First Oil Rig Dive... scared or should I be?
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diver 85
Contributor
If it's like the Gulf of Mexico, current can be almost 0(zero) one hour and 5 knts(literally) the next........Carry a Safety Sausage for sure----10 to 1 you'll be fine.......Another thing you might have to fight is seasickness depending on your stomack tolerance, might want to doctor up for that.......
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livewire
Contributor
Orch1ds: I presume you're diving oil rigs in SoCal. Firstly, I think this is some of the coolest diving around. It give you in part the sense of a blue water dive, but with some shelter, and the life that builds up on the pilings is amazing. Sea lions will rest here, anemones of all colors, brittle stars, nudibranchs, fish taking shelter, it's pretty amazing.
Here are the primary dangers I can think of:
1. Live Drop Entry: Since the boat can't anchor, boat will be motoring as you hop in. Get away from the boat quickly after you enter.
2. Cold water: Since the bottom can be very deep, cold water upwellings are common and the water can be chillier than near shore or at Catalina.
3. Currents: Again, there's nothing to block the current except for the rig itself. Sometimes the current can blow really hard, almost hard enough to knock your mask off. You'll wind up using the rig pilings to shelter yourself.
4. Depth: Easy to get really deep on these dives. Usually around here the cold will tell you you're getting too deep, but WATCH YOUR DEPTH. It's really easy to get into deco here.
5. Minding your gear: Attach everything you intend on keeping. There's no bottom here, so if you drop it, it's gone. Try to minimize your load, and if you do drop something, don't go chasing it, just let it go...
6. Getting back to the boat: Accidents have happened where divers have disappeared on oil rig dives. Again, there's no bottom here, potential for heavy and changing currents, so it's definitely a little more dangerous. Be in good enough shape to kick back to the boat, and plan it so you can drift back to the boat if possible. Not always a good idea to surface under the rig, since pilings may be overhead and a swell can knock you into these. The pilings aren't good to hold on to anyway, since they're usually covered in sharp mussels. Live boat pickup also means you have to hop on while engines are running. As someone else said, timing is important.
Hope this helps!
Here are the primary dangers I can think of:
1. Live Drop Entry: Since the boat can't anchor, boat will be motoring as you hop in. Get away from the boat quickly after you enter.
2. Cold water: Since the bottom can be very deep, cold water upwellings are common and the water can be chillier than near shore or at Catalina.
3. Currents: Again, there's nothing to block the current except for the rig itself. Sometimes the current can blow really hard, almost hard enough to knock your mask off. You'll wind up using the rig pilings to shelter yourself.
4. Depth: Easy to get really deep on these dives. Usually around here the cold will tell you you're getting too deep, but WATCH YOUR DEPTH. It's really easy to get into deco here.
5. Minding your gear: Attach everything you intend on keeping. There's no bottom here, so if you drop it, it's gone. Try to minimize your load, and if you do drop something, don't go chasing it, just let it go...
6. Getting back to the boat: Accidents have happened where divers have disappeared on oil rig dives. Again, there's no bottom here, potential for heavy and changing currents, so it's definitely a little more dangerous. Be in good enough shape to kick back to the boat, and plan it so you can drift back to the boat if possible. Not always a good idea to surface under the rig, since pilings may be overhead and a swell can knock you into these. The pilings aren't good to hold on to anyway, since they're usually covered in sharp mussels. Live boat pickup also means you have to hop on while engines are running. As someone else said, timing is important.
Hope this helps!
ucfdiver
Contributor
I feel pretty strongly that with 14 dives to should **not** be penetrating a wreck. There's too many other places to gain experience that are far more forgiving. I hope you're at least diving doubles (and a drysuit if they're steel!), a 7ft hose (for your buddy if you go OOA), cutting devices for cables, backup lights, primary reel, safety reel, etc....
I had over 600 dives before I felt I was ready for the rigs. It was mostly nerves, but there are some real dangers. Strong currents came come through, sweeping you off the rigs. It's difficult to tell you're in a current when you're in mid-water with no visual references. Buoyancy control is a must, as the bottom is 800 feet at the outer rig. While many people on Scuboard claim to have mastered buoyancy at only a few dozen dives, I've never met a diver with less than a few hundred who could hold their position perfectly.
Surface conditions can change while you're underwater. Ask Drifting Dan about fog.Wind chop and large swells can make it difficult to swim to the boat. The boat cannot come close to the rigs to pick you up, so you may have a difficult surface swim as well.
I hope I didn't scare you too much, as the rigs can be a beautiful dive, but they must be taken extremely seriously. I would pass this trip and get in a lot of offshore dives on the local wrecks first if I were you.
Thats what I would call a "value added" post
Tom
JKSemperFi
New
orch1ds, I like really like your enthusiasm for diving. As I read through the beginning of this thread, it did appear like a few of the responses were more about "shaming" you for even asking the question than providing an intelligent answer. However, I do agree with the consensus here that diving the oil rigs off Southern California can wait until you've got a lot more practical diving experience. I dive Catalina Island pretty regularly. Maybe we'll run into each other.
livewire
Contributor
Don't know if you're still reading this thread, but here's a link to some photos so you can get a visual for what the So. Cal oil rigs are like. Would love to tell you these are mine, but these were shot by Scott Gietler with his amazing D300:
Scott : photos : Oil rigs sep 1st, 2008- powered by SmugMug
Scott : photos : Oil rigs sep 1st, 2008- powered by SmugMug
Scubagolf
Contributor
Several years ago I inquired about diving one of the Channel Island oil platforms and I was told that the boat operator required AOW + at least 50 dives.
Scubagolf
Contributor
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