Vandenberg Dive (any tips)

[CMOST]

I'm heading to Key West in October to dive the Vandy! Can't wait. Just wanted to know if anyone has any good pointers for this dive? I'll be doing a double dip in the morning. If you did dive this was it on air or nitrox and how deep did you hit? Looking forward to seeing just how beautiful of a dive this will be. Then the following day I will be taking my non diving wife out for a snorkel trip. Any tips would be appreciated.

 

[Reef]

Craig when in October?

 

[paddler3d]

A couple of buddies on mine, not on SB, dove is 3(?) weekends ago. It was when the hurricane was making its way to Bermuda. They dove it on 21%. They had a private boat, 21' CC. The first attempt, the vis was bad and the current was strong. The second attempt, the current had settled and they had 100+ foot vis. They enjoyed it enough that we're trailering the boat back down there Oct. 9th and were going to take a day from Largo and go dive the Vandenberg again. They were very impressed with the dive.

 

[Sh@rkW@tcher]

My Wife and I dove the Vandy Aug 22&23, about the same time frame as Paddler. On the first dive we had 100+ viz and 4+ knot current (like diving into a fire hose). It was all we could do to hand over hand down the mooring line, and to pull ourselves along the wreck. Dive time was 18 minutes on air. The next day the viz was about the same as before but the current was maybe 2 knots. we did two dives on air 25 and 26 minutes. For the last dive the boat dropped us off at the bow mooring and did a drift the length of the wreck and the boat picked us up at the stern mooring. Spectacular dive! We are planning a return next spring.

 

[Salmonboy97]

Dive report from memory. Double dip with 30% and 32%. Max depths were 110'. Current was approximately 2-3kts. Dropped at the bow and did a hand over hand to the stern, played with the electrical knife switches and drifted back to the bow for the ascent. BT 40mins (guessing)
Second dive I stayed near the bow (because I already made a trip to the stern) and explored the superstructure. Lots of ins and outs. Max depth was 90, BT about 40mins.
LOST REEF ADVENTURES only charges $60 if you have ALL your equipment (including EanX)
My dive was totally above the main deck.......next time I will venture down to the walk way just below and explore there. IT WAS AWESOME. This is the dive they wanted the Mighty O to be!

 

[pickens_46929]

I just came back from diving the Vandenberg this past weekend. It was awesome. Completed 7 dives on it in 3 days. Could have used more. We were fabulously lucky in that we didn't have current of any significant strength on it and visibility was pretty good all 3 days, though it did vary.

Here are my comments:

1) The water is bath water warm... 85 F top to bottom pretty much. I dove in my 2mm shorty and was fine. Buddy of mine dove in his 3mm full and was fine as well though he did say he wished he'd had brought / used his 2mm full.

2) Depths... we did a mix of technical and recreational diving on it... most everything you want to see are above 100 ft., there's a couple places that are below that are interesting but just a few... so 100 ft max depth you can see the entire ship and spend lots of dives on it

3) Mixes... use Nitrox 32 if you are certified... we did our first dives on air and just didn't get the bottom time you really want to have... definitely go Nitrox... Subtropic banks EANx32

4) Multiple dive worthy... definitely... a single dive you get to see about 10% of the ship I figure... yeah you can travel more of it but realistically you can't *see*... so even if you do two dives on the same mooring ball, there's tons to see...

 

[CMOST]

Craig when in October?

Reef, I'm taking the ferry down 10/22 & return 10/25.

My plan is to dive nitrox 32% and see all I can. I'm sure I'll be hooked and want to dive it again & again.

Pickens, Were there any jelly fish to speak of?

 

[pickens_46929]

Reef, I'm taking the ferry down 10/22 & return 10/25.

My plan is to dive nitrox 32% and see all I can. I'm sure I'll be hooked and want to dive it again & again.

Pickens, Were there any jelly fish to speak of?

Tons of moon jellies... went in my 2mm shorty and just moved them out of the way... didn't get stung that I noticed although I sure I had a couple hits... oh and I'm a big baby when it comes to that stuff so if I didn't feel 'em you know they weren't that bad :blinking:

Gloves, definitely wear gloves...

 

[MentalMarine]

One area I would recommend hitting is around the stern area. If you come to the port side near the stern there is a hole cut out the deck that leads to a large room, which then leads to a whole cut in the side of the starboard side of the ship at around 108'. I think that’s where the mirror on the wall was as well. If the current is ripping you might have to go back the way you came, otherwise coming over the side to the deck again wouldn’t be advised in heavy current. Also near that hole in the deck is a nice "seat" where you can chill and watch everything. The day we dove the stern there was ZERO current so after a few dives of ripping current is was nice to have a break, we actually did a free descent to it not using the mooring lines.

 

[Oceanus]

I dove the Vandy the day we sank it ...

We wrote up a dive guide on our site
Seaduction Exclusive: The Insider’s Guide to Diving the Vandenberg :: Seaduction ®

FYI, Mike and I may be running Training/Trips once a month on the Vandy very soon