WRECK ALLEY SITE DESCRIPTIONS Wreck Alley is a collection of wrecks off the shore of Mission Beach. These wrecks range from Intermediate to Advanced difficulty levels. HMCS YUKON The Granddaddy (or would it be Grandmother?) of wrecks in San Diego. People come from all over the world to dive this wreck. The 366’ Yukon lies in ~105’ of water on her port (left) side. She was sunk as an artificial reef in 2000 by the San Diego Oceans Foundation (one of our educational partners). The Yukon began her life as a Canadian destroyer escort, but now she serves as a home for a myriad of marine life. She is known for her white metridiums (big white anemones) that grow to about 2’ in length. The Yukon was prepared for divers and there are openings cut throughout the ship (as you can see from the photo above). Just remember that unless you are properly prepared and equipped for penetration you shouldn’t do it. If you have to ask yourself “Am I a wreck diver?” then the answer is NO, stay on the outside of the wreck and enjoy all the cool stuff that you’ll see there. On the outside you’ll see 4 guy wires running the length of the ship. These are transect lines that we use to do weekly fish counts for one of our studies. Elsewhere you’ll find photographic quadrats that were used on the original study done by the San Diego Oceans Foundation and Scripps Institution of Oceanography. We are duplicating there original study to document the increase in life that has occurred over the years. The second most requested dive in Wreck Alley. The Ruby-E was a retired U.S. Coast Guard cutter that was sunk in 1987. She is 165’ in length and lies in 85’ of water. She has been down a lot longer than the Yukon and is covered with strawberry anemones. Smaller and less complex, she offers some simple swim-thrus for people that are properly trained. Her Hull is thin and becoming delicate. There seems to be a game that has evolved over the last few years on the Ruby-E; Find The Toilet. The toilet seems to magically appear in different locations around the ship. Moving the toilet around tends to infuriate the “purists”, but I’m not a “purist”. Personally I think that the toilet may be haunted and move by itself because I’ve never actually seen anyone move it. When you dive the Ruby-E let us know where it’s migrated to now. EL REY The El Rey was a kelp harvesting ship that was the first boat intentionally sunk in Wreck Alley. What the wreck lacks in complexity it makes up for with life. Large red gorgonians grow on her deck and a large torpedo ray and several lingcod seem to have taken up permanent residence here. NOSC Tower was an old research tower in 60’ of water off of Mission Beach. During a storm the tower was knocked over, creating an underwater jungle gym. This is a great place to practice your wreck diving skills and buoyancy, weaving in and out around the broken structure. The pilings have been down for decades and there is something living on every square inch. 
(Photo Courtesy of Brett Tischler, 06/2008 taken aboard the Marissa)
Wreck Alley is visited by divers from across the world. This unique collection of wrecks include: The HMCS Yukon, the Ruby-E, the El Rey and the NOSC Tower. You will find descriptions of each of the wrecks here.
