Diving the Oriskany

[flareless]

A group of us are driving down to Pensacola to dive Oriskany in April with MBT Divers. Most of the group is Technical with a few Recreational divers. The Tec guys plan to spend a lot of time in the 150 - 180 range then decompress while the Rec guys do two dives around the tower area of the ship.

One thing the OP mentioned was doing deco on 80 without Tec or Wreck certification. Wreck is no problem as there are many swim-throughs which are not actual penetrations. Doing deco though without proper training is something I'd really stay away from.

As for bottom time, none of the charters I was in touch with plan your dives for you. Some, in fact, want you to send them your plan ahead of time.

Have an excellent, safe dive on the Mighty-O!

 

[frenchiegirl]

thanks for you reply.

Doing deco on EAN80 or higher is not a problem for us, we are trained for that and have the corresponding certification. But most important, since Mediterranean dives are deep dives, we regurlarly dive using a pony with EAN80 so it is something really familiar to us.

 

[fyh]

You might want to contact MBT here in Pensacola and talk to the staff about the dive you want to do. There are several charter boats here that run to the O, so getting on a boat shouldn't be a problem. The guys at the shop can probably guide you to the boat that will best accomodate the type of dive you want to do.

If MBT can't accomodate your needs, the other shops in town are Dive Pros, Scuba Shack, and Bay Breeze. MBT is my favorite, and the shop I use almost exclusively.

 

[Extreme-Dive-Justin]

Hello from Florida.
Just returned from Cherbourg last week to set up some diving with our friends at Le Grand Bleu, and with the CNP- great people-. I think it is ironic to have the problems knowing what you can and cant dive here in the U.S. If not for our friends we have worked with over the years on the CSS Alabama project, we would have the same problems getting to dive in France. We are planning a trip in Aug to dive the Leopoldville, some tanks and landing craft, and possibly the Komet.
I hope you can work out your issues to be able to dive, as I know that CMAS and the French are very superior divers.

Good luck,
rebreathe

 

[Extreme-Dive-Justin]

Allait comment l'expñÓience de plongñÆ aux ŽÉtats-Unis?


Extreme Dive Adventures Welcome To Extreme Dive Adventures Inc.
rereathe

 

[frenchiegirl]

Hi Rebreathe,

So far I've never dived in United States but I am trying to put together a trip to dive the Oriskany. So far we're 3 divers and I understood that I'd need to find 3 more in order to charter a boat. Finding the divers is not too difficult, the problem is to be able to get a date that suits everybody.

I hope you will enjoy your dives in France

 

[Tom Smedley]

Do a Google search on Pensacola Florida Dive Shops and Orange Beach Alabama Dive Shops and contact them directly.

It would be important to ask if they recognize CMAS Three-Star certification and also if your record of experience would be acceptable to them for the dives that you plan to do.

Most operations require you to submit a technical dive plan before the dive. Mostly because they want to know when and where to start looking for you. Boats such as the Y-Knot are very fast. Captain Dave Mucci will very likely quote you a price for three divers.

Other boats are slower but have more space. The Oriskany is about 35 km from shore.

Again - to get a true answer contact the operation directly.