Cooper river finds

[Li'l38]

does anyone know how the cooper river finds compare to the venice beach finds?

I'm not sure, I've only been to Venice once and the vis was zero! We tried to swim out past it all but it just didn't get any better. It was this past summer when we had all the shark attacks happening in the gulf :11: They do shore diving there almost every weekend. They say the beach replenishment has nearly covered a reef but is making for plenty of new fossils (that's an oxy-moron: 'new' fossils) My question is, do you have to use a charter on the Cooper River? Or is there a place to camp and dive for free? I'd like to try diving that river. What's it like? Is there a strong current? Is it crowded? Would be cool to get an SB dive weekend there! :14:

 

[scubanick]

u dont have to have a charter i dont reckon ... we did cause we never have been
my buddy has a pontoon so we might take his one day
but the charters who go there often can tell when the tide changes
and knows when the current is moving so kinda gets rid of the silt for ya
i didn't really see a place to camp
but take a bigger pontoon and just pitch a tent on it lol
the current was not to bad on first dive it cleared the silt well
second dive was a lil more but nothing you cant handle
i actually had a rope attached to my bc and a spike i drove in the bottom
so i could just hang there .... quite a few boaters there but not to bad
and it would be a neat to get a SB weekend there
of course i felt kinda weary as we left the first dive site and rode right past the alligator on the way to the next one

 

[Li'l38]

.... quite a few boaters there but not to bad
and it would be a neat to get a SB weekend there
of course i felt kinda weary as we left the first dive site and rode right past the alligator on the way to the next one

Well,,,,,,,,,,,I've never heard of an alligator/ diver encounter before :11: Dang, I'm thinkin' there's safety in numbers but I'm not sure there's enough brave souls willing to make a circle of protection around me?

 

[aquaoren]

I was in Charleston in August and did the Cooper River too.
Started a thread about it with pics of the finds.
My loot was not exceptional eventhough I found couple big ones but the other, more experienced diver came up with bags they could barely lift. I don't know how it was in the past but it didn't look bad to me.
Oh BTW, Alligators

 

[Li'l38]

Oh BTW, Alligators

Yikes!- How do alligators react to divers? I've read about sharks (never seen one diving yet) but from what I gather, alligators are not picky eaters! :11:

 

[Moose016]

Its very rare to see alligators, but it is dependent on what part you dive. the gators will swim away from you, but if you are near one you won't know it until you are face to face. The biggest danger is boats, I had one coming straight at me when I surfaced, had to drop right back down FAST. the vis is terrible so you are really on your own when you get down there, no chance of starying with a buddy really. If you go with a charter, they should know where the gravel beds are so you find something, otherwise its just dirt.