Moving from SoCal to Maryland, what is the diving like?

[BlairB]

I am going to be relocating from Southern California to Maryland in the coming few weeks for my job and I was just curious what the diving out there was like? Wetsuit v. Drysuit? Boat v. Shore dives? Viz, Currents, Diving Culture etc....

I DMed out of La Jolla for awhile, so most of my diving has been surf entry beach diving, with low to decent viz, temps that would drop to the 40's and negligible current.

Any feedback is much appreciated!

 

[letterboy]

Where in MD will you be relocating to?

When I dove in MD, mostly quarries, some bay I dove a 6.5mm semi dry or a drysuit.

From what I understand most of the diving from jersey and Ocean City is boat diving out to wrecks along the coast.

 

[BlairB]

Where in MD will you be relocating to?

When I dove in MD, mostly quarries, some bay I dove a 6.5mm semi dry or a drysuit.

From what I understand most of the diving from jersey and Ocean City is boat diving out to wrecks along the coast.

I will probably living in the Baltimore area. Any good places to explore around there?

 

[letterboy]

I enjoyed living in MD, I wouldn;t say I loved it, but I enjoyed it.

I lived NW of Baltimore (Westminster) for a while and North of Baltimore (Abingdon) area for a time also.

There was plenty to keep me occupied, I am an outdoorsy guy so we would go to WV camping, rock climbing and mountain biking. We were also close enough to DC and NYC to visit there whenever we wanted. I didn;t do much ocean diving while I was there because it was several hours away for me and not worth the drive time and cost for me. If you enjoy a "exciting" nightlife there is Fells Point downtown Baltimore as well as some other "up and coming" areas in the city that are hot party spots. I rarely went into the city, I am a country kinda guy.

There are several Dive shops around the area. Some better then others, obviously.

Do you have an area around Baltimore you are trying to get into? cardinal direction even?

 

[BlairB]

I enjoyed living in MD, I wouldn;t say I loved it, but I enjoyed it.

I lived NW of Baltimore (Westminster) for a while and North of Baltimore (Abingdon) area for a time also.

There was plenty to keep me occupied, I am an outdoorsy guy so we would go to WV camping, rock climbing and mountain biking. We were also close enough to DC and NYC to visit there whenever we wanted. I didn;t do much ocean diving while I was there because it was several hours away for me and not worth the drive time and cost for me. If you enjoy a "exciting" nightlife there is Fells Point downtown Baltimore as well as some other "up and coming" areas in the city that are hot party spots. I rarely went into the city, I am a country kinda guy.

There are several Dive shops around the area. Some better then others, obviously.

Do you have an area around Baltimore you are trying to get into? cardinal direction even?

I have been looking at Canton, Fed Hill, Fells Point, Patterson Park but I still am not too sure. I am flying out to visit our office in a few days, so I will explore the city some while up there. My office is actually in Glen Burnie, so the drive to Annapolis would not be bad either.

If I have a chance while I am up there I may try to visit a dive shop to get a better idea of some of the closest dive sites and what to expect there. Seems it will be very different than what I am used to.

 

[letterboy]

oh it will be different that is for sure.

Canton is the area I was trying to think of but couldn't. that is a nice growing community.

When I lived in MD I drove 1.5hrs to go ~30 miles each way to work I didn;t think it was to bad, where I live now my commute is ~15 minutes to go 7 miles. that was from north of Baltimore to NW of Baltimore using the beltway.

The metro system is also pretty decent in Baltimore with the MARC train bringing you out of the city south towards DC.

 

[divad]

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[bikediver]

Check out The Atlantis Rangers' Home Page - active dive club in Baltimore/DC area. Meet local divers including a couple of other SOCAL transplants

 

[waterpirate]

We have an ocean due east of baltimore. diving is good, viv is vis, some good some bad. What is the max depth you are comfortable at? Feel free to shoot me a pm if you want the 411 on the ocean city md area.
Eric

 

[BlairB]

oh it will be different that is for sure.

Canton is the area I was trying to think of but couldn't. that is a nice growing community.

When I lived in MD I drove 1.5hrs to go ~30 miles each way to work I didn;t think it was to bad, where I live now my commute is ~15 minutes to go 7 miles. that was from north of Baltimore to NW of Baltimore using the beltway.

The metro system is also pretty decent in Baltimore with the MARC train bringing you out of the city south towards DC.

Good information, I am somewhat flying blind at this point so I like getting peoples firsthand experience. Thanks!

Check out The Atlantis Rangers' Home Page - active dive club in Baltimore/DC area. Meet local divers including a couple of other SOCAL transplants

Thank you, I will definitely look into this group and once I get moved out and settled in will swing by some meetings.

We have an ocean due east of baltimore. diving is good, viv is vis, some good some bad. What is the max depth you are comfortable at? Feel free to shoot me a pm if you want the 411 on the ocean city md area.
Eric

I am pretty comfortable at any recreational depth. When I used to be a divemaster down in San Diego we would usually dive a submarine canyon so when not taking people on tours (which we kept less than 60-70ft) we would hang out anywhere from 80-130ft depending on which part of the canyon we were in and what we were looking for.