Newport RI

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Don1125

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Messages
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Location
Barrington RI
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I am trying to find where the artillery rounds are in newport. I heard they are near Prices's neck that true? If some one nows where they are could you please tell me thanks.
 
Prices neck was an anti-aircraft gunnery range many, many years ago. Back in the 60’s and 70’s we used to pick up fired and unfired 40MM AA rounds in that area. I still have one (fired).
We’d pull the projectile out of the case and burn the stick powder inside, made great campfire starters!

That is one of the sites I’ll be diving this season now that I have a scooter. I used get in the water at Green Bridge Cove. It’s a half mile trip to Prices Neck from there. Back in the day we would swim out there on the surface. These days I need a scooter to drag my a$$ out there. Also right in front of the old castle there are three large clusters of rocks that I call Green Bridge Reef. I’ve found 40MM’s there also. One of the guys I dived with back then found a 1911 .45 pistol in a holster on a web belt at the bottom of the reef! It wasn’t serviceable but a nice find none the less. Also several guys found AA helmets WWII vintage shaped to allow the use of head phones .

I doubt there’s much of anything out there these days and if there is it’ll take some digging to find it. Now if you go and start fanning the sand, be sure you have a spear with you because you’ll be ringing the dinner bell for some very large fluke that inhabit the area.

If you want to do that dive in a couple of weeks PM me. I have 2 scooters and after we check you out on one of them we can make the dive and see what we can find.
I only use the scooter to get out to the site. I clip it to my float while diving.
Even if we find nothing it is one of the better dives in Newport. Also nearby is Gooseberry Island, IMO one the best dive sites in New England. That would be another dive.
 
AfterDark can you give me more information about Gooseberry Island? How to get to it, location, depth etc? Can it be done from shore? thanks
 
Gooseberry Island is easy to find on a map. It is off the Ocean Drive about 1/2mile East of Green Bridge. It really isn't a shore dive although I've done it with a scooter when I had one. The Giant Strides Dive Shop in Warwick, RI run regular charters there when the weather permits. Any south, southwest, southeast winds or storms out at sea will churn the waters up on the south east and west sides island or cause large swells that make diving the south side of the island hazardous.

With a yak it is a short paddle from Green Bridge. Green Bridge isn't a "bridge" it's the part of Ocean Drive that bridges across the flow that feeds the salt pond on the other side of the road. Green bridge is the only spot along the Ocean Drive where there is water on both sides of the road.

Gooseberry Island attracts large numbers of fish of all kinds. Large schools of big togs are common. In the summer tropical fish end their ride north on the Gulf Stream there. The north side is almost always calm and great for snorkeling.
Visibility is generally good for RI, 10' is the norm but some days 30' is possible! The island is also home for 2 naturally formed underwater arches that are hard to find if one does not know the locations. I can find the shallow one every time the deeper one at 50FSW is harder to find. By the way 50FSW is max depth, average depth is probably about 20FSW.

Here's some links:
gooseberry island newport ri - Google Search not every image is of the island but most are.

This shows you what Green Bridge looks like from the road.

Hope this helps.
 
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Fiddler, Finding shells out there is pretty fun, but a bit of a rarity. I have come across a few over the years, but they are a few still out there. I kayaked out to Gooseberry Island a couple of years ago looking for the arches. I paddled out to the island, moored the boats on the beach and did a shore dive. I didn't find the arches, but it was very do able.
 
I am trying to find where the artillery rounds are in newport. I heard they are near Prices's neck that true? If some one nows where they are could you please tell me thanks.

There are plenty there if you are in the right spot. After a big storm(after Hurricane Bob in 1991 they were all over the place) it's almost hard NOT to find them.
Better yet, get yourself an underwater detector and you will find more than you want. Good luck.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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