Joe’s Tug has a great story behind its sinking, although much of the circumstances around the actual events remain a mystery to most, even to this day.  Joe’s Tug is an old shrimp boat sunk in not very deep water, just south of Key West.  Because it was made of steel, you can still see the shape of the hull, and it makes a good beginner’s dive since it’s not that deep.  For snorkelers and freedivers, if the vis is good and you can dive down a bit, say around 50 feet,  you will see Joe’s Tug.

Back  in the 80′s, when apparently nobody kept an eye on the harbor too much, Joe’s Tug was docked and ready to be towed to Miami to become an artificial reef.  She had been stripped of dangerous pollutants and readied for sinking.  Sometime in the night, some locals decided they’d like the new reef a little closer to home.  So they stole it and planned to sink it in their own secret spot.

They didn’t make it to their secret spot and the thing sank in 65 feet of water where it is now.  Her position has been slightly modified by past hurricanes and it sits upright in the water.  A lot of the local dive shops that run boats for scuba divers love to take their customers to Joe’s Tug.

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