Normally, 3:1 is fine for anchoring but a small boat in deep water would just seem safer at the recommended 7:1 scope.

I think we'll definitely do some diving off local boats to check it out.

New Jersey diving is certainly different from many other places, especially Florida and the Caribbean. Average visibility is about fifteen feet and that is plenty for most divers. If you are going to use your own boat, you need to understand how to grapple into a reef or wreck. Grapple hooks are not expensive and many wreck fisherman use them. I have been using my own boat for many, many years and I still cannot use a sand anchor to get me close enough to a reef or wreck to dive it. Next, you need to have someone on the boat while you are diving. I know quite a few people that don't do that but I think that if you don't, it is just stupid. I know how many times that my grapple has pulled away from the site while I was on the bottom. I am thankful for the people topside that came to get me. Conditions on the bottom change dramatically from day-to-day and from hour-to-hour. For the most part, you need to worry first about the ocean conditions if you are using your own boat. If it is too rough, go home. If it is not, give it a go. You will learn soon enough where the good places are to dive. Some reefs come up higher than others and those are the places where you will probably find good visibility. If you are going diving after a storm or when there is a swell, you want to go to places that stick up higher off the bottom for the best chance of good visibility. Artificial reefs are also easier (in most cases) to navigate than shipwrecks. Many shipwrecks have been wire dragged or depth charged and they don't resemble something that you would recognize and therefore you can easily get lost on them. Most artificial reefs are intact and you can find your way around them better than you can on shipwrecks. I truly believe that new divers to New Jersey will have an easier time getting acclimated to diving on artificial reefs than on shipwrecks. Finally, I also believe that going out on a commercial charter boat will help you understand New Jersey diving better before you start out doing it from your own boat. You might want to take a wreck diving course from a local dive shop which will introduce you to New Jersey diving. I hope that you do it and enjoy it as much as so many of us do. I also want to commend you for asking for advice here. There are a great number of New Jersey divers that are eager to help new divers enjoy our waters!!!!