United States Dive Sites

1,024 mapped sites

Best dive sites in United States

Showing 745–756 of 1,024

Redfish Lake

Idaho · 6–30.5 m

A high-altitude glacial lake in the Sawtooth Valley near Stanley, sitting at roughly 6,547 feet of elevation, with summer visibility of 40 to 80 feet. A beach-entry training site lies at Point Campground near the lodge, where local dive centers use a navigation course and buoyancy markers. Notable features include Schoolhouse Rock (a ~14-foot boulder rising from about 20 feet), a sunken 20-foot cabin boat at 60 feet, and 'The Wall' at the south end with ledges descending to about 100 feet.

IntermediateShore + boat

Grape Shot Wreck

Wisconsin · 1.5–2.4 m

The schooner Grape Shot, built in Buffalo in 1855 with an eagle figurehead, grounded on the north side of Plum Island in a November 1867 gale. Its scattered remains lie in about 8 ft of water on rock and sand 0.18 miles northwest of the Plum Island U.S. Coast Guard station in the Death's Door passage. A shallow boat/kayak dive and snorkel best done in calm weather given the passage's notorious currents.

Boat entry

Rubicon Wall (D.L. Bliss State Park)

California · 3–39.6 m

Rubicon Wall, just south of Calawee Cove in D.L. Bliss State Park on Tahoe's southwest shore, is widely regarded as the most breathtaking dive in the Sierra: a near-vertical fractured granite precipice studded with quartz that plunges from a rim at about 40-50 ft to 800-1,000+ ft. Divers reach it by a ~900 ft surface swim from Calawee Cove (or by boat) and drop over the edge into exceptionally clear blue water — visibility of 70-100 ft is common — passing crawfish on the cliff face and huge schools of fingerling trout and Lahontan redside shiners in the 30-35 ft shallows. At 6,229 ft elevation the altitude penalty is severe (130 ft measures like ~162 ft physiologically), making this a disciplined advanced dive despite the easy beginner terrain inside the cove.

AdvancedShore + boat

Fremont Lake

Wyoming · 6–45 m

A 12-mile-long glacial lake just north of Pinedale in the Wind River Range, and one of the deepest lakes in the country at about 610 feet. It is one of Wyoming's most frequently dived sites, offering certifications and fun dives at 'Swim Beach' (officially Sandy Beach) near the marina, where surface water reaches about 70F before a thermocline at 25-30 feet drops to 40F. Notable areas include Moosehead Bay and Chambers Bay, with car-sized boulders in crystal-clear water; divers also report sunken boats, artifacts and lure-laden underwater trees.

IntermediateShore + boat

O.J. Walker

Vermont · 18.3–19.8 m

An 86-foot schooner-rigged sailing canal boat built in Burlington in 1862, sister-type to the General Butler, which sank in a sudden windstorm on May 11, 1895 while hauling bricks and tiles from Mallett's Bay. She sits upright in about 65 feet of water in Burlington Bay with her ship's wheel, masts, anchors, and cargo of bricks (plus the hand carts used to move them) still in place. It is the only Vermont Underwater Historic Preserve wreck that requires a per-dive permit, reserved in advance at the Burlington Community Boathouse.

IntermediateBoat entry

Possum Kingdom Lake - Hell's Gate

Texas · 3–30.5 m

Hell's Gate is a pair of 90-foot limestone cliffs framing a cove on the clear south end of Possum Kingdom Lake on the Brazos River, long regarded as the best natural lake diving in North Texas. The rocky bottoms and limestone walls near the cliffs and Morris Sheppard Dam can produce visibility far better than typical Texas reservoirs in dry years. The former lakeside dive operation (Scuba Point) has closed, so divers now access the area by boat from local marinas or from coves in the state park.

IntermediateBoat entry

Barnegat Light - Bargenat Fishin' Hole 5 in Memory of Melanie Boytos

New Jersey · 14–18 m

Artificial reef built from 40' Tow boat - "No. 9" (with 900 lbs. concrete ballast)

Boat entry

Capers Reef (R8)

South Carolina · Up to 13.1 m

Artificial reef built from Cooper River Bridge rubble

Boat entry

Weeki Wachee Spring

Florida · —

Weeki Wachee Spring is a first-magnitude spring famous for its 1947-era underwater mermaid theater, now operated as a Florida state park with the Buccaneer Bay swim area and river cruises. It sits atop the deepest known underwater cave system in the United States, explored past 400 ft by Karst Underwater Research divers under special permit. Public scuba diving is not allowed; swimming is limited to the adjacent Buccaneer Bay area.

Shore entry

Morton Park - Little Pond

Massachusetts · 1.5–15.5 m

Little Pond in Plymouth's Morton Park is a sheltered freshwater kettle pond used by local divers as an easy training and gear-shakeout site, especially when the ocean is rough. Average depth is about 19 ft with a maximum around 51 ft, over a very silty bottom with vegetation, rocks, and sunken logs that shelter freshwater fish. The pond is a coldwater pond stocked regularly with rainbow trout. Best dived off-season, since the town beach draws crowds and parking fees after Memorial Day.

Shore entry

Tokai Maru Wreck Verified

Guam · 12.2–36.6 m

Large Japanese passenger-cargo ship wreck in Apra Harbor, lying beside the SMS Cormoran. The wreck offers a shallow bridge/superstructure zone with deeper hull/cargo areas, but full exploration and penetration require advanced wreck planning and may push divers toward technical gas/decompression choices.

AdvancedBoat entry

F. T. Barney Wreck

Michigan · 43–49 m

The F. T. Barney is a 126-ft two-masted wooden schooner built in 1856 that sank in under two minutes after a midnight collision with the schooner T.J. Bronson on October 23, 1868, settling gently in 160 ft of Lake Huron off Rogers City. Rediscovered in 1987, she is one of the Great Lakes' most intact schooners, with an erect mainmast, intact stern cabin, and a cargo hold still full of coal — the first Lake Huron shipwreck listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The depth makes her a prized technical dive.

ExpertBoat entry