Divers Unlimited

[Don Burke]

Divers Unlimited in Norfolk has changed ownership.

Tim Smith, the new owner, is putting together local dive trips for this weekend.

757 362 3660

 

[Wreck]

Don,
are there any other dive boats in the area besides Lynnhaven's, the Fish, and Wreckmasters' ?

 

[Don Burke]

Don,
are there any other dive boats in the area besides Lynnhaven's, the Fish, and Wreckmasters' ?

Not that I know of. I see cards from guys claiming to make dive trips, but have not talked to anyone who has been out with them.

The only dive boats I know of attempting to keep a schedule out of Norfolk and Virginia Beach are:

Sho-Nuff out of Divers Unlimited
Miss Lindsey out of Lynnhaven Dive Center
Miss Lauren out of Lynnhaven Dive Center
Wreckmaster out of Wreckmaster/Wreck-Tek
Flying Fish with some sort of arrangement with Dive Quarters

 

[DrSteve]

Flying Fish has an arrangement with most of the stores around here which don't have their own boat I think. Chesapeake Bay runs trips through them.

So do you think Divers Unlimited will actually be running the trips they advertise now?

Is Kim and her Dad still part of the shop?

 

[Don Burke]

Flying Fish has an arrangement with most of the stores around here which don't have their own boat I think. Chesapeake Bay runs trips through them.

Thanks for the update. I have never gone out with them.

So do you think Divers Unlimited will actually be running the trips they advertise now?

I was one for two last weekend when the Sunday morning thunderstorms scared the divers off.

Is Kim and her Dad still part of the shop?

No longer. J.D. and Kim are now concentrating on the marine survey business.

Tim and his wife are running the show now.

 

[DrSteve]

Well Don...once we hit the 2nd weekend of August I'll be ready for some diving...Karen was supposed to do her deep and wreck dives today but there were reports of 6 foot swells.

 

[Don Burke]

I was headed for the Doxie Girl this morning and turned back before I got all the way out of the bay.

The Ches Light weather station 9:00 report had 17 kts gusting to 19. I believe every bit of it. The swells looked about four feet.

The divers I had with me were not interested in diving an island, so I brought them back to port.

I would like to get some people together who do not mind low viz. There are a couple of things I would like to find near the mouth of the bay.

 

[DrSteve]

Well I'd be interested - but I would prefer good viz!

 

[Wreck]

Thanks for the update. I have never gone out with them.

I hadn't either but they seem to have just as good an operation as Lynnhaven from what others have told me. It's rather amusing that you barely ever see Lynnhaven's customers on the fish and vice versa.

I haven't gone out with the Fish yet, but fully intend to next year, especially since my brother will likely be diving with them now. They ocassionally do some wrecks on Saturdays that are nicer than the ones Lynnhaven has planned for that same day and vice versa. So it's nice having more choice in the wreck sites for a given day. I would like to get in a lot more dives than I am now, but $45-$80 per trip is too expensive for my tastes, especially when I have been doing 2 trips on most Saturdays with Lynnhaven's Miss Luaren.

Lynnhaven sells a 10-dive package for $300 (any dives except overnighters) but only on sale around November/December time frame for the following year. I can handle forking over $30 for a wreck dive as opposed to $80! Dive Quarters sells a 10-dive package for the Flying Fish for $240 and they go on sale between OCtober-December. I plan to get one package for the Fish and maybe 2-3 for Lynnhaven since they have a lot more options. I only wish I could have gotten my hands on some of those dive packages for this year or I'd be doing twice as much diving this year!

 

[Wreck]

The Ches Light weather station 9:00 report had 17 kts gusting to 19. I believe every bit of it. The swells looked about four feet.

Sounds normal for that wind speed, but that's still diveable with a proper dive boat full of experienced divers. I did my first open-water dives in 4-foot seas - but this was overseas. I doubt any responsible dive operators here would let people out in those conditions unless they were quite comfortable with it.

I would like to get some people together who do not mind low viz. There are a couple of things I would like to find near the mouth of the bay.

Low viz doesn't bother me much, but I'd like it better if I had an HID cannister with me. What sort of things are you trying to "find?"