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Fenwick Shoals
 DE
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Max Depth: 31-35ft/9-11m
Average Viz: 5-10ft/2-3m
Entry Type: Boat
Bottom Composition: Sand
Aquatic Life: Plenty To See
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Rating: 4.11 by 9 divers
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Fenwick Shoals is a boat accessible salt water dive site, located in DE. This dive site has an average rating of 4.11 out of 5 from 9 scuba divers. The maximum depth is 31-35ft/9-11m. The average visibility is 5-10ft/2-3m.
Home to numerous broken up low lying wrecks with boilers present on both the inner and outer sites. There can be a mild to stiff current and there is virtually always a surge. This is a popular spot for spear fishing, especially with the long bottom times, and small lobsters inhabit the many nooks and crannies as well. Most of the wrecks are covered by bright yellow encrusting sponge and myriad starfish. On good visibility days, divers can be seen on the bottom from the surface. Among the many inhabitants of the shoals are stingrays, tautog, sea bass, trigger fish, butterfly fish, puffer fish and the occasional stargazer or turtle.
Outer Fenwick: From the Pilot Journals "On April 18, 1896 the tug North American left the Delaware Breakwater Wednesday with a corp of United States torpedo officials bound to Fenwick Island Shoals, to blow up the numerous wrecks in that vicinity...The wrecks of the British steamship Brinkburn, the Norwegian bark Siam and other craft which have ended their existence there will be destroyed." Another possibility for yet a third wreck there is the barge Old Dominion which sank there in 1927 according to newspaper reports at the time. Construction of the wrecks on the outer shoals is steel or iron, steam powered screw approximately 250 ft. long. Depth: 25 ft.
Inner Fenwick: Also known as the "Boiler Wreck", construction is also steel or iron, steam powered and approximately 300 ft. long. In Gary Gentile theorizes that the site could be the Sutton, a steel-hulled freighter than sank in 1900. It is very broken up and low lying. The boiler is a prime "hot spot" for spear fishing. Depth: 35 ft.