Looking for your thoughts on being a New England diver

[holdfast]

I may have the opportunity to move to western Mass within the next year or so. Most likely within the vicinity of Northampton. I currently reside in San Diego, so needless to say, this would mean a big change in my diving habits. I'll be pretty landlocked, but only a few hours from the coast.

I've perused the thread about people's favorite New England dive spots. How else are you guys meeting buddies and getting out there? Right now, I'm thinking — keep an eye out for any dive clubs or meetups, try out some charters on the coast, touch base with some dive shops on the coast for site recommendations, and things like that. Of course, warm-water vacation diving is always an option, but I don't want to limit myself to that. Are you guys doing any freshwater diving?

I'd love to hear anyone's thoughts about anything re: New England diving. What you like about it, what you dislike about it, how you cope with being landlocked (if applicable), anything!

A little about me:

• Open water diver who's not ready to go tech anytime soon
• Soon-to-be drysuit diver
• Not a brand newbie, but still perhaps on the novice side at ~100 dives
• Mostly a salt water shore diver, but have done a handful of boat dives as well

Thank you!

 

[nolatom]

Lots of shore dives to save you money--Fort Wetherill RI, Sandwich Beach on the Cape, Woods Hole beach next to WHOI. Or boat dives in wrecks, I liked the CHESTER POLING off Gloucester MA.

As a Marblehead boy who moved south long ago and learned to dive in warm Florida and offshore Texas water and pretty coral,my occasional England diving in the cold, is more like broccoli-- not as pretty or tasty as peach cobbler, but good for ya, and you feel a sense of accomplishment in having dived the mighty North Atlantic Ocean!

Best wishes and good diving.

 

[manni-yunk]

The link below is to a friend. He is a charter boat owner, instructor and one of the nicest guys you will ever meet. Call Matt when you move. He will introduce you to local divers so you can build up your network. His boat runs regular rec and tech trips so he is a good guy to know in that area.

Cape Ann Charters – www.DiveDaybreaker.com – Gloucester MA Scuba Dive Charters – Technical Diving Charters – Dive Training & Education – rEvo Rebreathers - Recreational & Technical Dive Charters

 

[AfterDark]

New England diving cold, dark, bad visibility, not many colorful fish, rocky, strong tricky currents. If you can dive in New England you can dive anywhere.

 

[manni-yunk]

New England diving cold, dark, bad visibility, not many colorful fish, rocky, strong tricky currents. If you can dive in New England you can dive anywhere.

You know its funny - people say the same exact thing about NJ and a lot of the time - the conditions are phenomenal. Great vis, no currrent, lots to see....Sure we get days that are exactly as you described but many times, its much better.

 

[divin'dog]

From Northampton to Cape Ann, it's about 2 1/4+ hr drive unless you hit traffic which is a good possibility when traveling around Boston. This can make for a long day when traveling from western MA. When moving out here, you may want to keep in mind to move close to major routes... RT91 and RT90 (MA Pike), in order to get to the coast more easily.

NE diving can be fun and cold... a drysuit would serve you well. Temps can be mid 40'sF (~30'-40') to low 60'sF (at the surface). Will be mostly 50'sF if you dive the summer and don't go too deep. If you seek out other divers, we are definitely around. Try your hand at lobstering... much fun and the lobster you catch tastes even better. Don't know what diving in San Diego is like, but vis can be anywhere from a few feet to 15'-20' on a good day. Like any other dive, pay attention to tides and currents! There are plenty of easy shore entry sites and plenty of difficult entry sites. If you dive from a boat, all the better to access the best NE has to offer.

Best of luck if you move out here!
dd

 

[AfterDark]

You know its funny - people say the same exact thing about NJ and a lot of the time - the conditions are phenomenal. Great vis, no currrent, lots to see....Sure we get days that are exactly as you described but many times, its much better.

I’m in my 46th year of NE diving and I can state with log books as proof that I’ve done more dives with <10’ vis than >10’vis. At times, around this time in fact the Gulf Stream moves in real close and with it can come spectacular visibility but it’s short lived. The North shore Cape Ann Boston Harbor can have pretty decent vis most of the time but the water is COLD. When I dive the North Shore it's with my dry suit.

A few years ago I was diving the U853 the water was warm the vis was >20’! That is until I reached 80’ where I saw what I thought was a large black object in front of me. It was a layer of cold black water at 90’. The vis was zero the water was 20 degrees colder than 10’-20’ shallower. The dive was a Helen Keller type grope and feel. Last year we hit it so good that for the 1st time since 1984 when I started diving the sub I got to see almost the whole sub while hovering at 90’! NE diving is like a box of chocolates you never know what you’re going to get.

 

[squalus357]

Its great that you are moving from the west coast and are still interested in diving on this side! There's lots to see. If you want to get an idea of what its like diving on here, Check out Squalusmarine.com. We have over 100 virtual dives to view for free. Dives from ME, MA, RI, CT, NY, NC, PA and The Bahamas. Wrecks and Reefs ( but we like wrecks the most!)Theres a bunch in The Long Island Sound ( some of those are not for the faint of heart.) Theres an interactive dive map so you can browse the sites that way, or use our dive archive page. We are breaking out into NJ in the next few weeks. We hope it helps!

 

[webcubus]

You can hit up the New England Scuba Divers Facebook group: Facebook. Lots of people posting about their dives, looking for buddies, etc.

I'm relatively new to New England diving (100 warm water dives prior to getting my drysuit cert and diving here), but I've enjoyed the shore diving sites off Cape Ann. In my experience so far, it seems Boston Harbor is better for lobstering and scalloping than sightseeing (which is what I'm looking for). I've had mostly good luck with conditions so far and I'm looking forward to continuing to dive my drysuit into the winter when underwater conditions get even better.

 

[large_diver]

The Facebook group is a good idea - lots of info and people looking for buddies. There are multiple dive shops and dive clubs doing shore dives Saturday-Sunday in the Cape Ann, MA area virtually every weekend between Memorial Day and the end of September. Multiple charter boats up there as well. Main suggestion is to try and get out diving as much as possible, maybe take a class...the more you dive the greater the chance you'll fall in with some buddies that you connect with.

What I like - it's local, it's a small, very supportive community and as others have mentioned, it is good training given colder temps and limited vis.

Welcome aboard!