Diving Tenneco Towers in South Florida

South Florida’s largest artificial reef, Tenneco Towers is a monstrously beautiful dive site suitable for advanced level divers. A former oil rig, the Tenneco Towers now sit in 100 feet of water with three platforms reachable within recreational dive limits.

Diving Tenneco Towers:

This article provides you with everything you need to know about diving Tenneco Towers, South Florida’s largest artificial reef. By the end, you’ll know what to expect on your dive, how to get there, and what you might see.

History of Tenneco Towers:

The history of the Tenneco Towers symbolizes a shift from the ocean’s exploitation to a thriving force for nature. What do I mean?

The Tenneco Towers dive site used to be five separate oil rig platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. In 1985, the Tenneco Oil Company, which owned them, donated the rigs to the Broward County Artificial Reef Program to be sunk off the shores of Hallandale Beach for the benefit of marine life.

So, what used to be a machine contributing to the disruption of the underwater world is now iconically one of the most thriving habitats in South Florida.

Tenneco Towers Dive Overview and Navigation:

When descending upon the Tenneco Towers, you’ll first approach the top platform at approximately 60 – 70 feet. The tower sits on a slant, with the eastern end jetting upwards to the surface. Keep this in mind as you’ll become disoriented and accidentally descend while exploring each platform.

Speaking of each platform, we recommend scanning the top of the tower before plunging down to the very bottom in 130′ of water. Work your way up platform by platform discovering all the nooks and crannies the oil rig has to offer. Oh, and don’t forget to look off into the distance; bull sharks are commonly spotted here, as well.

As far as navigation? As long as you stay on the platform, it’s essentially impossible to get lost here. Just follow whatever your eyes fancy. Additionally, the Tenneco Towers are an ideal site to hunt for lionfish. Just bring your trusty pole spear and containment unit as you’ll find a lot of them!

Dive Planning for Tenneco Towers:

When available, we highly recommend Reef Smart Cards for any dive. They create beautiful waterproof cards that play a critical role in your dive plan. Additionally, we use their Dive Guide book for all of our diving in the Fort Lauderdale area.

For more: 23+ Dive Planning Resources for South Florida

What Dive Shops go to the Fort Lauderdale Wreck Trek?

• American Dream Dive Charters behind the Hilton on 17th Avenue just south of downtown. They run a great, clean, and basic operation aboard their Newton Dive Boat. Don’t hesitate to book with their crew!
• Sea Experience in Bahia Mar Marina on Fort Lauderdale Beach. This is a full dive shop with classes, charters, retail, and guides. If you’re a new open water diver, we suggest you book with Sea Experience to ensure everything is taken care of. If you want a dive guide, call and request for (Andrew or Laura) and tell them we sent you!

Help Protect the Coral Reef During Your Dive

Sunscreen! Shocking, I know! In fact, many popular sunscreen brands contain extremely harmful chemicals to our coral! Specifically, oxybenzone and octinoxate.

Because of this, we’ve partnered with our favorite brand of reef safe sunscreen, Stream2Sea! We want to get YOU discounts so you can help save our coral reefs with reef safe sunscreen!