diving CT..anywhere?

[TyGuy]

connecticut really isnt known for its clean beaches and clear water...but ive been diving once on the beach and in one major lake in northern CT a few times. ive heard about 'brownstone park' since i live about 15 mins away but havent made the trip yet. spring is right around the corner so im wondering where there places to dive in ct are so i dont have to drive to RI or cape ann on the weekends...

 

[rongoodman]

I haven't been to Brownstone for a couple of years, but I hear they're constantly making improvements. It's worth a visit. Brownstone is owned by the same family which runs Scuba Shack, which provides some of the best training in the area.

 

[tight rope walker]

I can remember diving in Brownstone and the other quarry's in Portland CT when I was a kid. It seemed they were a lot cleaner in the day. Last year it rained quite a bit and I think this stirred things up over there. I live about 15 minutes from brownstone. My dad always called the sound the cesspool of New England off CT, as we never dove here. I wrote a letter to the Editor of the Middletown Press when I was 13 years old complaining of how dirty the water was off CT. I based this on my constant ear and throat infections.

I will say the same thing I said all those years ago," I find the waters off Rhode Island to be far cleaner".

Needless to say where I dive.

 

[TyGuy]

thanks for the help, my dive club is currently looking for some aquarium diving in the area, and once the waters warm a little bit some diving at a nice beach right down the road to check it out. rhode island is first on the list just to get back into the water, but once brownstone opens for the year were going down.

 

[waterman2000]

I've just moved to Ct. and I am also iching to enter the water this summer. If you find a place can you give me a heads up.

thanks

 

[divewithjay]

You can dive at the Waterford boat launch although I would avoid it when there is alot of boat traffic. We typically do it at night when most of the boaters are gone. You aren't technically supposed to dive there but it's regularly patrolled and nobody has given us a hard time about it. It's about 10-12 feet deep.

Eastern Point is another place you can dive, but in the summer season they charge $20/car to get in. We dive there before and after the beach season when there is free parking. It's on the eastern side of the Thames river at the mouth of the river. As you go out into the river I think the max depth we hit was about 20 feet. There is a rock line that runs south that is easy to follow.

Then there is Stonington Point. From what I understand there is some town ordinance that prohibits diving in the daytime. I don't know this for sure though, we always go at night here.

 

[Gilldiver]

You can dive at the Waterford boat launch although I would avoid it when there is alot of boat traffic. We typically do it at night when most of the boaters are gone. You aren't technically supposed to dive there but it's regularly patrolled and nobody has given us a hard time about it. It's about 10-12 feet deep.

Eastern Point is another place you can dive, but in the summer season they charge $20/car to get in. We dive there before and after the beach season when there is free parking. It's on the eastern side of the Thames river at the mouth of the river. As you go out into the river I think the max depth we hit was about 20 feet. There is a rock line that runs south that is easy to follow.

Then there is Stonington Point. From what I understand there is some town ordinance that prohibits diving in the daytime. I don't know this for sure though, we always go at night here.

Unfortunately, you have listed most of the sites that are open in the warmer months. In the winter there are any number of CT Town and State beaches you can use as no one patrols them. But, the CT shore is for the most part a shallow sandy one. There is just not all that much to see out there except for some breakwater walls like Stonington and you can be out over a mile and still be in 30-40 feet in some places.

The Sound seems a lot better then it used to be, at least we don't see any fish kills like were common in the 80's down Bridgeport way and further west. But the Sound is the Sound and in the summer 5-10 feet will be a good day. I have seen 25+ feet off of Stratford in the mouth of the Housatonic River in late March and April till the water temps get above 45F and the plankton starts growing.

Brownstone is a good place to practice, but it will never get real clear as it is in communication with the river.

 

[smellzlikefish]

One thing a lot of people don't realize when talking about the sound is it is an estuary that provides drainage for much of New England. Even if we were to remove the large cities from its shores completely, the natural runoff from the surrounding landscape would still turn the water into pea-soup.

 

[JBert]

Just to give everyone a heads up, my LDS in Enfield is planning an April fools dive to kick off the 2010 dive season. I'll post up info as soon as I get it. Great group of people to meet.

 

[orion612004]

Where in CT do you live? I'm from south eastern and dive alot in Mystic, Stonington, Groton, New London, Waterford along with some lakes in the North East