Not all diving is tropical, and that’s certainly true of the diving off the Northeast coast of the United States and Canada. Diving in the Atlantic Ocean tends to be deeper (averaging 80 to 90 feet), darker (vis varies from the other side of your mask to about 60 feet), and colder (45 to 70 degrees, depending on season). Despite conditions that keep warm-water divers from exploring the coastal waters, rivers and lakes of New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, Quebec, and Nova Scotia, local divers know there are wonderful wreck and shore diving opportunities.
Dive In
Average Water Temp: Water temperatures range from 45 degrees in winter to 70 degrees in summer.
Average Visibility: Visibility varies from under 10 feet to 60 feet.
From the October, 2008 issue of Scuba Diving Magazine. America's Underwater Treasures.
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From the August, 2008 issue of Scuba Diving Magazine. No quality diving in the Big Apple? Fuhgeddaboutit! Fishy sunken treasures abound, from Brooklyn and Long Island to North Jersey. Got a problem with that?
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In northern New England, a virtual history museum awaits in a lake of sunken steamboats and schooners dating back two centuries.
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Within an hour's drive of Boston, divers can explore wrecks and rocky drop-offs in the chilly waters off Cape Ann.
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Fifty years after sinking, "the mount everest of wreck diving" still fascinates divers.
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Learn more about the wreck with these resources.
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Though the wreck is in a rapid state of decay, it still attracts divers who want to prove their skills. See what it takes to join the roster of successful Andrea Doria divers.
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Evelyn Bartram Dudas was newly certified in 1966 when she was invited to speak to at local Lions Club luncheon about the novel sport of scuba diving. During her talk she vowed to become the first woman to dive the Andrea Doria. The following summer, she made good on the promise at the young age of 22. Here she recalls the wonder of seeing the wreck for the first time, and how her future husband John Dudas recovered the wheelhouse compass—a prized artifact that is on display at her dive store, Dudas' Diving Duds, in West Chester, Pa.—Ed.
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In the early 1970s Don Rodocker and Chris DeLucchi formed a new company, Saturation Systems Inc. Drawing on their extensive training and experience as U.S. Navy saturation divers (Rodocker was selected to make the first 850 foot saturation dive; DeLucchi established an open seas saturation depth record of 945 feet) one of their first projects was a commercial salvage expedition on the Andrea Doria. The objective was to cut a hole in the wreck to recover the purser's safe. To do that, the company built a portable saturation habitat named Mother that could be lowered to the side of the wreck. The divers in the habitat would breathe a mixture of 92 percent helium and 8 percent oxygen, allowing them to live and work for days and then decompress before surfacing. Bob Hollis, founder and CEO of Oceanic Worldwide, was one of the divers who worked on the expedition – Ed.
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No ship has done more to shape the face of modern wreck diving than the Italian luxury liner Andrea Doria.
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The Northeast's Shipping Graveyard
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In life, she faithfully hauled oil and kerosene up and down the North Atlantic. In death, she is more vibrant than ever...
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