Scuba Diving in Florida Keys

Scuba diving in Florida Keys will take you to historical dive sites such as USS Alligator

USS Alligator

If you go scuba diving in Florida Keys you will find this dive site located 30m (100ft) southwest of the lighthouse near Upper Matecumbe Key.

The U.S.S. Alligator is one of the most popular dive destinations for Islamorada dive centers.

Alligator Reef Lighthouse was later built nearby to identify the reef and protect shipping from the reef.

Unfortunately, the USS Alligator is no more than a pile of ballast stones and its lower hull which is full of fish. Corals, sponges and seafans now adorn the area with little left to identify the wreck.

What is left is now home to Moray eels, and this area is also popular for grunts, angelfish, schoolmasters and scorpion fish which live amongst the ballast stones.

Interesting facts about the USS Alligator

• Built 1820 in the Charlestown Navy Yard, Boston, Massachusetts

• 86ft long Man of War

• The warship mounted a single 18-pounder high pivot gun and between ten and twelve 6-pounder carronades

• Commissioned 1821

• Built for the suppression of slavery and piracy during the presidency of James Monroe

• 1882 dispatched to the Territory of Florida to combat rampant piracy in the Florida Keys

• November 1882 ran aground on what is now Alligator Reef

• Salvaged, set ablaze and sank November 22nd 1882

FLORIDA DIVE SITES

ISLAMORADA

• El Infante
• San Jose
• El Capitan
• Tres Puentes

Terence's notes

USS Alligator
Depth: 0-3m (3-12ft)
Visibility: 9-39m (30-130ft)
Novice
Wreck/Reef dive
Plenty of fish
Snorkeling: Yes

Terence's Log

I went scuba diving in Florida Keys and had a look at this dive site in the late afternoon after a morning dive on Alligator Reef.

There wasn't much to see of the wreck and you had to take care because of the stonefish amongst the ballast stones!

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