Delaware Artificial Reefs ~ New Jersey Scuba Diving

Delaware Artificial Reefs

Delaware Artificial Reefs (and a few New Jersey reefs)

USS Blenny
Buchannon barge
Cape Henlopen Buoy
Golden Eagle
P3/Dolphin
pilot boat

Coverage of Delaware is restricted to just those sites that are in the ocean and vessels in the bay. Siting reefs has been tricky for Delaware, as they must be kept clear of the shipping lanes. This doesn't leave a lot of places that are both located in usefully deep water and a convenient distance from shore. Cape May Reef belongs to New Jersey, but is within range of Delaware, and lately seems to have received material from Delaware. I have also included the USS Blenny, to the south - drag the chart.

Delaware Artificial Reef Charts

The 5 Delaware reefs shown here total approximately 7.2 square miles.

Twin Capes

Shearwater

USS Radford

Gregory Poole

YO-93

USCG Tamaroa

two tugboats

Frieda Marie

American Glory

Delaware Artificial Reef Sites

Delaware has eight permitted reefs in the Delaware Bay, and another way offshore that is undeveloped and will likely stay that way.

Site #8 has a 70' tugboat "Golden Eagle". Site #6 has a 120' barge. Site #1 has a 40' pilot boat. Other than that, the Delaware Bay reefs are all concrete rubble.

Delaware Bay Reefs

Delaware Artificial Reefs

Buchannon barge
Cape Henlopen Buoy
Golden Eagle
P3/Dolphin
pilot boat

Delaware has a string of artificial reef sites in the Delaware bay, but they are of little interest to divers. Most of the sites are quite shallow and perilously close to the shipping lanes, several of them were actually reduced for this reason. The conditions in the bay are hardly good for diving. The reefs consist mostly of concrete rubble from construction in Philadelphia and other cities on the river. Also shown is New Jersey's sole artificial reef in the bay.

More: Delaware Bay Reefs ...

Delaware #09 Artificial Reef

Delaware #9 Artificial Reef

4.5 Nautical Miles from Indian River Inlet, 1.31 sq miles
Depth: 50-60 ft

More: Delaware #09 Artificial Reef ...

DelJerseyLand Artificial Reefs

DelJerseyLand Inshore Artificial Reef

26 Nautical Miles from Indian River Inlet, 1.51 sq miles
Depth: 120-140 ft [download]

More: DelJerseyLand Artificial Reefs ...

YC-1479

Type:: artificial reef, barge
Built:: 1953, Avondale Shipyards, New Orleans LA, as BCL-1103
Specs:: ( 110 x 34 ft ) 144 tons
Sunk:: Friday Oct 20, 2000 - Delaware #11 Artificial Reef
GPS:: 38°40.540' -74°43.957'

More: YC-1479 ...

Shearwater FS-411

USNS Shearwater reef — *Shearwater*, with *Tamaroa* behind

Type:: artificial reef, freighter, purse seiner
Built:: 1945, Hickinbotham Brothers, Stockton CA USA as FS-411 (US Army)
Specs:: ( 166 x 32 ft ) 542 tons
Sunk:: Dec 11, 2015 - DelJerseyLand Artificial Reef
GPS:: 38°31.661' -74°30.607'
Depth:: 120 ft

More: Shearwater FS-411 ...

Brightliner Subway Cars

Type:: ~100 "Brightliner" subway cars - NYC Subway system
Built:: 1963-1964 - Budd Company - Model R32 # 3350-3949
1966-1967 - St. Louis Car - Model R38 # 3950-4149
1967-1969 - St. Louis Car - Model R40 # 4150-4349
1969-1970 - St. Louis Car - Model R42 # 4550-4949
Specs:: ( 60 x 10 ft ) 10 tons ( all, typical, body only )
Sunk:: 44 cars were sunk on Atlantic City Reef on April 3, 2008
more in Cape May reef and Delaware reefs
Sponsor:: New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority ( MTA )
GPS:: too many to list, and all gone anyway
Depth:: Depths vary by location