Neptune Memorial Reef

Lake Tigertail is a shore accessible fresh water dive site right next to the Bass Pro shop in Dania Beach, Florida. It’s a popular site for open water diver certification courses, especially when the ocean is too rough to go out. The water is a big greenish.

The Merci Jesus is a great wreck dive found off the coast of Florida, just north of Fort Lauderdale. It is normally visited by dive boat and not by shore diving. The Merci Jesus is 90’ long and 26’ wide, bow pointing south and the hull is upright.

This site is located at El Prado Park in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. This dive site is excellent for divers and snorkelers alike. The beach access has fresh water showers, a garden hose, and a bench with cutouts for tanks. This site starts when you reach the swim buoy and continues East for about 100 yards.

The reef here runs parallel to the shoreline (north and south) and is a great shallow second dive when heading back from the deeper wreck dives of South Florida. The north end of the reef has some great habitat off to the west of the main ledge as well.

Carysfort Reef is one of the more remote reefs in the Upper Keys and is the largest Sanctuary Protected Area in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. It’s 2.2 square miles and, at the shallowest area, has a large lighthouse.

This is a true wreck off the coast of Lauderdale-by-the-Sea that’s over 100 years old, sinking in 1900. It was a 325-foot steamer sitting in only 15-30 feet of waters so this is a great snorkel as well as a dive.

The Nursery gets its name from the group of resident nurse sharks that live here. It is an easy boat dive and can turn into a drift dive at times due to the current.

Pompano Beach is extremely popular because of the close proximity of world-class wreck and reef dives. There are some shore dives but most are drift dives off a boat so all you need to do is jump in and get picked up later.

One of the many wrecks of Elbow Reef, the Hannah M. Bell was for many years known as Mike’s Wreck. The shallow side is about 18 ft deep with the deeper side being about 30 ft. Perfect for reef divers, new divers, and a relaxing dive on an iconic wreck.

This site is part of the Florida State Park system and has protected status. It’s also home to the Boy Scouts of America SeaBase camp program. With shallow, clear water, plenty of reef life, and easy access just offshore, this site is a great dive for beginners and also snorkelers.