Any Cooper River SC Divers out there?

[Lee Taylor]

I have dove the Cooper River dozens and dozens of times and as of late I have started back blue water diving. Since I left the river behind me, a few years ago, I can't help but wonder if any thing good is being found these days in the river? I will probably dive Venice and offshore NC on the fossil sites as time passes.

Where are other places to dive for Megalodon teeth?

Some of my finds:

A Megalodon I admired:

 

[riverqueen]

Hi--I usually go to the Cooper River at least one weekend a month from May until Sept for the past 3 years. We usually get 6 dives per weekend. But this summer seemed to be very slow--the charter I usually go out with reported they were having trouble filling the boat--meaning 6 divers! He said there just didn't seem to be much interest. 6 of us chartered a dive boat out of Top Sail, NC and that was cancelled due to rough water--the Captain said it had not been a good summer for his charter either due to rough seas. It aparently was not a good summer for fossil hunting! Maybe next summer will be better. We usually go out of Goose Creek. What area did you dive on the Cooper? --River Queen

 

[terrydive1]

Great finds there Lee!! I definately agree the large teeth are getting harder to find than in past years. I think it comes down to having some time to spend just drifting along and finding new spots. I've also heard rumors of great huge teeth found in the Wando river, not sure where though.

 

[Randy43068]

I've never dove it, but want to!!

Is it true that gators are below but they don't bite?

 

[terrydive1]

Randy, we see a few topside. I have only heard of the occasional person seeing one underwater (usually around the shallow banks). Besides a little curiosity, they tend to leave us alone ( and vice versa!!!). BTW- I used to work at The Dive Shop in Westerville. Hows the diving scene in Columbus doing?

 

[NOVIZWHIZ]

on top, below, in the grass, sunning on the bank - got a brain about the size of a walnut...to say they "don't bite" is a little misleading - they CAN bite and rarely, but sometimes do... have had a few incidents with aggressive gators so don't think they're a non-issue... no reason not to dive, but respect them and use caution always - potential is there and the outcome of an encounter will always go in favor of the gator - they not only can bite - they roll to dismember whatever they "bite"...an arm or leg missing will prob result in a fatal wound. They are many times curious of things on the surface, if one approaches, dump your air and descend..

 

[Underwater Adventures]

There are still large teeth to be found, had a couple of them pushing 6" found in recent weeks...

Have also been finding lots of arrow heads and spear points (not to mention dive gear, lol!)

As for Gators, they seem to have disappeared since the tags were issued but they may be back as the hunt ended this weekend. With water temps in the low 70's they are becoming less active too.

 

[absolutecountry]

Nice finds Lee! I dive the Cooper very often, usually a couple of times a week. I work for terrydive1 at lowcountry diving, and do a good many classes there as well. We are still finding many fossils as well as artifacts, though the really large ones are not being found as often. I think the problem is that most divers are still diving the locations that were most productive in the past, and they are getting pretty worked over. We have had a reasonable amount of luck "prospecting" new sites, in between the most picked over ones. I haven't noticed a marked decrease in the amount of alligators seen on dive trips this year. I have noticed that the ones we encountered in the tailrace this summer seemed more inquisitive. I only encountered one subsurface this year, and as usual, I didn't touch it, and it didn't move. Though they almost never do, they absolutely can bite you underwater. On more than one occasion our boat captain reported that an alligator or two were in our exhaust bubbles at the surface while we were diving. But, like I said, we have seen well over a hundred alligators this year, and have had zero problems with them. Don't give up on the Cooper Lee! If you need someone to buddy up with, I'm Trevor, look me up at lowcountrydiving.com, my dime.

 

[Lee Taylor]

Great finds there Lee!! I definately agree the large teeth are getting harder to find than in past years. I think it comes down to having some time to spend just drifting along and finding new spots. I've also heard rumors of great huge teeth found in the Wando river, not sure where though.

Terry,

I tend to feel all the really really great finds are discovered by what I call "exploratory" diving. I feel if the scuba stores offered a charter like this they would get more action in the way of "sales". A boat that offers exploratory diving will get lots of takers. I think we may see this in the future.

Lee

 

[Lee Taylor]

I've never dove it, but want to!!

Is it true that gators are below but they don't bite?

Look me up in the future, Randy. I will hook you up with all the local river dive operations. Gators are not a problem. High speed boats ARE a problem for the diver. Gators stay in their territory on the edge of the river. When you dive, stay in the middle of the river, on the bottom, and it is highly unlikely you will see a gator. Don't go to the edge of the river unless you have already checked it out for gator territory. You learn to recognize what they like. Such as tall grass. Gators are ambush predators. They like to not be seen.