Diamond Shoals

For the inactive lighthouse on the Diamond Shoals, see Diamond Shoal Light. For the thoroughbred racehorse, see Diamond Shoal.

The Diamond Shoals are an infamous, always-shifting cluster of shallow, underwater sandbars that extend eight miles (13 km) out from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, United States.[1] Hidden beneath the waves and constantly changing in both form and depth, the shoals are believed to be responsible for up to 600 shipwrecks along the Cape Hatteras shoreline, an area commonly known as the "Graveyard of the Atlantic".[2]

Diamond Shoals is composed of three distinct shoals, collectively designated as Diamond Shoals. From the shore seaward, the individual shoals and channels are:

  • Hatteras Shoals
  • Hatteras Slough
  • Inner Diamond Shoals
  • Diamond Slough
  • Outer Diamond Shoals[3]
  1. ^ "Lost to the Perils of the Sea". US National Park Service. March 19, 2018. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
  2. ^ "Diamond Shoals". OuterBanks.com. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
  3. ^ "Cape Hatteras Light Station". Cape Hatteras National Seashore. National Park Service. January 19, 2023. Retrieved 2 July 2023.