ft, including the Southern Cross (penetrable) and smaller speed and ski boats. The shallower wall above the wrecks makes a good recreational dive, while the wreck line itself is technical territory.

AdvancedBoat entry

Wreck of the Islander

New York · 9.1–18.3 m

A maintained shore-accessible dive site in the St. Lawrence River at the foot of Market Street in downtown Alexandria Bay (US side of the Thousand Islands). The Islander was a 125-foot sidewheel steamer built in Rochester in 1871 and lost to fire on 16 September 1909. The wreck lies just offshore in 30-45 feet of water, with some timbers down to about 60 feet, and is a favorite easy/training dive with signage and water access.

Shore entry

Wreck of the Wandby (Walker's Point)

Maine · 4.6–9.1 m

Shore-accessible remains of the British tramp steamer Wandby, which ran onto Walker's Point ledge in dense fog on March 9, 1921. The signature piece is an upright boiler roughly 15 feet around and 10-18 feet tall rising off a 25-30 foot sandy bottom, with a rudder, double-walled hull sections and scattered plates among ledge lines that run parallel to shore. The exposed site is effectively a single high-tide dive from a small seaside turn-out past the Bush compound.

IntermediateShore entry

Y-73 Reef

South Carolina · Up to 29 m

Artificial reef built from Cooper River Bridge rubble

IntermediateBoat entry

Yarmouth artificial reef

Massachusetts · Up to 9.1 m

Artificial reef built from Tires filled with concrete

Boat entry

Yellowbar Reef

New York · 7.6–12.2 m

Yellowbar (Fisherman) Reef is a small 7-acre NYSDEC artificial reef in Great South Bay, about 900 yards east of the Robert Moses Fixed Bridge, in 25-40 ft of water. Built from three vessels, a barge, pontoons, 100 concrete Reef Ball units, concrete forms and pipes, it is a sheltered, shallow bay reef good for newer divers. Black sea bass, tautog, scup and flounder use the structure; visibility is limited and tide-dependent.

Boat entry

Yellowstone Lake - Bridge Bay

Wyoming · 1–12.2 m

The largest body of water in Yellowstone National Park, at about 7,732 feet the largest freshwater lake above 7,000 feet in North America. Guided altitude dives from the shore near Bridge Bay reach 30 to 40 feet, where 20-foot siliceous hydrothermal spires rise from the bottom. Boat access reaches Stevenson Island and the early-1900s E.C. Waters wreck in just a few feet of water, plus dock cribbing near the historic Lake Hotel. Archaeological artifacts are protected and must not be touched, and divers must check in with the Bridge Bay ranger before diving.

IntermediateShore + boat

York Spit Reef

Virginia · 6.1–9.1 m

Artificial reef built from concrete

Boat entry

Zephyr Cove (Lake Tahoe)

Nevada · 3–12.2 m

A sheltered sandy cove on the Nevada (east) shore of Lake Tahoe, regularly cited as one of the most beginner-friendly shore dives on the lake and home to Tahoe Dive Center, the lake's resident dive shop. Shallow sandy bottoms grade into boulder fields with the exceptional clarity Tahoe is known for. As a high-altitude site at about 6,225 ft, dives require altitude procedures, and the water stays cold year-round.

Shore entry