Around the Island at Nubble Light
July 27, 2026
It’s been a while since my last blog post, but I recently had an amazing experience doing one of my favorite local dives: swimming around the island at Nubble Lighthouse. This was my 22nd dive around Nubble Island, where Cape Neddick Lighthouse sits just offshore from Sohier Park in York, Maine.
What makes this dive special is the feeling of doing a true island circumnavigation. You are not just dropping down, following a wall, and turning around. You are moving around the entire island, watching the underwater terrain change as you go. On the south side, huge pink granite formations are covered with life, including sea stars, urchins, and Northern Red Anemones. On the north side, the dive becomes a maze of channels, under hangs, crevices, and mini-walls that invite you to slow down and explore.
Around the Island at Nubble Lighthouse
One of Southern Maine’s most memorable shore dives is not just beneath the lighthouse — it is around the island.
There are lots of great shore dives in New England, but Nubble has something few sites can offer: the chance to dive all the way around a small island crowned by one of Maine’s most recognizable lighthouses. From the surface it is a postcard. Underwater, it is even better.
The dive can be done in either direction, north to south or south to north, depending on tide and current. I choose my direction based on whether the tide is incoming or outgoing, so I am not fighting current on the way out or on the return. With good planning, an 80-cubic-foot tank provides plenty of gas to make the full loop comfortably. High to mid-high tide makes the dive easier, especially for entry and exit. At higher water, you can stay closer to the island and even swim through the channel. At low tide, the exposed boulders and slippery rocks make getting in and out more challenging.
What I love most is how different each side of the island feels. The south side has those big pink granite formations loaded with life. The north side has tighter structure: small walls, cracks, undercuts, and channels that feel like little underwater passageways. I have seen sturgeon here, along with occasional schools of striped bass and baitfish like pollock and pogies.
It is also a place full of local dive memories. Donnie Stevens from Atlantic Aquasport Dive Shop told me how he used to place glow sticks around parts of the island for students to find during night dives as part of underwater navigation class exercises.
That kind of story is part of what makes Nubble feel like more than just a dive site — it is part of the local diving community.
Dive It Safely
As special as this dive is, it should be done with respect for the site. If you have not dived around Nubble before, go with a dive guide or experienced local diver who knows the island, the entry and exit points, the tide, and the current patterns. This is not a dive to figure out for the first time on your own.
A dive flag is also important, especially during the summer months when boat traffic can cross the channel at high tide. Towing a flag helps make divers visible to boaters and adds an extra layer of safety when moving around the island.
For me, diving around Nubble Island is special because it combines everything I love about New England diving: cold clear water when conditions line up, dramatic granite structure, abundant marine life, a little bit of navigation, and the satisfaction of surfacing after a full loop around an iconic island. It is a dive that always feels like an accomplishment — and one I never get tired of repeating.