Favorite shore dives near Portsmouth, NH?

My 12-year old son (Jr. OW certified) and I hope to do a couple of shore dives in or near NH in July. I'll be picking him up from summer camp for a one-day visit, and we thought that might be a fun way to spend it. We'll be starting in Alton Bay, NH (on Lake Winnipesaukee) and can get to the Portsmouth area pretty easily.

So, what are your favorite, relatively easy (i.e., suitable for a 12 year old) shore dives that would be worth checking out near there? We dove the lake last summer, so we'd like to hit the ocean this time around.

(FWIW, I have Jerry Shine's book, but I thought I'd check for input here, too.)

Two recommendations:

Despite my personal dislike (too shallow) for the site Fort Foster is one recommendation. It is easy to enter, there is plenty of parking (albeit you will pay), a place to change, a bathroom "nearby", not too much surge (usually) or current, etc.

The other is the well-known Nubble Light in York, ME. It also has a bathroom, plenty of free parking, and a restaurant nearbye. However, it is crowded, can be subject to surge and is a solid (potentially slippery) rock entrance.

There are others such as Pulpit Rock, Seal Rock, Odiorne, etc. near/in Portsmouth/Rye but ...

My preference is Nubble.

One resident SBer, Spectrum, has written a very helpful page on his website. Here (used without permission) is a linkee.

SCUBA Knowtes, Southern Maine Shore Dive Site Guide

Agree with Green if not on a Sunday go the Nubble at York Beach, Maine. On Sunday go to Fort Foster. Another great dive is Clark's Point in Wolfeboro. That dive would be great for the youngster. Easy in and out, fresh water, not to deep, good visibility and best of all big bass that will demand to be fed. You can look at my homepage there are several reports there on these two places.

Personally I would not bring a 12 year old into Nubble. The entry and exit can vary form manageable to treacherous and if you don't already know what the tricks are diving with a 12 year old is not the time to learn. Take the words of a klutzy 51 year old for what they are worth.

I will second Fort Foster. For a one dive outing the best is out towards the left of the area signed as SCUBA Beach. More here.

An ultra easy dive that I always find pleasing is Colony Beach in Kennebunk. The parking is only slightly above beach level and it's a nice firm sandy walk to the nearby sand bottom entry. See more here.

If you can venture a little farther north Kettle Cove in Cape Elizabeth has nice parking an interesting dive, easy entry and sanitary facilities. The left side of the cove is the place to head for.

Have a great day with your son!

Pete

Ft. Constitution / UNH Pier has a small protected cove. Plenty of parking. your'e fine as long as stay in protected cove and don't venture to the channel. It's good for finding for old pipe stems. Look for them in the muck

Thanks for the replies so far, folks! A couple more details: The dive(s) would take place on a Saturday in July. We'd probably leave Alton Bay (near Wolfeboro) mid-morning or so, so we'd be diving in the afternoon FWIW.

Cecil, we did Clark's Point last summer. Not a bad dive, but I think he'd like to hit the ocean this time.

In case you didn't notice I included GPS points in my site guide. They will cut and paste right into Google maps for plotting routes and travel times.

Pete