paulwall
Contributor
Left New Orleans at 5am to drive to the Orange Beach Jetties to meet up with Mat (Suprbugman) for some dives before his "bridal shower" or whatever where he was expected in the early afternoon. Called Mat from Loxley, and scheduled a meet at the point. Expected high tide at 8:30, but since we were diving sans wetsuits, it was short work getting geared up and into the water. The tide was still coming in, so the 40 minute trip down the jetties was a combination of strong swimming and undewater rock climbing. I was scoping out crabs for the upcoming Crab Grab, and watching schools of shad and mangrove pairs swimming hither and yon. I had my head in a nook, looking at a bruiser of a stone crab, when Mat starts yanking on my left fin. Mat doesn't excite easily, so I turned around to see what the hubbub was, bub. A large hawksbill turtle with an entire ecosystem (Mat's term) on its' back was crawling slowly around on the sand behind us. (S?)he seemed really taken with Mat, and crawled lovingly toward him several times. Mat snapped lots of pics, and we gave her(him?) her space. Eventually, she tucked her head into the same rocks I had my head tucked into and we went on. Mat and I got separated, as I was playing with a large octopus in the rocks, and mat was looking for more photo ops. When we neared the end of the jetties, Mat and I exchanged signals, then Mat went one way, and I took an Alabama Drift dive back toward the starting point. I mean I was hauling butt with the incoming tide! Major e-ticket ride! Max depth 25ft for 60mins, 86*. Vis 10-15'.
Next we went to the Paddlewheeler wreck. It's in a different spot than I was led to believe by some. Waves were breaking over our heads on the entry, with a short period between waves. I'll say no more, because mat had me blindfolded until we got to the wreck and took a circuitous route to keep me from counting fin strokes (I was also stripped of my compass and GPS). Very cool wreck for a beach dive, the axle for the wheels is still intact, and fish are plentiful-large flounder and some legal Mangrove. Chased flounder around for a while, and explored the wreck looking for loose brass Pins. Max 16ft for 67min. Vis went to crap late in the dive, and Stinging jellies were abundant. Also, there was lots of "seaweed" in the water. Vis went from 10-15 to 3-6 during the dive.
Finally, we made it to the shrimp boat. I corrected Mat's directions, and we found it with little difficulty in the 3-6ft vis. This is my secret location, and there were large crabs about, nearly a dozen flounder including some big ones, lots of invisible stinging things that made me uncomfortable. Since Mat was using his unfinished tank from the previous dive, and he had to get somewhere, the dive was short. Max 16ft for 34 mins. I then went for tank fills (and failed) and FOOD, and to wash my truck before heading home.
So, 14 hours total, 3.5hrs there 2.5 hrs diving, and 3.5 hours back. So 5 hours to eat and get from site to site. Thanks Mat for 3 great dives.
Next we went to the Paddlewheeler wreck. It's in a different spot than I was led to believe by some. Waves were breaking over our heads on the entry, with a short period between waves. I'll say no more, because mat had me blindfolded until we got to the wreck and took a circuitous route to keep me from counting fin strokes (I was also stripped of my compass and GPS). Very cool wreck for a beach dive, the axle for the wheels is still intact, and fish are plentiful-large flounder and some legal Mangrove. Chased flounder around for a while, and explored the wreck looking for loose brass Pins. Max 16ft for 67min. Vis went to crap late in the dive, and Stinging jellies were abundant. Also, there was lots of "seaweed" in the water. Vis went from 10-15 to 3-6 during the dive.
Finally, we made it to the shrimp boat. I corrected Mat's directions, and we found it with little difficulty in the 3-6ft vis. This is my secret location, and there were large crabs about, nearly a dozen flounder including some big ones, lots of invisible stinging things that made me uncomfortable. Since Mat was using his unfinished tank from the previous dive, and he had to get somewhere, the dive was short. Max 16ft for 34 mins. I then went for tank fills (and failed) and FOOD, and to wash my truck before heading home.
So, 14 hours total, 3.5hrs there 2.5 hrs diving, and 3.5 hours back. So 5 hours to eat and get from site to site. Thanks Mat for 3 great dives.
