Any cool treasure finding opportunities 'round Washington DC?

[deerhunter1911a1]

Hey everyone, I live just outside Washington DC, in MD, and have been trying to find places to dive where its possible i might find something cool underwater; sharks teeth, bottles, coins...anything old that has been underwater for a long time. any cool non-protected wrecks or anything that anyone knows about? thanks much! dive deep!

 

[vladimir]

I have found some Spanish Doubloons and Pieces of Eight on a wreck in the Chesapeake Bay. There are also several long, tapering cylinders that might be cannons. The GPS coordinates are 38 01.790, 075 55.227. Happy hunting!

 

[Oyster Diver]

I have found some Spanish Doubloons and Pieces of Eight on a wreck in the Chesapeake Bay. There are also several long, tapering cylinders that might be cannons. The GPS coordinates are 38 01.790, 075 55.227. Happy hunting!

How did you get my numbers?

 

[deerhunter1911a1]

you sure that was in the bay? on NOAA nautical charts, that is in the atlantic off the coast of Delaware...did i read something wrong, or...what? thanks!

 

[vladimir]

I ballparked the gps coordinates. What fun would it be if I handed you a sunken Spanish galleon on a silver platter?

 

[Bowtie22]

The Chesapeake has a lot of history involved with it so there is potential to find something. There are over 1800 shipwrecks that have been documented in the Chesapeake. I personally know of people finding cannon balls, brass buckles from civil war era, muskets etc. I have never really found anything worth keeping except a 4 1/2 inch meg tooth off of the Calvert Cliffs area.

I wish it was as easy as just diving on a clump on the sonar and finding some Spanish Doubloons and some type of mystical treasure but you could spend a lifetime in the water and possibly never find anything close to that.

The reality is that the Chesapeake Bay is BLACK WATER so everything has to be done by mostly feel. Most of the bay has silty, mucky bottoms some sand closer to the shorelines. You would find you will prob have to dig for it. I know a friend of mine that has an uw metal detector and he wades around the shallow areas of the beaches and turns up most of his collections, still he does find a lot of crap on the bottom (you name it and he has found it).

Good luck and have fun trying to find the elusive treasures of the Chesapeake Bay.

 

[JayJudge]

On other spots than just the Bay, there are numerous quarries. Just get the proper permission, lots to find. We have one that is very deep with caves, we've found old equipment, and then there is my favorite- used by the Navy in WW2....so far we have found boats, dummy hedgehogs, a few other items.....that's not to mention my buddy finding a perfectly good bowling ball, lots of bottles from the teens and 20s...anywhere you go, be safe, think through the what ifs.
-J

 

[mike_s]

I ballparked the gps coordinates. What fun would it be if I handed you a sunken Spanish galleon on a silver platter?

 

[gunnergunzz]

This spring I'm going to dive the Potomac in Va/Md in the Harpers Ferry area for civil war artifacts. Im sure many covered wagons fell of the poorly constructed pontoon bridges from that era.

 

[Deep-Thief]

Muck diving at its finest! There is a place up in Harve de Grace, MD. Don't know exactly how to get there but heres the story. Some many years ago, think turn of the century/early 1900's, they would dump their trash in the river. I believe the Susquahanna (spelled wrong I'm sure) where it meets the Chesapeake Bay. You can find old coke bottles, ink wells, and crazy crap like that. It is right off shore. Maybe 10' at the most. It is feel your way around. When I dove it (12-15 years ago) I could barely see the back of my hand in front of my face.

You go in right there in town, park on the city street and enter the water. There is no changing faculity or anything like that so be prepared. This is not a dive for the "high maintenace" diver. Again, I warn you, pure muck diving, you must feel your way around. There was a dive shop right there in town, they did dives there all the time. If they are still there, check with them. If you can't find anymore info, PM me and I will talk to my brother and see if we could figure out exactly where to enter.