Alaska Diver Landlocked in Utah Considering Portland

Hello all, this is my first post on the board. My wife and I are seriously considering a move to Portland and I thought I'd do a little more research on the area to help with the decision. My 3 passions are Music, Scuba diving and snorkeling (freediving). I learned to scuba in SE Alaska - wetsuit 7mil with a shorty, vest and tons of weight- did about 50 dives while I was there and loved every one of them. There were also a lot of steep walls for free diving- we'd get scallops and abalone and say hi to the sea lions while we were down there. The music scene was forgettable. Anyway, here are my questions- answer as many as you'd like.

1.Is a dry suit necessary or are there some of you who wear a wet suit(s) in the summer?

2.What sort of fishing opportunities are there for divers/snorkelers? Crab, lobsters, spearfishing.

3. Are there any of you who like to freedive? Are sharks a concern when snorkeling? (alaska was too cold)

4. What's the average visibility on the dives in the portand area.

5. Least Favorite Part about Maine Diving

6. Favorite part about Maine diving

Sounds like you guys have a friendly scene up there and some nice cold water diving- if we move it would probably be next spring. Look forward to hearing your answers- thanks for your time!
Best, Olynch

Welcome to ScubaBoard!

OLYNCH76:

1.Is a dry suit necessary or are there some of you who wear a wet suit(s) in the summer?

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For me, it's too cold in a wetsuit, but in the summer I see wetsuits on about half of the divers at Nubble Light, in York, ME, 40 miles south of Portland. Water temps in the summer will typically be between 45 and 60 degrees F.

OLYNCH76:

2.What sort of fishing opportunities are there for divers/snorkelers? Crab, lobsters, spearfishing.

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In Maine, flounder can be taken by scuba, but there aren't many (more plentiful in MA). Scallops can be taken in season (starts in November, I believe). Lobstering is prohibited unfortunately. Don't think crabs are allowed either, but they aren't plentiful or large anyway.

OLYNCH76:

3. Are there any of you who like to freedive? Are sharks a concern when snorkeling? (alaska was too cold)

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I don't free-dive, but there aren't any large creatures of concern for divers along the shore of New England.

OLYNCH76:

4. What's the average visibility on the dives in the portand area.

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Haven't dove Portland, but I've dove 40 miles south in York, ME, and 30 miles north in the Small Point area and I've had vis in the range of 10 to 40', but the median probably around 20'.

OLYNCH76:

5. Least Favorite Part about Maine Diving

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Less abundant fish life and fish harvesting opportunities (compared to MA). Scallops can be taken during warmer weather in MA.

OLYNCH76:

6. Favorite part about Maine diving

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Fewer people. Less development of the shore.

OLYNCH76:

Sounds like you guys have a friendly scene up there and some nice cold water diving- if we move it would probably be next spring. Look forward to hearing your answers- thanks for your time!
Best, Olynch

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Best of luck to you!

I'm sure you'll find some interesting shore dives in the Portland area, but they won't be as interesting as what you had in Alaska, I think. A little better than Utah....

Give a holler when you need a buddy and you'll find one right away! I'd drive 120 miles to dive with you at Nubble Light in York, ME, but won't go the extra 40 miles to Portland, unfortunately.)

Dave C

As for the music scene, Portland's and Maine in general is great. I've lived all over the country and I can attest to it personally. Portland, Maine's music scene blows Seattle out of the water. It's a very well kept secret. As for diving, Maine's great. I've done scalloping in a wetsuit and I was fine. There are a lot of dry suit junkies up here but a dry suit isn't a necessity. There's a huge diversity of dive sites as well. Eastport is the big thing as far as I'm concerned. You get arctic species in from the Bay of Fundy, the only place in the continental US, or so I've read. The tides are huge so you can only dive at slack tide. Maine's got some great lake diving as well and you're in driving distance of the best wreck diving, in the Thousand Islands. In addition to all of this, Maine doesn't have any laws restricting the amount of alcohol in your beer so it seems like a win-win to me.