Rhode Island diving?

[jimmy71]

Hey all. I am looking at relocating to Providence and am wanting to get a feel for what the diving situation is. I know there is water and that means diving.

My questions are:
Is the diving year round? I will be diving dry. If not what is the season?
I am unsure where charters would leave from, how far of a drive from providence to get to a charter?
How far out from shore are the good sites? How far out do you have to go to get to 100? 150? 200+? I would like to add to my tech certs
How active is the dive community in the area?

Any other info would be great.

Thanks,
jimmy

 

[NHscuba]

A good local shop:
Giant Stride Dive Shop · 1935 Warwick Avenue · Warwick, Rhode Island · 02889

Diving is surprisingly warm, almost tropical in late summer. The ocean current then seems to hit Cape Cod and bounce out to the north Atlantic, so it is much colder in any states north of RI.
Lots of wreck diving, both tec and rec.

 

[oly5050user]

Newport and Jamestown both have very good shore access. As to depths,you can get over 180' at castle hill on Newport from shore. Boats go to numerous wrecks such as u853,Blackpoint. Spearfishing via free diving is very popular there with kayaks....good all around location for diving.

 

[jimmy71]

great info. How far off shore are those wrecks? I am not a fan of long boat rides. Ignoring air temps, are those shore dives doable year round? Water in the 40s is acceptable to me but it seems hard to get a charter to go out in it.

 

[oly5050user]

Depends on where the boat is going and from what dock it leaves from..Generally not as long a boat ride as here in NYC where it can be anywhere from 45 minutes to 3 hours or more...should be able to shore dive pretty much year round..In just about 2 or 3 weeks the gulf stram will bring up tropical fish right up to shore there.

 

[jimmy71]

Most of my coastal diving is off NC. 20-40+ miles off shore to reach 100-130' is common if the boat can make it out. Good sites, but the trip is long and rough. A shore dive to 180 is an awesome perspective. Any other info people would like to add is very very welcome