Belzona Barge

Belzona Barge

Maimi Dive Sites

Belzona Barge is to found in just 40 feet of water off Key Biscayne not from the South Seas. This 215 foot steel barge was originally blown up in August 1991 and sunk in deeper water at 68 feet in Biscayne Bay fully loaded with a thousand tons of concrete to create an artificial reef.

Miami Scuba Diving – Belzona Barge

As with a lot of the wrecks in the area it felt the full force of Hurricane Andrew and ended up settling in shallower waters.

As a result of its new depth this has become a popular destination for the novice scuba diver and for those completing open water certification in Miami such as PADI Open Water certification.

The Belzona Barge like many of the barges that have been blown up over the years landed upside down on the sea floor and even after being moved by Hurricane Andrew it still remains buried upside down.

This artificial reef now presents its hull as a great place for soft corals and other marine life forms to grow and provides the base for yet another artificial reef in the Miami area.
With the many life forms present and the shallow depth at which this wreck now lies you will have ample opportunities to practice underwater photography or taking underwater videos in the clear and light waters around this barge.

The Belzona Barge is one of those wrecks where it is advisable not to penetrate the wreck as it is very dark inside with not much reward for the effort. However, the outside hull which looks like a full grown reef from a distance is another matter and well worth the dive and investigating.

If you travel to the south of this wreck for just 80 feet you will come across another wreck in this area known as the Belzona II. This is the wreck of a steel tug boat lying in deeper waters at 60 feet so you will need to be certified if you plan on diving both wrecks.

Miami Scuba Diving Videos

One of the attractions of scuba diving in Miami is that you will be able to take underwater photographs or underwater videos such as the one below. With excellent light and clear waters you will be able to get some excellent shots.

This video was taken at one of the Belzona wrecks in Miami, and you can see there is plenty of marine life to see and discover … this video shows scuba divers playing around in the wreck (Press the button second right on the bottom of the video player to see it in full screen)…

Terence’s Log

You will find this barge a very easy dive but still worth the trouble with the barge and rubble producing a nice artificial reef with plenty of growth and marine life.

If you are a certified diver then you can expand this dive to include the Belzona II a tug wreck only 80 feet away which can be explored.