Murphy II

To offset the loss of natural reef habitat, Palm Beach County partnered with local fishing and diving groups to create an artificial reef program. What started as a grassroots effort has grown into something remarkable. For more than forty years, Palm Beach County has been placing ocean-compatible materials on the seafloor to create new habitat, protect natural reefs from overuse, and give divers and anglers new places to explore. The county's formal artificial reef program was established in 1985, and since then the Department of Environmental Resources Management has deployed over 55 vessels, 100,000 tons of concrete, and 133,000 tons of limestone boulders, creating a reef system that stretches from Tequesta to Boca Raton.

Murphy II sits at around 75 feet, squarely in the zone where Palm Beach's offshore reefs tend to thrive. More than 300 species of fish and hundreds of coral and sponge species are found in these waters. On a reef like Murphy II, that diversity shows up fast. The reef structure draws an abundance of marine life that aggregates along the hard surfaces and finds shelter in crevices and undercuts, with large schools of grunts, porkfish, and snappers often milling in front of or beneath overhangs, while spadefish and jack crevalle cruise overhead.

Loggerhead, hawksbill, and green sea turtles, as well as nurse sharks, favor reef ledges as a quiet spot to rest away from wave surge and current. And if you time your visit to late summer, the reef takes on a different character entirely. Every year from August through October, goliath grouper travel up the Florida coast and gather on Palm Beach wrecks and reefs, scientists believe, for one purpose: reproduction. Goliath grouper are the largest predatory reef-dwelling fish in the Caribbean, weighing as much as 660 pounds and measuring up to 8 feet long. Sharing 75 feet of water with one of those animals is an experience you do not forget.