Seward & Resurrection Bay · United States · Wreck
Fox Island Spit
Ex-Navy barge Y-754 sloping from 3 m to 24 m off the spit
Area photo: Jon Gudorf Photography · CC BY-SA 2.0
Fox Island Spit is a summer shore dive on a wreck in Resurrection Bay, reached from Seward by water taxi or charter boat. The ex-Navy barge Y-754 lies parallel to the shore with its stern in 3 m (10 ft) and its bow at about 24 m (80 ft), and the hull is home to rockfish, large sea cucumbers and greenling.
Also known as Fox Island barge.
Where it is and how deep
59.9395° N, 149.3084° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The boat ride out from Seward takes around 40 minutes, and with no facilities on the island, divers carry their own food, water and exposure protection. The dive is a shore entry: the barge starts right below the waterline on a straight line from the campground path, lying parallel to the shore with its stern in 3 m (10 ft) of water, so the shallow end of the wreck is the natural place to start.
From the stern the hull runs due east, down towards the end of the spit, with the bow resting at about 24 m (80 ft). Y-754 caught fire, was beached and was pulled back into the sea in 1950, and the structure now carries rockfish, large sea cucumbers and greenling. The barge is old and its structure unpredictable, so the whole dive is made along the outside of the hull.
The wreck
- Vessel
- Y-754
- Type
- Ex-Navy barge
- Sunk
- 1950
- Cause
- Caught fire, was beached, then pulled back into the sea
- Lies
- Parallel to shore, stern in 3 m (10 ft), bow at about 24 m (80 ft) towards the spit's end
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Good | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair |
Season follows Seward & Resurrection Bay: Fox Island trips run June to early September. The bay stays ice-free all winter, when visibility is clearer (15–24 m) but the water falls to 2–3 °C.
Know before you go
- The barge is old and its structure unpredictable; stay outside the hull and never penetrate it.
- The bow lies at about 24 m (80 ft) in cold water; plan gas and drysuit buoyancy for the deep end before leaving the stern.
- Tides move the waterline on the spit, so gear left on the beach needs placing with the tide in mind.
Dive videos
Fox Island Barge · Dive Alaska on YouTube
Questions divers ask
How deep is the Fox Island barge?+
The ex-Navy barge Y-754 lies with its stern in 3 m (10 ft) of water and its bow at about 24 m (80 ft), towards the eastern end of Fox Island Spit.
How do divers get to Fox Island Spit?+
By water taxi or charter boat from Seward, a ride of around 40 minutes, then a shore entry from the island. The island has no facilities.
Sources
- Fox Island Spit, Resurrection Bay, Seward — Dive Alaska
- Fox Island (Alaska) — Wikipedia
- Sandspit Point — OpenStreetMap
More dive sites in Seward & Resurrection Bay
Reef
Rock structure to 12 m (40 ft) with greenling and small invertebrates
Field of plumose anemones at 30 m (100 ft) near the bay mouth
Similar dives elsewhere
Boilers in 7 m on the rocks that took a 1907 steamer
Wreck
Anna Katrina Fritzen
Klaipėda & Curonian Spit · Lithuania
A torpedoed steam freighter, pieced together from scattered wreckage
Wreck
Anna Maria
Stockholm Archipelago & Dalarö · Sweden
An Amsterdam-built fluit that caught fire and sank at the Dalarö quay
A century-old cargo wreck open to French Level 1 divers