Rube Allyn Reef

The Circle of Heroes is an underwater military veterans memorial 10 miles off the coast of Dunedin Beach, Florida in the Gulf of Mexico. It is the first underwater veterans memorial. It was dedicated on August 5, 2019, and currently has 12 6-foot tall statues at a depth of 40 feet underwater.

GPS coordinates: 27.857350, -83.030550 - 235’ WWII Navy Landing Ship Module, deployed in 1976. Can be found off of the southern end of the Indian Shores Artificial reef. Also known as LSM 1 or the Cable Wreck or LSM Wreck.

Mastodon Table Top is located approximately 16 miles from Clearwater Pass around 27.902517, -83.107850. As with all Gulf-of-Mexico diving, the visibility can vary greatly from very bad to an average of 20-30 feet. Maximum depth is around 60-65 feet.

This area is the first-ever underwater veteran memorial and consists of a dozen concrete U.S. service members standing in a circle formation 40 feet below. The Circle of Heroes underwater veteran memorial sits at this site and is a very unique dive.

The Tug Orange is an 80ft tug boat that sits upright in 45ft of water. It is part of the Pinellas County Artificial Reef Program. The tug was built in 1903 as an 80-foot long, steel-hulled harbor tug. Orange was a workhorse used to push railroad barges in the New York Harbor.

Part of the Pinellas County Artificial Reef Program. The Sheridan is a 180 ft ocean-going tug that sits in 85 ft of water. The tug sits upright and the wheel house is around 50 ft.

Part of the Pinellas County Artificial Reef Program (Pinellas #2 Reef). The Blackthorn was a 180 ft seagoing buoy tender. In 1980, the Blackthorn collided with the Capricorn, near the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, killing 23 crew members. After the investigation, the tender was scuttled.

The north part of the reef has a lot of concrete culverts and pilings. The South part of the reef is concrete pyramids with holes in them. The dive is around 30 feet deep.

Betty Rose, also called Mecco’s Barge: This 75-foot barge is intact and resting in 45 feet of water. Loran 14183.7, 44769.2, or 11 miles from John’s Pass on a heading of 250 degrees.

A nice, mellow, shallow dive with little to no current on a healthy Gulf reef just offshore from the Tampa area. This is a great dive for all levels of divers.