Hop off Route 1 at Atlantic Avenue in Pompano Beach, head east and get your fins, masks and snorkels out for a shallow wreck dive just off shore.
Back in 1900 the British iron steam ship S.S.Copenhagen was sailing along the coast from Philadelphia with a load of coal to Havana, Cuba when it ran aground on the rocky Pompano Drop Off reef.
Although the ship was unsalvageable, her cargo of 5000 tons of coal was saved.
Some of this wreck was visible above water for years until the US Navy used it for target practice during WW II and it currently sits in 15-30 feet of water in hundreds of pieces.
Some coal from the ship’s cargo camouflaged by growth litters the bottom near the wreck today, while much of the ship structure has become part of the reef and the wreckage provides an ideal haven for all kinds of marine life.
Hard and soft corals, multicolored sponges thrive on the steel hull plates, juvenile reef fish and tropicals dart in and out of the twisted structure as seafans sway in the general surge along the length of the ship. Moray eels hide in cracks in the reef and wreck.
Along this same reef line is the Nursery, which is how the site got its name because there is a family of nurse sharks that like to hang out in the area which makes it fun for all to experience.
Another fun part of this site is the beautiful coral and fish life where there actually has a very rare coral growth of stag horn here.
This is a really cool dive.
Some of the areas of interest on this site is the huge ship’s anchor and the preserved plaque. The Copenhagen was declared a State Underwater Archaeological Preserve in 1994 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places. In 2001.
Snorkelers, freedivers and scuba divers can easily visit the site from shore. Several local dive shops can fit you up with whatever you need for a day of fun.
It is nostalgic diving a wreck site over a 100 years old, just resting in the shallows almost directly in front of the old Sea Witch restaurant.
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