Long Island Coast Dive Sites Chart
Long Island has many great sites for shore diving. Listed here are just a few for which I have scavenged descriptions. For a complete listing, pick up a copy of Dan Berg's Long Island Shore Diver at your local dive shop.
Do not ask for numbers - I will not give them out !
[Full Screen] [Get Directions] (40.594790, -73.743314)
The dive site is between 8th and 9th Streets (marker at upper-left)
Atlantic Beach bridge at right, inlet and ocean to the left (west)
In Queens borough, New York City!
East Rockaway Inlet is also known as Deb's Inlet, while New Yorkers optimistically, or perhaps ironically, call the Beach 8th Street dive site Almost Paradise. (Actually the name of a long-defunct dive shop there.) It is also referred to as Beach 9th Street. If that's not enough names for the same place, the waterway is officially called Reynold's Channel. So I suppose you could make six different entries in your logbook.
Beach 8th Street is the only part of the inlet that is accessible to divers, the rest is either private property or state park land where diving is prohibited. You can zoom, pan, and maximize the map above. The inlet is off to the left, marshland to the right, and Kennedy Airport above.
More: East Rockaway Inlet / Beach 8th Street ...
- Type:
- shipwreck, freighter, England
- Built:
- 1898, England
- Specs:
- ( 380 x 47 ft ) 4193 gross tons
- Sunk:
- March 1, 1902; ran aground in storm - no casualties
- Depth:
- 25 ft
The Acara lies 1,500 to 1,800 ft offshore, in 25 ft of water. She is quite broken up, with wreckage spread over a wide area. Still, there are one or two sections with 10 feet or so of relief. Brass fittings and other artifacts are still being found.
More: Acara ...
- Type:
- shipwreck, sailing ship, Italy
- Specs:
- 566 tons
- Sunk:
- March 4, 1881; ran aground in storm - 1 survivor
- Depth:
- 25 ft
Also known as the Italian Wreck, the Ajace was sunk at 4:00 AM on March 4, 1881. At the time, she was carrying a small cargo of scrap railroad iron and 2,040 empty petroleum barrels. While bound for New York from Belgium, the Ajace was caught in one of the worst storms of the year and ran aground off Rockaway beach. Many sources report that Captain F. Morice, seeing that all hope was lost, opened his private supply of brandy and shared it with his crew. Soon after, the crew became badly beaten from the pounding of the waves and drunk from the brandy.
More: Ajace ...
- Type:
- shipwreck, steamer, USA
- Built:
- 1848, NY USA
- Specs:
- ( 275 x 32 ft ) 984 gross tons
- Sunk:
- Saturday December 27, 1866
beached to prevent foundering in a storm; old age & decay - no casualties
More: Horton's Point / Commodore ...
