Cape Coral Diving
Cape Coral Diving - Did you know that there are a network of artificial reefs and shipwrecks off the coast of Charlotte Harbor to Ft Myers Beach?
There are hundreds of natural and artificial reefs in Southwest Florida and over 20 larger artificial reefs maintained by Lee County.
The reefs are in various locations up to 30 miles offshore and are made from recycled, obsolete, and unused materials to make habitats that attract fish, which makes for some amazing diving as well as fishing.
In the 1960's, anglers sought to improve their fishing success by building reefs with such things as tires, cars, trucks, appliances, and construction materials.
These materials didn't last too long and improvements have been made since then, with permanence and the environment in mind, and proper overseeing of permits and compliance to codes and criteria.
Newer
materials include concrete culverts, the steel hulls of ships, school
buses, barges, bridge rubble, railroad hopper cars ..... and even old cell phone towers and construction cranes!
The first artificial reef was built in 1981, and the official reef program started in the early 1990's.
An average of 1,350 people use the artificial reefs ......... each and every day!
For Anglers
- Know and follow fishing regulations.
- Do not spill or dump pollutants such as gasoline, oil and trash, hooks, line, or bait into the water.
- Report any pollution or environmental damage to authorities.
- Do not damage sensitve reef areas when anchoring.
- Try to maintain a proper distance of 300 feet from boats displaying dive flags.
- Follow all navigation rules.
For Divers
- Practice safe diving and maintain buoyancy.
- Look, don't touch reef or marine life, don't rest on coral, maintain distance.
- Do not take pieces of the reef as souvenirs or otherwise.
- Secure diving equipment, return to boat to fix equipment problems.
- Plan for safe entries and exits.
Southwest Florida Shipwrecks
There are more Cape Coral diving opportunities, not only can you explore and fish from artificial reefs, but there are also several shipwrecks off the coast of Ft Myers:
- The Bayronto - 1919 - 26*45.830/82*50.860 - This 400' freighter survived a German U-boat attack only to sink in 100' of water during hurricane conditions.
- The Baja California - 1942 - 25*21.522/82*31.901 - This 265' freighter was sunk by 2 German U-boat torpedoes in 115' of water between Ft Myers and the Keys.
- The Stoney Point - 1968 - 26*20.358/83*22.860 - This is a former Hudson River Ferry.
- The Roatan Express - 1992 - 26*20.358/83*22.027 - This 180' supply ship ran between Tampa and Honduras until it sank in rough seas 80 miles west of Ft Myers.
- The Fantastico - 1993 - 26*17.775/82*50.082 - This 205' freighter from Honduras sank in the "No Name" storm of 1993 and sits in 115" of water about 50 miles from Ft Myers, carrying fertilizer from Miami to Tampa.
If you like to dive, you may be interested in joining a Cape Coral diving club to get together with other divers and save money on group charters.
The Caloosa Dive Club formed in 1970 and meets at the Tony Rotino Center at the Cape Coral Yacht Club the first 3 Thursdays of the month.
They offer monthly dive charters, underwater photography and spearfishing contests, activities, lectures, trips, and dinners plus discounts at dive shops.
For more information, go to Lee Reefs, and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
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