Diving in New Hampshire?

[FettSolo]

Hey folks,

I am moving to New Hampshire at the end of the month for a new job (at Dartmouth College in Hanover), so I'm curious about what kind of diving is there in New Hampshire. I imagine it's mainly lakes and quarries, plus some open ocean off of NH's coast, but any specific information about dive shops, sites, etc. would be greatly appreciated.

I imagine I might need to invest a drysuit... only have a 7mm at the moment.

 

[gbirch]

Hi, Welcome to New Hampshire.

You summed it up well, there are lakes. I don't dive the lakes often, but here is a link to Dive Winnipesaukee: Scuba Gear, Instruction, and Trips - Dive Winnipesaukee

New Hampshire has the shortest coastline of the coastal US States (List of U.S. states by coastline - Wikipedia) so pickings are slim but there are a couple of sites very well worth diving. There is also the Isle of Shoals - Very well worth the trip if you own a boat or can get on a charter.

Most of my diving is in Massachusetts, where Cape Ann (Gloucester/Rockport area) is the diving mecca for this area.

I would strongly recommend that you get a copy of Jerry Shine's book "A Shore Diving Guide to New England". There you will find hundreds of well documented dive sites in the New England area.

As for exposure protection, 7mm is good for about April-November (depending on your tolerance for cold) but you will want to go dry for the colder months for comfort and for safety.

Happy diving!
Graham

 

[nolatom]

I wouldn't know about diving around Hanover, but these folks might:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/N...04ae16b916e4320!8m2!3d43.637966!4d-72.2314026

But if you make a trip down to Boston or Providence, there's some good shore diving off the Mass coast, and especially in Rhode Island (Fort Wetherill for example) where the water's a little warmer, and your 7mm might work okay:

Rhode Island Scuba Dive Sites | DiveBuddy.com

A good boat dive of Gloucester Ma, is the wreck of the CHESTER POLING, I've done it a couple of times, though not recently:

Diving The Chester Poling

 

[Bubblesong]

Welcome!
Cape Ann Divers are great for Diving that area, seals are sometimes seen,(like the one in my avatar). In 7mm, we get cold even in summer, and are planning to get dry suits and dive up here year round in them. Most people I know go dry suits and don't ever dive wetsuits up here again.
By the way, Facebook has a group New England Divers which might be a resource for meeting local dive buddies.

 

[king_of_battle]

I'd agree that Cape Ann is a great place to get ocean dives in. Unfortunately that's about 2 and a half hours from Hanover. Maybe you can get out there a few times a season. Nubble Light in Maine is a great dive also - but that's also about 2 hours away... it is a shore dive though so that might be a cheaper option while you are getting settled. Clark's Point/McKinney Park at Lake Winnipesaukee is probably the best lake dive in the state... Again - close to 2 hours from Hanover.
You may want to reach out to dive groups in VT or NY to see what the diving in Lake Champlain is like...that may end up being a closer dive site for you given where you are located in NH. Regardless, a 7mm will get you through the main diving season in New England - just make sure you also have a hood and gloves to match.

Lastly I also recommend the book gbirch mentioned if you plan on diving the atlantic - it is a valuable resource for shore dives along the New England coast

 

[mmerriman]

Portsmouth NH - Pierce Island is a great site. Its in the river, so you need to time the currents.

 

[Tug]

Portsmouth NH - Pierce Island is a great site. Its in the river, so you need to time the currents.

Pierce Island is (was) a great site but they are doing construction in the area. There are some other sites in the area, but it seems like nothing like Pierce Island

 

[Silty Sam]

Google this: dive lake champlain

90 minutes west?

 

[mmerriman]

Pierce Island is (was) a great site but they are doing construction in the area. There are some other sites in the area, but it seems like nothing like Pierce Island

I'm told you can still get there from the pool...

 

[FettSolo]

Thank you to everyone for the information! I really appreciate it.