Governors River Walk Reef

Governors River Walk

West Palm Beach Dive Sites

Governors River Walk Reef is one of the most special and unusual dive sites you are ever likely to come across.

Palm Beach – Wreck Diving

The reef was developed as part of the Artificial Reef program and consists of four shipwrecks, 1200 tons of limestone rock and 800 tons of concrete bridge materials that have been used to form corridors between the shipwrecks.

The four ships that form Governors River Walk Reef are the Shasha Boekanier, St. Jaques, Thozina and the Gilbert Sea which sit on the seabed at a depth of up to 90 feet. The majority of the ships are broken apart with the area around the amidships in the sand and the bow and sterns reaching up to provide relief.
The dive site was deployed in early 2002 and can be either a spectacular dive or difficult dive depending on the strength of the currents on the day. Even though there are four shipwrecks joined together by concrete corridors you can still see this entire reef on one dive although fully exploring the dive site will require numerous dives.

Governors River Walk Reef has now attracted numerous forms of marine life in its short lifespan due to the variety of construction materials used. With plenty of nooks and crannies provided by the concrete corridors and limestone boulders and the open spaces provided by the shipwrecks there is a huge variety of marine life at this particular reef.

Some of the marine life you should see on your dive will be cottonwick grunts, gray snappers, bluehead wrasse, yellowhead wrasse, creole wrasse, sharpnose puffer, spotfin hogfish, French grunts and many more. Nurse sharks can be found in sheltered parts of the reef and there is usually some lemon sharks in the area and the corals and sponges are already providing their usual colourful coverage.

West Palm Beach Scuba Videos

One of the attractions of West Palm Beach scuba diving 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 shows you the wrecks of Governors River Walk Reef and you can see the barracuda that love the strong currents around this reef. You can see the abundant and rich marine life you find at most dive sites off the Florida coast. (Press the button second right on the bottom of the video player to see it in full screen)…

Terence’s Log

This is a fabulous dive but I would advise you dive with one of the Palm Beach diving centers who know the area well as the currents can be very strong at this reef and their local knowledge will ensure you get the most out of this dive.

You will see plenty of the larger species such as sharks and barracuda which make this reef all the more spectacular.