Pennsylvania Diving

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cobaltblue

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Messages
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Location
Muskegon, MI
# of dives
100 - 199
My wife is in Scranton PA for a few weeks. I'm going to go visit her next weekend. Where are some good places for us to dive on Fri. and Sat.? We'll have a vehicle so I wouldn't be against driving to the coast if that's what it would take. Where's the closest good wreck diving?

Thanks in advance.

Mod--Feel free to move this to the correct regional forum if you'd like. I wasn't sure which one PA fell in.
 
Check out Dutch Springs. Its an excellent quarry dive about 45 minutes away. Excellent facilities and a pretty easy drive for you and your wife. Do a quick search on the internet and you can access the facility map and directions. A drive to the coast wont do you much good for a dive near scranton.
Another dive site is called willow springs park wich is about an hour and 15 away.
 
oh why arent you with your wife...lol Kinda a long distant relationship isnt it???
 
cobaltblue:
We'll have a vehicle so I wouldn't be against driving to the coast if that's what it would take. Where's the closest good wreck diving?

Closest wreck diving is the NJ Shore, but you're talking a solid 2.5hrs drive minimum, further depending on what boat/marina you're talking about.

Dutch Springs in Bethlehem PA is your best bet if you wanna get wet. Depth to 90' or so. Plenty of underwater attractions at every depth ranging from airplanes, railroad trolleys, cranes, army vehicles, cabin cruisers, a schoolbus, even a large Sikorsky helicopter suspended in midwater.

I think they are open on Fridays until the end of October.

www.dutchsprings.com

Shoot me a PM if you want a guided tour or just further information. (Maybe I can get PADI to do a "Discover Dutch" c-card for you!) I'll be up there most weekends until Thanksgiving probably.

My LDS has several large, heated tents there if you need a "base camp" to dive from - lots of friendly folks, usually have a grill going or a large pot of soup or chili.

Ray
 
Thanks for the info so far. We were thinking of doing DS one day. Where would be the best place to go for wreck diving on the coast? Is there a good charter outfit you can recommend? 2.5hrs for good wreck diving is well worth it. We'll take a three hour boat ride to get to Milwaukee from here to dive wrecks, not that we don't have good ones here too.
 
cobaltblue:
Is there a good charter outfit you can recommend? 2.5hrs for good wreck diving is well worth it.

www.bluefathoms.com

Six pack, fast, good captain, good crew.

Around here the boats are all chartered by shops. Might be hard to get two spots, but ya never know.

Go to the site, check the schedule for the dates in question and then call the shop that has that charter.

I would advise to go for the morning trip vs the afternoon trip. Afternoon trips seem to have higher potential to get blown out.

Here's a link to other boats you can try as well:

http://njscuba.net/misc/index.html#Boats

Any of the ones listed as Belmar, Point Pleasant, Brielle or Avon are all in the same area. The others are much further south - like another 1.5hrs.

Ray
 
If I were staying in Scranton I would grab my gear and visa, get on I-81 and drive till it ends! turn right and hit the wrecks in St Lawrence. Especially this time of year.
 
You can always check out www.stingraydivecharters.com. The Captain is cool, the boat holds 10 and the mates are very helpful. He can probably hook you up with a local shop to get the gear you may need to rent.

Oh yeah, he is pretty cheap to dive with also, and only in Belmar. That is under 1 hour from Philly!
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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