ISO Newbie friendly open water swims

Hi folks, I'm thinking of trying some more open water swims this coming summer. Last summer, I did the Plunge for Patients in Wildwood, NJ (which took a lot of my available courage b/c of swimming through breakers, but I was glad I did it!), the Rainbow Channel Challenge in Somers Point, NJ--a nice mile bay swim (there was also a 2something mile swim, but I didn't feel ready for that), and (as part of an aquathlon) a 1/4 mile lake swim. Oddly, the lake swim made me more nervous than the bay swim b/c there were so many rusty pilings under the surface... I stayed on the deep side for most of the swim, then as soon as my hand touched one of the pilings during a stroke, I walked to shore, rather than risk scraping myself again. I'd do any of these events again, but looking around for other possibilities as well. I noticed this in my search: www.nycswim.org/.../Event.aspx It's a half mile "Cove to Cove" swim off Manhattan. I realize a half mile is not much, but I have no experience swimming near there, and if I tried one of the featured races, I'd want to get a feel for what it's like before doing a longer swim. I'm in the Philly area, and travel will depend on available time/money... preferably would be good to find swims fairly nearby, but NYC isn't out of the question. Thanks for any ideas!