New Jersey Scuba Diving

GPS Numbers

Many people ask for Loran GPS numbers for the sites described in these pages. My policy is to not list numbers, as many of them were given to me in confidence, and I will not accidentally release someone's secret. However, after I added all the highly accurate and public-domain GPS numbers in the Artificial Reefs section of the website, I have reconsidered that position, somewhat.

What I have done is collect "GPS numbers" from four public lists, and compile them into a single spreadsheet. I culled the obvious errors, cleaned up the names, and sorted all the data. The numbers are in both common formats: degrees-minutes and degrees-decimal. You can download it here.

You'll notice that there are multiple entries for many wrecks, each listing the source. Often, these numbers turn out to be a quarter-mile apart or more. If two numbers agree, that is more likely an indication that one was copied from the other than that they are right. Some of these numbers might be accurate, but I couldn't tell you which, or which source is the best.

The GPS in my phone helps me find my way out of the woods when I get lost with the dog. The GPS in your car will show you which lane of the highway you are in. These 'GPS Numbers' often can't agree within a quarter of a mile of each other. What this shows is just how awful these public GPS lists really are - they are little more than bad Loran conversions from twenty years ago. If you don't believe me, plug a few of the numbers into the calculator and see for yourself.

Here is one incredible example: two sets of numbers given for the Delaware are over 2 miles apart !!! The Delaware is only 3 miles off the beach, and you can find it by land ranges with no instruments at all:

Note the locations of the two sets of water and bridge towers.

This is indicative of the quality of the entire list - it is garbage. This particular error is probably a typo, but that's what happens when the same junk gets handed down for 20 years.

On the scale of my graphical charts, most of the errors might move a marker one pixel - so for my purposes it doesn't matter. But if you want to actually go out and find a wreck with these numbers, pack a lunch - you're going to be 'mowing the lawn' for a while! That is not to say there are not accurate sources for GPS numbers, but you will have to pay for them. See References.

I have added a few GPS numbers from government sources where the accuracy is high. I'm not going to all the trouble and public disservice of posting all the trash numbers.