Favorite Dive Spots

[Bill Adkins]

Re: Favorite Dive Spots

bilgegoy, I dove for yrs off a narrow Sundancer with twin outdrives. I started using the ladder and swim step to haul it all out but with time and perhaps more importantly a ton of dives I set up a clip line at the rear cleats. I would just hang it all a couple feet under water, climb aboard over the outdrives not using the ladder and haul it all up from on deck. After a couple of yrs of that I learned to love free diving. At the time the boat was slipped and I lived a few blocks from the marina. The dive sites started about 2 miles south from the harbor mouth so I dove several times a week. Simple and easy are real important considerations.
Bill

 

[bilgeboy]

Re: Favorite Dive Spots

Appreciate the thoughts, Bill.

I really don't use the tanks much more, myself. Mask, fins, and snorkel is very liberating. I like your idea about passing the gear over the side first, though. That should be doable if I want to use a tank. No swim platform for me, so I still need to do some thinking.

Mike

 

[JustMrWill]

Re: Favorite Dive Spots

I found that having a line hanging off the side of the boat with a clip tied to the end makes the whole dive experience 100% better.

At the end of the dive...inflate your BCD a bit, clip it to the line and take it off. You then can climb the ladder without the tank, BCD and regulater (and weights if they are integraed in the BCD). Once onboard...you can get your breath etc and then just pull your equipment onboard before you pull anchor. You can expand this idea...add a couple more lines and clip fins, mask, weight belt, catch bag etc.

You can also tie it off and toss it in before the dive...then just put it on in the water before the dive. I personally haven't done this but I have dove with some who do. I like to have everything on and checked before jumping in.

I personally liked having a boat with a full swim platform...the one thing I do wish was different...I only had a 2-rung ladder and no hand rail/hold so I had to use the outdrive to assist in exiting the water. If you are going to add a ladder..make sure that it goes deep enough (when deployed) so that you can reach the bottom rung easily with your foot.

-JMW

 

[Frank O]

Re: Favorite Dive Spots

I was pointed to this message board for info about outboards, but couldn't help stopping by the dive forum here. I've been a diver (both scuba and freediving) for several years, and earlier this year bought my first boat (1995 21' Whaler CC).

The boat came with a 2-rung ladder on a swimstep, but one of my first mods was to buy a 3-rung Windline TDL-3X ladder -- a vast improvement.

Bill, is that harbor you're describing King Harbor in Redondo? The part about "dive sites starting about 2 miles south" sounds kind of like it.

 

[Miami Criminal Law]

Re: Favorite Dive Spots

can anyone suggest any shallow water dive sites (spots) in the keys or in Miami for lobster. I only have snorkle gear. ANy suggestions would be appreciated

 

[ray estep]

Re: Favorite Dive Spots

I grew up in Sarasota florida. We dove off Turtle beach almost every weekend except in winter. We used an airbowie. Or just snorkled. We would go to the keys 2 or 3 times a year. we'd stay on Ramrod key and dive on Lew Reef eight miles out. Part of the reef stuck out of the water at low tide. then went to over 30 ft. There were lobster in every hole or crack but there was also a moray eel there waiting for an octapus to come alone looking for the lobster. You had to be real careful about where you stuck your hand.When I was in the Army I was stationed near Panama City Fl. Very nice diving there at St andrews state park.

Ozarks R&R

 

[Bill Adkins]

Re: Favorite Dive Spots

Frank, yes it was King harbor. If you are familiar with it then you understand how addicting it could become.
Bill

 

[Frank O]

Re: Favorite Dive Spots

Frank, yes it was King harbor. If you are familiar with it then you understand how addicting it could become.

Yep, that's where I'm keeping my 21' Whaler. After several years of taking commercial dive boats out to Catalina and other islands, I've been spending a lot of time getting to know Palos Verdes ...

 

[Bill Adkins]

Re: Favorite Dive Spots

Frank, be warned that I have found several anchors on the PV coastline. Lots of rocks to contend with. There used to be a good lobster spot maybe 100 or so yards out off a drain pipe on the beach, maybe a tad north of it. It was fun to hook it in a calmer area and kayak or swim in to a hunting area. The points will have a rising swell that can loose an anchor.
Bill

 

[Frank O]

Re: Favorite Dive Spots

Thanks for the advice, Bill. Right now I'm carrying two anchors -- usually I use a 5kg Bruce that a friend gave me as a boat-warming gift, and we also bring along a Fortress that came with the boat. There've been a couple of times we've had to work at getting the anchor loose, but no show-stoppers yet, knock on wood. I know the drain pipe you're talking about -- several other folks recommended that spot, so we've hit it a couple of times with productive results. All along that stretch of coast, there's a lot of kelp that's young but fairly thick in spots extending out from the shore to a depth of 35 feet, plus or minus. My buddies went shallow on one dive and said it got very surgy with poor vis. I've tended to work the 30-40-ft depth zone so far at this point in the season. A lot of rock reef thereabouts with channels perpendicular to shore. I haven't spotted any particular structure right around the drain pipe that would recommend that exact spot as opposed to, say, up to a quarter mile either way along the coast. Is there something there maybe I haven't noticed yet?

 

[Frank O]

Re: Favorite Dive Spots

Just a follow-up thought about the points around PV. It looks to me as though there's interesting structure around many rocky points at the ends of various coves. Just about all the places with neat bathymetry, though, also seem to have their share of offshore rocks close to or breaking the surface. It makes me a little nervous to bring the boat to areas like that at night, particularly given that I'm new at this. For example, a week and a half ago we did a Saturday night dive just off Flat Rock. I was pretty sure I knew where the rocks were, but while my buddies were diving I made a point of keeping an eye on a set of rocks not too far away (not to mention watching the chartplotter fully zoomed-in as another data point to make sure we didn't start dragging).

 

[Bill Adkins]

Re: Favorite Dive Spots

I actually found a few spots that I liked and then burned a few tanks of air doing bottom maps. Use kick cycles as referances and a nav board to log the bottoms shape and rock outcroppings and you will find a safe place to put the hook predictably. I learned that in a DM course.
I used a bruce or claw anchor rated for a 10 foot bigger boat so I knew it would be there when I returned. Makes PV a lot more enjoyable with a little effort and if you find a bug or two while your there then a BBQ is in order. Its all good.
Bill

 

[rubberduck]

Re: Favorite Dive Spots

I came across this forum today as I visit frequently for advice on my fixer up project. I mostly do shore and kayak dives in Southern MA, mostly Cape Cod and mostly for lobster.

Hopefully this year with the help of people on his board I'll go from shore dives to boat dives if the poject goes as planned.

JustMrWill, looks like your very close by, I'm in Taunton. We'll have to plan some dives when the weather warms. I dive wet from early April to November.

 

[JustMrWill]

Re: Favorite Dive Spots

rubberduck

I am a member of the South Shore Neptunes. Durring the summer we dive almost every weekend (members with boats keep them mainly at Quincy Yacht Club so thats where we leave out of. )

If interested check out http://www.southshoreneptunes.org

or email me at justmrwill [at] yahoo.com

-JMW

 

[bobhumphrey]

Re: Favorite Dive Spots

Carmel Bay. Carmel California. If anyone watched the AT&T Open at Pebble Beach...that's Carmel Bay in the background. On a good winter day visibility can be greater than 70 feet. Nothing compares to California's giant kelp kelp forests on a clear day with the rays of the sun filtering down and illuminating the schools of fish hovering in the forest. The water temperature runs a balmy 50-55 plus or minus degrees F.

 

[studlymandingo]

Re: Favorite Dive Spots

It's getting dive time here on the Gulf Coast! The visibility is good right now, anyone getting out soon?

 

[craig240DA]

Re: Favorite Dive Spots

It's getting dive time here on the Gulf Coast! The visibility is good right now, anyone getting out soon?

Where do you go? I'm in Tampa and lining up spots for later this year.

 

[fourwinnsdook]

Re: Favorite Dive Spots

I'm in daytona, and usually go to the keys once a year. i've dove off of daytona, but usually not to great of vis. I've been diving for 13 years, but really should go more often. I usually go with my dad, but i have my own boat now and may be planning a trip to the keys very soon.

 

[erikgreen]

Re: Favorite Dive Spots

I like lake Superior's north shore, in MN. 40 degree water and great shipwrecks, vis out to 70-100 feet on a good day, and no saltwater.

 

[fourwinnsdook]

Re: Favorite Dive Spots

wow, i couldn't immagine diving in freshwater, especially on a wreck. I'll bet everythign is so well preserved. I love the salt life and colors, ther's nothing that can beat that but i'll bet a 100ft vis lake would be awsome too.