Any Viz Reports For Ri - Thinking Of Diving Beavertail Or Fort W

[CT-Rich]

Someone mentioned diving Fort Adams - is that worth a trip or is Wetherill a better choice? I have not dove Adams - but the topography looks flat and not very exciting. Any thoughts?
tkaelin - let us know your viz... please...

Fort Adams is a pretty popular spot, not anything on the scale of FW. There are some ships anchors and chains on the bay side and the bottom slope down to insanely deep pretty quick. You have to watch your depth b/c you will be going in busy shipping lane. Plan for diving just before high because the current will start to rip once it does change. I dove it once or twice, and I wasn't impressed.

The harbor side of has a lot of moorings so this might be a good time of year to dive it. I have not been in over there myself. It is shallower and more protected, so I imagine it would be siltier. There are several wreck to look at going back to colonial times. I think they will be strictly enforcing rules on removing artifacts from the water since it is a state park, so don't plan on bottle collecting.

 

[Basking Ridge Diver]

Thanks Rich - appreciate the info - I may skip Fort Adams and push for F.W.

 

[tkaelin]

A couple pics to tide you over until you get out.

[/ATTACH]

 

[CT-Rich]

If you are already on the Newport side, go to Kings Beach. It is better than FW or FA.

 

[AfterDark]

Someone mentioned diving Fort Adams - is that worth a trip or is Wetherill a better choice? I have not dove Adams - but the topography looks flat and not very exciting. Any thoughts?
tkaelin - let us know your viz... please...

Fort Adams along the East Passage is good diving. Entry and exit is super easy. The vis is usually better than FTW. The underwater scenery is like FTW but without the big overhangs of rocks at FTW. Marine life is the same with a better chance of picking up a few flat fish. The down sides are current, boat traffic, anglers and dive classes. The current runs faster than a diver can swim. So drift dives are doable but only if you can / like to climb up or down a steep hill depending which way you start the dive. Slack tide is the best, it lasts about 35-45 min. The dive can start and finish at the same easy in / out location.

Boat traffic, this is the only spot I dive where I cling to my dive flag / float. I make a point of coming up right under it and always if possible in > 15 FSW looking up and rotating my body 360deg. This depth puts a diver out of the way of the larger ships using the channel but not from the small pleasure boats that abound there during the summer. On a sunny summer Sunday the boat traffic is a sight to behold and a dangerous overhead for the diver.

Anglers abound along the shore there also, the problem here is getting a flag line entangled with a fishing line and breaking a BIG anglers fishing pole. I did just that once fortunately he was an understanding and friendly BIG angler and didn't even take me up on my offer to pay for his pole.

Dive classes tend to muck up the water and because of the easy in and out, this is a alternative site to Kings Beach for Newport dive classes.

Given the choice to dive either site I would choose FTA over FTW most of the time and that is because of the visibility.

 

[tkaelin]

Dove Ft W today. Only diver in the water. Beautiful day and very good surface conditions. Winds from the North, calm in the coves. High tide. Vis poor - 3-4, not sure if vis related to rolling white caps in the bays from a brisk north wind. Not much to see to report, a couple black fish, lots of small fish, a nice size blue crab, one horseshoe. No lobsters. Went from cove to cove on first dive, 52 degrees at 30 ft. 54 in the shallows. 2nd dive finishing off tank in the shallows in the boat ramp cove. Two divers heading in when I exited.

 

[CT-Rich]

Visibility was crappy today. I was in the water 46 minutes with a max depth 34 fsw. Temp was in low 60s. I was twice hooked by fisher men. The first time I had a hook get caught in my glove, just at the wrist. I was lucky I was wearing my 3mm gloves, otherwise it would have bee really messy. I cut that line with my knife, leaving the hook in to deal with later.

The second time was a couple of minutes later. I was pretty far out on the Sandy Cove and I realized I was being pulled at by my float line. After some tug of war I went up and found a fisherman had hooked his jig on my buoy and was trying to real it in. I told him to stop and pulled out my line cutter and was able to cut it after a couple of tries. Even after I surface, he kept trying to pull me in. I guess that that $.23 worth of line, hooks and bait must have been pretty f*cking important to pull me onto the rocks...

After I cut free I went back down and headed more towards the middle of the cove and compass navigated back in. I sometimes forget why I don't dive FW very often.... And then I get reminded.

 

[tkaelin]

Wow. Sounds like an all around crappy dive. Is Sandy Cove the cove to the east at Ft W and were the fishermen on the rocks on the eastern side of the cove?

 

[CT-Rich]

Not really crappy, but eventful. Sandy Cove has the boat ramp and the fisherman was out towards the tip of the peninsula between the coves.

 

[Basking Ridge Diver]

Not really crappy, but eventful. Sandy Cove has the boat ramp and the fisherman was out towards the tip of the peninsula between the coves.

I have not dove in between the coves/peninsula - I usually go on the west side of the boat ramp out towards the Bay and it gets relatively deep there. Is there better "scenery" on the peninsula? I assume you dive along the rocks since it seems real sandy in the middle of the cove?