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Capt.
Dan Berg's Wreck Valley Collection
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BAYVILLE BARGE AND SUB
DIRECTIONS: (Bayville, Nassau County)
 Take the Long Island Expressway to Exit 41 North, which is 106,
107. When 106 & 107 split, bear right and stay on 106. Follow this
all the way down past Northern Boulevard, and make a left on Berry
Hill Road to the end. Make a left on Shore Drive to the end, then a
right on Bayville Avenue. A few blocks up on the left is Greenwich
Avenue. Both wrecks are located directly off this beach, but parking
must be found elsewhere.
CONDITIONS:
This area is one of the best dive sites on Long Island. Water ranges
from 15 to 25 feet on the barge and a little shallower on the sub.
Visibility always seems to be good, and if the wind, weather and
tide are right this area can be fish bowl clear.
To locate the barge, start at the water's edge directly in front of
the pilings located on the eastside of Greenwich Avenue, and swim
out on a 330 degree compass course. It takes the average diver
about 40 to 50 kick cycles to reach the wreck. The barge is home to
huge black fish, striped bass, crabs, loads of small lobsters, and
even an occasional two pounder.
The sub, which lies slightly east in shallower water, is said to be
a World War I, British-made, two man reconnaissance sub. Whatever
it was, the sub was put on this spot to act as a breakwater, and
protect the beach from eroding. Rocks used in the breakwater's
construction still cover most of the broken-up wreck. The only
recognizable piece is a stabilizer fin that can be found on the
northeast end of the small wreck. Car tires also can be found
scattered in the sand around both wrecks. If found, they usually
provide an easy to catch lobster for the lucky diver.
 Although this is a great dive site, parking and water access can be
a real hassle. Divers can't blame anyone but themselves for the
problems related to parking at this site. It seems that over the
years local residents have become sick of being awakened at off
hours and picking up garbage after a few bad apple divers. Last I
heard, the town of Bayville was going as far as thinking about
banning water access to divers. What I have always done was to be
very quiet and polite if anything was said. Also, patronizing the
local waterfront restaurants is not only a good idea, but they serve
great food.
 Bayville is definitely one of my favorite beach dives. The site
offers two wrecks within swimming distance, a fantastic array of
aquatic life and, as I mentioned before, good waterfront
restaurants. The Bayville Barge is also one of the most productive
black fish spots on Long Island.
Spear fishing here during the day
can be very rewarding but the real secret is to go at night. The big
black fish come in after dusk to sleep on the barge. All you have to
do is swim around the barge with a light until you spot a big fish,
usually nestled between some wreckage. A simple way of judging size
is by looking at the color of a black fishes head. The fish with a
white head is usually eight to twelve pounds. Since it is not very
sporting to catch sleeping fish, we have always limited our take to
only one or two big fish per diver.
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Bayville Barge Wreck. Courtesy Dan Berg Long Island Shore Diver Collection.
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Bayville Barge Wreck. Courtesy Dan Berg Long Island Shore Diver Collection.
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Dan Berg and Bill Campbell after a night dive on the Bayville Barge. Photo by Rick Schwarz.
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All
photographs, sketches, images and text |
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Copyright Capt. Dan Berg / Aqua Explorers Inc |
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2745
Cheshire Dr
Baldwin NY 11510
E-Mail Wreckvalle@aol.com |
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