Visitor Center, Charlestown Navy Yard; (617) 242-5601
Take a free 45-minute tour of the docks, the rope walk, and the several historic ships moored here, all sponsored by the National Park Service. The visitor center is located next to the U.S.S. Constitution. Tours are given Wednesdays through Sundays at 11 a.m. and 1 rm. mid-June through early September. You can also walk around and even onto the ships on your own.
Charlestown Navy Yard Tours US Map & Phone & Address Photo Gallery
This is a shallow, kelp-covered plateau and there is not much tidal movement or marine life below the kelp line, which gives it a stagnant appearance. There are a few half-metre reef ledges but no holes or crevices. Occasionally a few seals from the colony at the south end of Megstone play around, but that’s about it. In 7 metres, 150 metres to the east of Swedman Rocks in the direction of Megstone, are some nice gullies, channels and caves. One of the small caves is home to a large conger and, as a strange bedfellow, a 5-lb lobster. The dive site is quite sheltered from the main tidal flow because of the high reefs of Swedman, but because of this, everything is covered in sediment, making the scenery look dreary. The kelp is also a bit sparse, but overall it is not a bad dive. This is the northern end of a 200-metre reef covered in dense kelp and tangleweed, so thick on the top that you have great difficulty in pulling your way through it. A very small portion of the top at this northern end dries to half a metre on a big tide and it slopes down steeply on both sides to 10 metres. The west side is the most interesting, because of the amount of soft corals and various colourful anemones.
