United States Dive Sites

1,024 mapped sites

Best dive sites in United States

Showing 37–48 of 1,024

Axel Carlson - VERONICA M

New Jersey · 20.1–21.9 m

Artificial reef built from 110' Tugboat - "Veronica M" NJDEP deployment record: Ship, material: 110' Tugboat - "Veronica M", deployed 2004.

IntermediateBoat entry

Wildwood - Military Vehicle

New Jersey · 12.8–18 m

Artificial reef built from M-113 Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) NJDEP deployment record: Military vehicle, material: M-551 Sheridan Light Tank, deployed 1996.

Boat entry

Cape May - Laita

New Jersey · 12.8–21 m

Artificial reef built from 106' Clam Dredge - "Laita" NJDEP deployment record: Ship, material: 106' Clam Dredge - "Laita", deployed 1986.

IntermediateBoat entry

A White River reservoir on the Arkansas-Missouri line dubbed the 'Caribbean of the Midwest' for its clarity, with 15 mapped dive sites on the Arkansas side. Features include tall rock walls pocked with caverns, submerged oak and hickory forests, gravel points, and placed attractions such as the 'Bus Stop' wreck at 55 ft, the 'Key Hole' swim-through wall at 50 ft, sunken boats and farm machinery. Visibility is typically 15-40 ft and the lake never freezes, allowing year-round diving. Bull Shoals Lake Boat Dock is the main dive hub with air fills and training.

IntermediateShore + boat

Old Garden Beach

Massachusetts · 3–15.2 m

Old Garden Beach is one of Cape Ann's classic, most-dived shore sites, a small Rockport neighborhood beach with a ramp down to the water and an easy sand entry. A 100+ yard swim out leads to kelp-covered boulder fields in 20-40 ft, with several distinct dives possible depending on heading and a max depth around 40-50 ft. It is a prime open-water training site and can be very crowded on summer weekends.

Shore entry

Greenville Reef

South Carolina · Up to 25.9 m

Artificial reef built from Approximate Center of Reef

IntermediateBoat entry

Soule Barge-Gulf Power Towers

Florida · Up to 25.3 m

The Soule Barge and adjacent Gulf Power steel towers form one of Escambia County's older public artificial reef clusters off Pensacola Beach. The barge now rests upside-down and partially subsided into the sand in about 83 feet of water, with sections of donated power transmission towers nearby. The mix of low-relief steel attracts reef fish, baitfish schools and pelagic visitors.

IntermediateBoat entry

Catherine

Florida · Up to 4.6 m

The Catherine was a Norwegian sailing vessel that ran aground on a sandbar about 300 yards from shore while entering Pensacola Pass in a storm on August 7, 1894; all 18 crew were rescued by the Santa Rosa Island Life Saving Station. Her remains, including a brass binnacle found by recreational divers, lie in roughly 15 feet of water off the Fort Pickens area of Gulf Islands National Seashore. It is one of the few historic wrecks in the region that can be reached by swimming from the beach, though shifting sand alternately exposes and buries the timbers.

Shore entry

1 Mile Reef, Site 03--2

Florida · 5.8–8.2 m

Artificial reef built from 1 Goliath, 7 Ultras, 13 Pallets and 27 Bay Balls, 5 of 7 drops this grant and day

Boat entry

Little Egg - Military Vehicle

New Jersey · 15.8–17.1 m

Artificial reef built from M-578 Light Recovery Vehicle NJDEP deployment record: Military vehicle, material: M-578 Light Recovery Vehicle , deployed 1997.

Boat entry

Marine Room (Turtle Reef)

California · 0.9–12.2 m

A shallow reef shore dive off the southern end of La Jolla Shores in front of the Marine Room restaurant, a quieter alternative to the main Shores entry. Known for green sea turtles, leopard sharks in the early summer months, and stingrays on the sandy bottom. Coordinates estimated just offshore of the named landmark.

Shore entry

Elephant Butte Reservoir

New Mexico · 3–45.7 m

New Mexico's largest-capacity reservoir on the Rio Grande, named for the volcanic core island near the dam, with maximum depths over 150 feet. It was historically a regional dive destination — divers explore volcanic rock around the butte from shore or rented boats — but years of low water have stirred fine sediment so that visibility is now often only ~3 feet, dropping to near zero below 30 feet. It remains open to diving but is generally regarded as a poor-visibility novelty dive today.

IntermediateShore + boat