Ajax Reef

Ajax Reef is a named barrier-reef area on Biscayne’s ocean side, visited for scuba rather than as a shore-side stop. It’s a boat-access drift-dive destination, so you need a boat to reach it. Keep it in mind when you’re planning an offshore dive; skip it if you want a quick dry-land stop.

The outer reef is made up of coral-covered ridges and grooves that run toward sandy bottom. That changing relief is the draw: you travel over the reef rather than visit one marked feature. The park lists two Ajax moorings; Ajax Reef 1 and 2 sit in 52 and 56 feet of water. Those are depths at the mooring points, not a maximum depth for the whole reef.

The two public-use Ajax moorings are through-line buoys with a four-hour limit. Approach slowly so you can read the water and avoid damaging natural or cultural resources. The reef area extends beyond the two buoy names, so the map point marks Ajax Reef 1 as a practical reference, not the whole reef.