Central or North Jersey shore dives in April?

[Dive-aholic]

We did the train bridge at PP the first weekend of February. I dove wet, and it was 36*

:11: How long was your dive? Even dry I'm not sure I could last very long, at least not without a FFM.

 

[Jonny_Rocket]

Total dive time was 20 minutes, we were in the water for about 35 though. I thumbed the dive because my finger which was messed up got cold and it became very painful. When we got to the surface Grunzster who was diving dry thanked me over and over. lol

 

[FrankF]

look up dual wrecks while you're on there.
a few of us have been trying to get there, but have been repeatedly blown out.
we might be up for trying again towards the end of april.

The only way you're ever getting me there again is in a boat. Maybe even a cruise liner. I hate Dual Wrecks! Unless you are a mountain climber, a world class swimmer and a diplomat you don't want to dive here!!! This is Navy Seal training disguised as shore diving.

At least you can drink beer in the McDonalds parking lot, though

 

[XJae]

The only way you're ever getting me there again is in a boat. Maybe even a cruise liner. I hate Dual Wrecks! Unless you are a mountain climber, a world class swimmer and a diplomat you don't want to dive here!!! This is Navy Seal training disguised as shore diving.

At least you can drink beer in the McDonalds parking lot, though

maybe if you pedal your bike in from PA,
we'll change your nickname to ironman.

i'm sure you'll be back. lol.

 

[Lat. Adjustment]

The Dual Wrecks is a cool dive but you will get blown out 99% of the time and you need a sherpa to get there, borrowing the kid next door's little red wagon would be a start, it would get you from the parking, usually at the church south a block to and down the access path to the beach. There is a wall there to sit the gear on while you get into it. Then it's down toward the water, turn south, climb over the 1st jetty and go 1/2 way to the next, line up the statue and the cross as you swim out. That was the easy part, now you need to walk back. Is the Pt. Pleasant RR bridge looking better?!

 

[Dive-aholic]

The Dual Wrecks is a cool dive but you will get blown out 99% of the time and you need a sherpa to get there, borrowing the kid next door's little red wagon would be a start, it would get you from the parking, usually at the church south a block to and down the access path to the beach. There is a wall there to sit the gear on while you get into it. Then it's down toward the water, turn south, climb over the 1st jetty and go 1/2 way to the next, line up the statue and the cross as you swim out. That was the easy part, now you need to walk back. Is the Pt. Pleasant RR bridge looking better?!

Yeah, I think we'll put off Dual Wrecks until another time. The RR bridge will probably be our 1st dive that morning. From what I've seen and read, it doesn't look like tide is much of a consideration there. But we'd like to find a different site to go to after that around slack high. Any suggestions on sites within 1/2 hour of the RR bridge?

 

[Lat. Adjustment]

Actually tide is very important at the RR bridge because the current under it can rip faster than you can swim and under the bridge is where you will find the most life.
There are some other ocean beach dives nearby but you will need landmarks to find them.
Shark River offers a few options, Belmars L street beach back in the basin is a safe but boring site when the ocean is angry, A street which is in one block from Ocean and the inlet, at the wall between the apartments and the million dollar homes are steps going down to the water, enter and swim along the jetty toward the bridge, there will be less fishing here. The Avon side of the jetty has a longer walk but you can do a giant stride off the bridge base, between the bridge and the ocean will be more fishermen. The exit requires some rock climbing, on the ocean side of the boardwalk are showers but they probably won't be on in April.

 

[fiddler]

Glad you spoke up Lat I nearly had a heart attach when I saw that " tides are not a factor" line. R.R. bridge can be done at low tide but vis is terrible. Definatley must do at slack tide.

Best is to enter at the end of the incoming, let the current carry you under the bridge and turn right. Swimm along the rocks untill slack then work around the piers. We have pulled the occaisonl legal bug out of the rocks there.

 

[Dive-aholic]

Actually tide is very important at the RR bridge because the current under it can rip faster than you can swim and under the bridge is where you will find the most life.
There are some other ocean beach dives nearby but you will need landmarks to find them.
Shark River offers a few options, Belmars L street beach back in the basin is a safe but boring site when the ocean is angry, A street which is in one block from Ocean and the inlet, at the wall between the apartments and the million dollar homes are steps going down to the water, enter and swim along the jetty toward the bridge, there will be less fishing here. The Avon side of the jetty has a longer walk but you can do a giant stride off the bridge base, between the bridge and the ocean will be more fishermen. The exit requires some rock climbing, on the ocean side of the boardwalk are showers but they probably won't be on in April.

Thanks for the heads up. We stopped by there mid afternoon in January and it looked real calm. I wouldn't think there was much of a current there.

As for Shark River, we'll have to look into that. We checked it out, but I thought diving wasn't allowed very far up on that side of the bridge. The rocks didn't look to bad. The ocean wasn't very happy that day and we thought if it's always that way, we would definitely have to exit through the rocks to avoid being bashed against them at the end of the jetty.

BTW, I grew up in Jersey and spent a lot of time down the shore, so I'm pretty familiar with landmarks there. I just didn't dive then. We still come back to Jersey a couple of times a year, and always head south, usually Wildwood. I've looked for Jersey beach diving information, but didn't find any until last summer at the end of our visit. So, I've been looking forward all year to checking out som eof the sites.

Glad you spoke up Lat I nearly had a heart attach when I saw that " tides are not a factor" line. R.R. bridge can be done at low tide but vis is terrible. Definatley must do at slack tide.

Best is to enter at the end of the incoming, let the current carry you under the bridge and turn right. Swimm along the rocks untill slack then work around the piers. We have pulled the occaisonl legal bug out of the rocks there.

Thanks for the advice. Like I said, the RR bridge just looked real calm. I would never have guessed.

Just to clear it up, enter near the parking lot, head under the bridge and away from the parking lot, and then do you exit at the piers or swim back to your entry point. Either way will work. One of us can always hang out at the piers with the gear while the other gets the truck (I hate lugging all that stuff if I don't have to).

Also, what are the regs on dive flags at these 2 sites?

And how much time do the tides usually give for dives? Would it be possible to do both sites on one day? Start at RR an hour before slack and do a 2nd at Shark River? Or should we plan 2 days if we want to dive both?

And is an hour before slack a good time on the Jersey coast?

Lots of questions, but we want to do this safe. I think we'll stick to the "boring" sites this trip and look at some of the ocean beach sites when we come out in July.

Thanks for all the help!

 

[grouchyturtle]

:11: How long was your dive? Even dry I'm not sure I could last very long, at least not without a FFM.

No kidding!!! Dry suit with dry gloves and starting at about 10 minutes I was canstantly paying he would call the dive! You know I'd never hear the end of it if I called it. As soon as we hit the surface I pumped a ton of gass into my suit.