Overview

The Recreational SCUBA Diving Areas map depicts activity areas mapped by expert SCUBA divers and published in online and print SCUBA guidebooks as described in the Northeast Coastal and Marine Recreational Use Characterization Study, which was conducted by SeaPlan, the Surfrider Foundation, and Point 97 under the direction of the Northeast Regional Planning Body.

Data Considerations

This map depicts generally well-known SCUBA diving areas, such as wrecks, artificial reefs, and other marine habitats, as mapped by SCUBA diving experts and locations identified in online and published SCUBA guides and associated literature. While the dataset is thought to provide a thorough representation of where SCUBA diving is likely to take place in the region, it does not purport to represent the location of every location where SCUBA diving could take place. While man-made structures, such as wrecks and artificial reefs are finite in number, there are additional, enumerable sites that, while important to divers, may lack specific boundaries and which might not be known by many divers. These locations have been buffered to address data confidentiality and site sensitivity concerns.

Status

This is a final data product.

Support for Regional Ocean Planning

For information about how these data and maps were developed with stakeholder input and will be used to support regional ocean planning, please see the 2016 Northeast Ocean Plan at www.neoceanplanning.org.