Dive Sites (19/45)

sandy hook manasquan barnegat  cape may  nj coast  li west   li east   li coast  deep sea  nj reefs  ny reefs
 1  18 19 20  45  

Type:
shipwreck, tugboat, USA
Sunk:
1911
grounded in storm while salvaging Roda - no casualties
Depth:
25 ft

Hudson & East Rivers
The Verrazano Narrows at the mouth of the Hudson River.

Looking roughly south: Sandy Hook is barely visible at upper-right, Rockaway inlet at the upper-left, Brooklyn at lower-left, Staten Island at lower-right. The shipping channel is also plainly obvious.


Shipwreck Hvoslef
Type:
shipwreck, freighter, Norway
Built:
1927, England
Specs:
( 255 x 35 ft ) 1630 gross tons, 20 crew
Sunk:
Tuesday March 10, 1942
torpedoed by U-94 - 6 casualties
Depth:
140 ft

Shipwreck Hylton Castle
Type:
shipwreck, steamer, England
Built:
1871, England
Specs:
( 251 x 32 ft ) 1258 gross tons, 22 crew
Sunk:
Monday January 11, 1886
overloaded and foundered in storm - no casualties
Depth:
95 ft

Shipwreck Iberia
Type:
shipwreck, steamer, France
Name:
Iberia is Latin for Spain or the Spanish peninsula.
Built:
1881, Scotland
Specs:
( 255 x 36 ft ) 1388 gross tons, 30 crew
Sunk:
Saturday November 10, 1888
collision with liner Umbria ( 7798 tons) - no casualties
Depth:
60 ft


Type:
shipwreck, barge
Depth:
95 ft

This wreck seems to be one or more wooden barges, possibly garbage barges from the 1920s. There is an anchor in one spot near a machinery pile, and in other spots, the old walls rise perhaps 10 ft off the bottom. But otherwise, everything is pretty broken down. This forms many hiding holes for lobster and rock crabs, and there is one in almost every hole, and some quite large. The Sea Bass are also good-sized. Yellowish natural sponges and bottles are easy to find.


Shipwreck India Arrow
Type:
shipwreck, tanker, USA
Built:
1921, Quincy MA USA
Specs:
( 468 x 62 ft ) 8327 gross tons, 38 crew
Sunk:
Wednesday February 4, 1942
torpedoed by U-103 - 12 survivors
Depth:
190 ft

Type:
schooner barge & tugboat ?
Depth:
85 ft

This is a fascinating big wreck of a wooden schooner barge. The broken stern is upended, forming a hollow pyramid that is full of fish. The sides and keel extend north from there to the bow, from which extends a chain which reaches to another much smaller wreck, which is known as the "Inshore Tug."


Shipwreck Inshore Schooner
side-scan sonar image
Type:
shipwreck, schooner
Sunk:
circa 1860; cause unknown
Depth:
35 ft

low wood debris field, bottles, coconut shells



Here is an assortment of large sharks that can be found in New Jersey waters, by no means all of them. These are more likely to be found inshore in coastal waters. Sharks are seldom a danger to divers, they seem to be put off by the noise and bubbles. Nonetheless, all should be treated with caution.

In all my many inlet dives, I have seen a shark once, and that was in inoffensive Smooth Dogfish. I have been told that they are sometimes seen from up on the bridge in Belmar, but even then they would probably be out in mid-channel, and far away from strange noisy bubbling scuba divers. However, one of the most famous shark attacks of all time took place in New Jersey - the 1916 Matawan Creek attacks. See Bull Shark for details.

The only one of these that you are ever likely to encounter in local ocean diving is the relatively inoffensive Sand Tiger, not the similarly named and extremely dangerous Tiger.

Printed from njscuba.net