What island for seal dives?

For those who have been diving with the seals at the Isle of Shoals, do you recall where you have gone specifically? What island, what part of the island, etc?

I would welcome any other suggestions about visiting the Isle of Shoals.

Thanks

I dove there once on a buddies boat and we saw a fair number (about 10) seals. This was an inlet at Duck Island, the entrance is between Shag Rock (left) and Mingo Rock (right). We anchored up about 2/3rds of the way back and left 1 person on the boat (dove in three groups of two). The anchor held fine, but this is a narrow inlet with a kelp bottom and water coming over the rocks around the inlet.

I believe this is the same place Capt. Rob brought his seal divers.

Hope it helps.

anyone got a list of seal dive charters?

thanks

Isle of Shaols or the Isle of Wright if its not too dear.

pdive:

anyone got a list of seal dive charters?

thanks

Click to expand...

The Daybreaker (Capt. Fran Marcoux, 508-335-6339) has a number of trips to the Isle of Shoals listed on June 5th, June 27th, July 7th, July 25th, Aug 19th (AM and PM for all dates).

Cape And Divers also has a special run out there scheduled on Jun 27th

Welcome to Cape Ann Divers! cape ann divers, cape ann diving, boston diving, scuba boston, massachusetts diving, scuba massachusetts, new england scuba diving, scuba new england, north eastern usa scuba diving, scuba resorts usa, boston dive boat div

Hi matt...Seal diving at the isle of shoals is tricky,and can be dangerous if you don't know the exact rout to follow. Duck island is where you want to go.This is the most northern island of the 9 islands,and there is one approach route. There is a point on the northwest side of appledore island. Keep your back to this point and look at the east side of Duck island.Head straight SLOWLEY till you come to mingo rock on your right. Pick your way carefully between shag rock and mingo (just as gradydiver said). You will then be at the entrance to the amphitheatre. This is about 15 ft. deep, and it drops off to about 100 ft. on the east. this is a spectacular area for flora and fauna.The south side of Duck has loads of harbor seal,which will swim with you because they are courious. (federal regs. prohibit approach,but say nothing about the seals coming to you.On the north side of duck is a colony of gray seals,who are shy, but will come to you if you offer a mackral treat. These seals can run up to 700 lbs.and will make your summer.(bring a camera).I do shark research in the area so look for my cris-craft (porbeagle) and I'll be happy to answer any questions that you may have.( Oh! There is little to no surge in the amphitheatre because it is protected by rocks on the east,but outside the amphitheatre can be rough.Good luck,Dive safe,and PM me if you want more specific info.Look for me this summer,as I will be West of duck most days or to the east of Duck in deep water.I always have cold beer. PORBEAGLE

Thanks - I sent you a PM to get more info. I have a snapshot of a nautical chart and would love some approach recommendations from that.

Thanks again for all replies above.

Sunday I made my first cruise from Salem MA to the Isle of Shoals (Duck Island). I had 4 aboard and dive gear for three.

We got an early start as I anticipated about a 2 hour cruise and wanted plenty of time to relax. The land and marine forecast was good but the conditions turned out to be simply perfect, in open ocean it was flat calm. I was running at 22knots (3200rpm) and it was so calm everyone (but the Captain) was napping. I cruised from Salem up to Gloucester, then up through the Annasquam River (30 minutes at headway speed), and then a straight shot over to the southern most island in the Isle of Shoals. From there I had plotted a course to stay well away from the shoals/rocks and over to the southwest side of Duck Island. I was able to get some excellent local knowledge from Porbeagle and a few other sources. My C-Map chart was also outstanding. I was able to bring my boat right into the "amphitheater" at low tide without any problems. You DEFINITELY need some good local knowledge for approaching this part of the island. I had to follow a very defined lane to get to where I wanted to go. Once I was inside the amphitheater, it was of course calm and easy to throw the hook.

As soon as we arrived, we were surrounded by about a dozen seals! I had someone at the bow to make sure there were none below the hook before I set it down. The water was crystal clear and I anchored in about 10' of (low tide) water. We suited up and dropped in. The seals were immediately curious. They were swimming around us pretty fast. The name of the game was definitely to find a spot and sit still. We explored the dive site but my closest encounter was when sitting still in about 10' of water. One seal cautiously came over about 5' in front of me! That was definitely the closest I have ever been to a seal during the day when I could see them. (Once during a night dive at Halfway Rock a seal grabbed my fin). The shallow site and clear water made for an easy, fun dive with seals just everywhere. My gfriend is slowly getting acclimated to NE diving so she snorkeled the site. The seals were definitely following her, but would stay about 20' away on the surface. Below the surface they would swim under/near her.

We all had lunch and just enjoyed the incredible scenery on this perfect New England day. Coming back we more closely explored some of the other islands including Smuttynose, Star, Cedar, etc. Returning across the open water back to the northern entrance to the Annasquam the winds had picked up a bit but still not a bad cruise. Back into the Annasquam for a 30 minute reprieve from the chop. From Gloucester we cruised back down to Salem. I did not keep time on the way back but it took us 2 hours and 15 minutes to get from Salem to Duck Island via the Annasquam. The total trip was 73nm.

It was a great trip. Everyone had a great time and the seal dive was excellent. On the way up we had perfect flat conditions. Even on the way back with a little chop we had just great weather. I highly recommend the trip if you have not done so previously.

The one time my wife and I dove there (3 years ago?) we had a fantastic time. There was a baby seal with a wounded foreflipper (my wife took decided to call him Lefty). Even though he was young and handicapped, he was fearless. He came over while my wife was waiting on my buddy to splash and actually nose butted her mask. On another dive that day, she and I were in the 10' area holding still (swaying with the sea weed) and the same baby seal stopped above us, looked down and gently sank down on top of my wife's leg. He also ended up playing with her fin a few times and appeared to use her leg as a pillow at one point. That baby seal actually stayed with us for about 35 minutes on that dive. Other seals floated about 20' away or darted past (possibly keeping an eye on the little one), but none came too close. This seal became one of the fondest dive memories for my wife. One of these days we'll have to head back (though running the boat up from Danvers and back will probably cost ~$300 - I'm sure she'll agree that it's worth it).