Rockaway Dive Sites Chart

Sandy Hook / Rockaway Inlet Chart

Sandy Hook Dive Sites

NOAA chart 12326
Chart 12326


Round Valley Reservoir
Looking roughly southeast, with the diving cove in the foreground. The natural basin of the valley is evident, as well as one of the two dams, at right. The water level looks pretty high, with a little snow on the ground.
Type:
freshwater artificial reservoir
Depth:
180 ft, but less than 60 ft in the usual area

Shark River Aerial
Low tide, winter. Beach replenishment has all but filled in the "L".
Type:
smallish tidal river inlet with stone jetties or bulkheads on both sides
Depth:
15 ft

This inlet has an L-shaped jetty on the north side and a longer straight jetty on the south side. Both jetties are made of loose stones - hardly any concrete - and the bottom is sandy and usually clean. You can walk over the bridge from one side of the inlet to the other in about five minutes.


Type:
shipwreck, barge
Sunk:
March 2004
foundered under tow
Depth:
60 ft

This medium-sized crane barge sank under tow in March 2004. The barge is upside-down, but propped up at a 30-degree angle by the crane, rising 30 feet off the bottom at the highest point. The crane is a large rotating affair that is permanently mounted on the barge. It is not the crumpled arm of the crane that supports the hull, but the central cab, so the wreck is stable, and it is safe to explore the cavernous dark space below. The bottom is coarse sand and pea gravel. Eventually, the wreck will crush flat, but that will probably take several years, and until then this is a fun and interesting site. Big eels, Sea Bass, and even one or two lobsters can be found here.


Shipwreck Choapa
Type:
shipwreck, freighter, Chile
Built:
1937, England, as Helga
Specs:
( 292 x 41 ft ) 1700 gross tons, 67 crew
Sunk:
Thursday September 21, 1944
collision with tanker British Harmony, then with freighter Voco ( 5090 tons) while at anchor, then with tanker Empire Garrick - no casualties
Depth:
195 ft, starts at 160 ft


Type:
shipwreck, steamer
Depth:
80 ft

A very small wreck, consisting of a primitive single-cylinder steam engine and a large, completely broken-down boiler. Odd pieces of pipe and machinery lie around, but no remains of a hull, although there appears to be some iron plating under the engine. Guessing from the technology, the construction would date to around 1860 +/- 10 years, and the sinking would have been sometime after that.

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