Indian Shores Reef is one of the oldest artificial reefs of Florida mainly filled with old wrecks, metal and concrete.

Name Dive Site:	Indian Shores Reef
Depth:	19-98ft (6-30m)
Accessibility:	Shore, Boat
Inserted/Added by:	lars, © Author: Lars Hemel
Rated:	Rated 1.5, 2 votes
Specifications:

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The Indian Shores Artificial Reef program was started in 1965 when pillboxes and metal pipes were dropped into Pinellas County. At eleven miles from the Clearwater Pass and at thirteen miles from the John's Pass entrance marker, she is one of the best inshore diving possibilities around St Petersburg and Clearwater. In those early days of reef creation they learned that car tires were pretty buoyant and were therefore not the best materials to start a well funded artificial reef with. They used concrete slabs, culvert, sections of handrails, part of shipwrecks and small barges after 1978 to create one of the top reefs near Tampa and St Pete.

There are three highlight you would not like to miss at this fantastic dive site. A bit southwest of the northern buoy is a 240 foot long completely intact salt hopper barge, which is located up side down, often referred to as the Upside-Down barge. Only at its western end you can sometimes enter the wreck, but it is dangerous to do so as strong currents can seal off the entrance within minutes. The main structures of the Indian Shores Reef are two almost equal World War II Landing Ships names LSM 1 and LSM 2 reachable from the center and south marker. They are filled with cables by the Explosives Ordnance Disposal Team from Cecil Field Naval Air Station in Jacksonville to stimulate fish life.

Blacktip sharks, goliath groupers and barracuda are several of the larger fish that hover in these waters. Fishermen are probably more interested in the large amounts of king and Spanish mackerel that live here. Whatever your reason to go here, there is enough to see for the investigating diver.

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