New York

Queens County

Divers will travel far and wide to find the best diving. But those who live in the United States have plenty of great diving on their doorstep as well, with plentiful access to the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. From warm-water reefs to temperate seas, here are some of the top places to scuba dive in the United States.

United States



Park by the Rockaway Manor Home for Adults (145 Beach 8th, St Far Rockaway, NY)

Almost Paradise is also known as Beach 8th St, Far Rockaway NY.

Almost Paradise

A Paradise Not Lost
By Bob Sterner (http://www.sternereditorial.com)
http://www.nedivenews.com

What's old is new is the good news about Almost Paradise. Beach 9th Street, Far Rockaway, Queens, N.Y., is back to being called Beach 8th Street, for the traditional hole in the fence that's given so much pleasure to generations of divers, local fishermen and kids splashing into the cool eddy between the jetties that form the site. Diving here no longer costs $20 a head for everyone in the car to park in the now closed Almost Paradise lot, although I'd still be glad to do so for the showers and facilities to rinse salt out of gear while getting a burger and a soda after a nice dive.

Riding the tide change to the bridge and back is discouraged in post-9/11 days, although serious tautog spear-fishers still return from there with dinner. At least they know what they're bagging. Shore fishers bring home lots of dinner too from this thriving patch of sand just off JFK Airport's runways. When dinner divers miss a shot, they missed it. When shore fishers lose a fish, their bottom tackle stays on the bottom hooking and killing sea creatures for decades.

A fish killed wantonly that Barbara Krooss caught me looking at not long ago tells the story of glittery bottom tackle underwater. It's there to kill generations of fish unless you cut it off and remove it from pilings and other underwater obstructions. It might sound counter-productive, but you can make friends with the shore fishers who hate you for blowing bubbles around their favorite cast sites if you return the bounty of hooks, weights, spinners and other lures that they lost underwater. At the base of the piling where this fish lost its life to a lure we found a horseshoe crab barely alive and hopelessly snarled in a tangle of fishing line. It didn't stick around for a portrait after being freed. 

Otherwise little has changed at the humble beach where thousands of divers have earned their c-cards. Divers still queue up a half-hour before high and low slack tide for optimum visibility. Many still avoid the crowd by diving as the current runs by ducking behind pilings. It's great training for low-vis conditions at a place where you can't get lost so long as you can follow a compass needle north to the shore. At mid-channel, high-tide, it is about 40 feet to the surface, but you don't want to go there because of heavy boat traffic. Lobsters, crabs, flounders, bergals, sponges, mussels and plants galore that drew divers to this humble site decades ago are still there for those willing to venture through the hole in the fence to see what's beneath the waves of Reynolds Channel.

See more photos and stories of diving this and other sites at Sterner Editorial (http://www.sternereditorial.com).

Found in the Rockaways, near JFK Airport in New York City

Beach 8th Street, Queens

Manhattan Beach is a 5.0-star rated scuba dive and snorkel destination in New York, USA East which is accessible from shore based on 1 ratings.

Manhattan Beach

You can find a lot of bottles and artifacts in the sand dating back to the 1800's.

This location is for the entry point. Park across the street in the parking lot, gear up and walk down the path. Make sure to check the satellite view.

The Old Steamboat Pier

The south side of the jetty is the more sheltered side with better visibility.  There is a fair amount of marine life here with some lobsters.  Due to the sheltered nature and shallow depth this is also a good site for training and first dives. 

Take the Long Island Expressway to Exit 39 North, Glen Cove Road, Rt 107 to the end and turn right, then your first left onto Mill Hill Rd.  Mill Hill becomes The Place Rd. Make a left onto McLoughlin Street to the end is Morgan Park.

Morgan Park Jetty is also known as Glen Cove Jetty.

Morgan Park Jetty

There is no name for this cove on the chart.  The site appears to have been used as a dumping ground for boats.  There are a few small barges and many boats sunk here.  I made this dive from a sit-on-top kayak that I put in from Cedar Beach.

The site is about 3/4 of a mile east of Cedar Beach and 4 1/4 miles west of Captree.  This site can only be reached by boat.

Shipwreck Cove

You can reach this site through Caumsett State Park but you will need to set this up in advance as you need a permit to drive to this site.  Shore access is a short walk from the parking lot.  Depth changes the further you go off shore and the greater the chance of boat traffic.  Area is good for lobster and other local marine life.

From either the LIE or Northern State take the Round Swamp Rd exit north to the end.  Turn right on Rt 25, left on Oakwood Rd, left on High St and right on Woodbury Rd.  Woodbury Rd turns into West Neck Rd and later into Lloyd Harbor Rd.

Lloyd Neck is also known as Caumsett State Park.

Lloyd Neck



Lying upright
14 miles offshore of New Jersey's Shark River Inlet
145 ft (starts at 70 ft, main deck at 110 ft)
Intact

USS Algol is also known as USS Algol.

USS Algol

The Gwendolyn Steers is a tugboat that sunk in about 55ft of water.  The wreck sits upright and comes to within about 25ft of the surface.  It is 96ft long with a 20ft beam.  Visibility is usually poor, there is a fair amount of boat traffic and nets have been present in the past.

Access is by boat only.

Gwendolyn Steers Wreck is also known as Gwendolyn Steers.

Gwendolyn Steers Wreck

Being in the back basin the current is less from tidal changes than in the inlet so you can get in a longer dive. The trade off is there is less to see but it is a good place to practice skills or test equipment. The site is used by some instructors for classes on weekends and can get silted out in the shallows. Best time is early evenings during the week, check the tide tables for high tide. All diving is west of the boat ramp, between the boat ramp and Rt. 35 is a low wall perfect for putting on the tank. Walk down the beach, not the boat ramp! Since you'll be diving next to a boat ramp, in front of a floating fishing pier or west under the sailing school a flag is a must! The second choice for an entry are the steps at the sailing school. In the shallows are sea grasses, as you go deeper (max 20') and under the boat channel it's sand. Things you'll see besides things lost by student divers, fishermen and boaters are the usual Jersey crabs, blueclaws, stone, hermits and horseshoe. Seabass, Sea Robins, Flounder, starfish, some shrimp and the occasional Seahorse. In late summer and into fall we get tropical's, mostly butterflies, some damsels, triggers, small frogfish and I have seen squid. After the dive there is a hose near the boat ramp for washing down boats but it works for divers too. At the west end of the beach near the sailing school is a beach shower but it's not always on and a bathroom that maybe locked if the lifeguard is off duty. If you like this and would like to explore east of the boat ramp contact DiversTwo in Avon about doing the clean-up dive one Saturday morning in October when the USCG closes down all boat traffic.

L street beach is located at L street and Rt. 35 on Shark River in Belmar NJ.

L Street Beach

Manasquan Jetty is a 5.0-star rated scuba dive and snorkel destination in New Jersey, USA East which is accessible from shore based on 1 ratings.

Almost Paradise

Snorkeling and Scuba Diving at Almost Paradise