Oriskany tips?

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Jayfarmlaw

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Me and 4 friends will be making the 12 hour drive to Pensacola to dive the Oriskany in a few days. Any tips, must see items on the boat, places to eat, things to see, etc? Any other wrecks that are must sees? We have 2 days of diving on a private charter. 5 men, 50+, old, fat, married, but damn good divers.

Love to hear local places to eat and what to order, as well as any local beers.

Figuring 32% and a good 3mm should be fine. Correct me if Im Wrong.

Thanks in advance for your response.

Jay
 
32% will be OK if you stay on the upper portions, which start at 80 ft. Deck is now 145 ft,
Used to be shallower....
I dived her in May 2007; temps were upper 60s, lower 70s.
I dived it on trimix, all the cool stuff I saw was deck level and deeper.
 
28% is the ideal mix. Any other info would, of course, be dependent on certification level and experience of divers. I usually hit the O on the way to or on the way from cave country, so I'm not much help for restaurants, etc.
 
Let us know how it goes.

It's high on the list of dives I want to do with my son, a former Navy diver. We're waiting until we take some deco courses and gain more deep experience.

Best wishes,
 
Maybe Elsa pushed it closer to shore. Wouldn't that be nice. This has been a dream dive of ours. Enjoy!
 
Agree with all above.

I dived Oriskany about a year after she was made a reef. Deck at the conning tower was at 132' then, I reached down and touched my computer to the deck, then retreated back up to the 80'-90' swim-throughs at the Admiral's deck and navigators deck. that structure topped out at about 65' as I recall.

She was still a "gray ship" then, Navy paint still good. A couple of years later, a "brown ship", with new-ish growth, and a bit deeper and listed slightly from storm pressures.

Last time, around 5 years ago I guess (logbook not near me right now), she was clearly a "ship of the deep" with lots of growth. We went to the admiral's bridge for swim-through, it was at about 110' I think, which was as deep as non-techies like me cared to dive.

This thread makes me want to go back.
 
Been to her once. AN/DP and that got me to the 150's flight deck.
Now have a rebreather and will someday spend some time in the hanger deck.

I hate saying this, but for a recreational diver all there really is to see is the island. Not that impressive in my opinion. The preverbal tip of the iceberg.
 
Oriskany is a great dive, with usually good to great vis. With the 3 recent storms, the water may be a bit stirred up. I dove a couple of weeks ago (shallower) and water temps were in the high 70's with 80s on the surface.

Depending on where you're staying, there are a few restaurants to visit. I'm not a local, but I'm pretending to be. With whom are you chartered?

Oh, and I usually dive it with 32%.
 
I didn't put this trip together, getting tanks and weights from Pro Dive (or Dive Pro). Staying in an Air BnB around Pensacola, and taking a private charter with a guide. Normally, I know all the details but I just don't care on this one. Get me to blue water and push my ass off the boat....it's been a rough couple of months. I need some bubble therapy in a bad bad way.

This is an annual trip like releasing 5 twelve year olds on the world with dads wallet and the keys to a truck. No wives, no adult supervision, no limits.....translation- enough blood pressure, cholesterol, flow max, Metamucil, geratol, Tylenol Arthritis, Advil, Alieve, and other geriatric meds to stock a nursing home pharmacy and we party like rock stars (if rock stars fell asleep after 2 Beers and snorted lines of Benefiber) until about 8 pm when we need to be asleep because we are all up all night peeing. Absolute debauchery....sort of....not really. I might have 3 beers....

All divers are very experienced, thousands of dives between us, but doing it in single tank rec gear. I'll take a hp120 just in case someone runs low, maybe a pony too. I like to stay down...deco or not.

Keep the suggestions coming, I'll drive a bit for good food. Prefer local, hole in the wall, locals-only type places...and local beers...

As always, I'll write a trip report when I get back to share any kernels of wisdom I might find.

I just ordered the complete greatest hits collection of Lawrence Welk!! Party on Garth....AAAAAND AHHHHHHHH ONE AND AAAAAAAHHHHHHH TWO.....

Jay
 
That's awesome, have a great time. I'm bringing a group of buddies from Nor Cal for next year. We'll bring scooters and doubles. Are there shops in Pensicola that have Helium?
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/
https://xf2.scubaboard.com/community/forums/cave-diving.45/

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