A dive buddy in Savannah

[pond skipper]

Hello, New to Scuba Board and hope to make a few friends here. I posted in the introductions but was also told to post here in the southeastern region. I dive several times a week in some rivers close to Savannah for fossils/artifacts. I dive mostly solo from a canoe or kayak but I also have a small boat if I bring a buddy. The water is dark with the usual low vis, but the rewards are always worthwhile. I dive year round and go to Florida for short dive trips in the winter. It would be great to meet some local divers with similar interests.

 

[Lee Taylor]

Hello Pond Skipper,

I have interest in diving the rivers of Savannah for sharks teeth. I am a collector. It is just a hobby for me. I dive the Cooper River here in Charleston SC. I have been diving the Cooper for over ten years so the Savannah Rivers have my interest. I got down to Venice Florida (shark tooth capital of the world) this past summer. I hope to make a trip to Venice next summer also.

I cannot do any diving at the current time (long story). I will look you up come springtime. Are there any river dive boat ops in Savannah?

Here is a reference for you:

Megateeth.com Museum quality Megalodon teeth and fossil shark teeth

The website belongs to Naui+15694. (Bill)

ScubaBoard - View Profile: naui 15694

I met Bill at a fossil show here in Charleston.

Maybe we can all hook up and do some black water diving and/or Venice offshore diving next summer.

 

[pond skipper]

Lee, No charters for fossils here but there are some boats that do beach fossil hunts and dolphin tours. I dive year round so look me up if you get in this area, I dive solo but am always interested in bringing along a buddy. I have a small but capable dive boat for this. Hope to meet you soon.

 

[mwm]

Check out blackbeardsscubaclub.com

 

[Lee Taylor]

Skipper,

Sounds like a possibility. Have dove the Cooper probably over 100 times. Have been times when it was just my dive pal Phil and myself. For years we use to use his extra wide jon boat. Now days we use his deck boat. When there is just two of us we leave a dive flag waving above the boat. We did have one extremely bad incident involving a very intoxicated, theiving, young man, out with daddy's very large expensive boat. It did not end well.

When its just the two of us, we crab upstream on the bottom in front of the anchor. We then end the dive and drift back to the boat. The alligators are generally accomodating but I steer way clear of them. Some of the humans in the boats are far more dangerous than the alligators.

 

[pond skipper]

Lee, I totally agree with the boat dangers, I dive with a flag and 10' surface marker and have been in prop bubbles more times than I've been bumped by gators. I've also had problems with theives who take advantage of an unmanned boat, even had a canoe stolen while subsurface. I dive rivers alot, usually 5-8 dives weekly, more starting now with colder water and better vis. Be happy to accomodate you sometime. I can also take you to different sites for fossils, bottles,etc.

I used to dive the Cooper when I lived in Charlotte, NC. This was about 10 years back and was a close/popular site for collecting fossils and I really enjoyed it. Simmilar diving here (Savannah) without the 4 hour comute. I only have a 5 minute drive to the water now. Works out to more dive time and less driving. Maybe we could swap "custom river scuba tours" sometime.

 

[Lee Taylor]

Skipper,

Here is a short video of Phil's boat. I have used it more than all others over the past 14years. This is from this past summer. We were running back into the French Quarter. Down river from Durham Creek and Strawberry Landing.



Here is a short vid of Johnny's boat. I just started using this guy this past summer. He has a nice rig. A little tail heavy with twins but she will really stroll once she gets up and running. We were running Durham creek back to the dock. Someone opened an air tank. You can hear it hiss.



Here is a photo of Johnny's rig. It's a great river boat. Johnny furnishes air tanks also.

Here are their websites:

Cooper River____________ Cooper River Dive Charters

Cooper River ____________ Back Water Diversions


Here is where we dive the Cooper River:

Click here for Google Map of where to find Megalodon Sharks Teeth

 

[divejax]

Hey guys check out scubamarket Dive locker or Zero Gravity divers if in savannah to meet good dive buddies. I used to own Scubamarket and many of our customers there are black water divers. I now own Atlantic Pro Divers here on Jax beach and we have two dive boats that will run year round. Were running trips this weekend if anyone wants in. Call the shop 904-270-1747 or visitJacksonville Florida Scuba Dive Shop for our forum and video's for jax diving
Mention you saw this post and I'll also give your tanks/fills/weights free for the trip.
Thanks!