Dive charter 2 the U853?

[mtsidford]

Hello everyone, I need some help planning my dive to the U853. Yes I'm advanced certified with many New England dives to similar depths of the U853 so please don't lecture me. My primary diving is in the Cape Ann area so I'm unfamiliar to scuba shops and dive charters that service the U853. I'm not picky when it comes to travel time so will depart from the Cape, R.I., or CT, just the same. Please let me know if you have any recomendations for this. Thank you all and hope you can join me on what should be a terrific dive Aug. 22. SID

 

[Diesel298]

www.underseaexploration.com

 

[keelhaul123]

Hello everyone, I need some help planning my dive to the U853. Yes I'm advanced certified with many New England dives to similar depths of the U853 so please don't lecture me. My primary diving is in the Cape Ann area so I'm unfamiliar to scuba shops and dive charters that service the U853. I'm not picky when it comes to travel time so will depart from the Cape, R.I., or CT, just the same. Please let me know if you have any recomendations for this. Thank you all and hope you can join me on what should be a terrific dive Aug. 22. SID

Kinda sorta the same question. Been diving for 5 years now.....about 140 under my belt, most of which have been in the past year or so. Max depth to date has been 120', but the u-853 does have a bit of a siren call to me. I dive dry mostly and am used to Cape Ann temps. This is a dive I have been hoping to make for about 2 years but not sure if I have the gear needed for it. Granted I have done the Poling at least a half dozen times, have done dives in good current, low vis, fresh water, salt water, and night dives. Generally I feel capable of doing it, but as yet havent found anyone who I normally dive with that is "UP" for this dive.
My usual setup is an AL80, and yes I understand that at LEAST I would need a pony. My air consumption is good, mainly because I feel comfortable underwater and am confident of my SCUBA skills. So what is my question?
Well...what advice, if any could you give me in regards to preparing for this dive? Any reccomendations as to what other dives(besides the Poling) I might try first to get me up and ready for it? Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[ScubaSarus]

http://www.oceanadventuresdivecharter.com/

These guys were awsome. I belive each diver pays one price and out they go 2 or more divers and you got a trip. A pony is not mandatory on their boat. They may provide a hang tank if asked for.

I highly recommend these guys. It was an awsome trip with them about 1/2 hour or less to the sub from Snug Harbor Marina.

Chris #2

 

[RIOceanographer]

I just did the U-853 with these guys:

http://www.oceanadventuresdivecharter.com/

It is a relatively small boat and caters to small groups of divers. They'll go with 2 people. The captain (Bill) is friendly, knowledgeable about RI wrecks and is a diver himself. They are a brand new operation as of this year. I'd certainly use him again.

Ocean State Scuba is a great operation. They don't do the U-853 very often but if you can afford to hire out the whole boat they'll go wherever you want. Their instructors Dan or Jeremy would be most likely to lead the charter and are both really great guys.

http://www.oceanstatescuba.com/

The owner of Pier Dive Shop (Charlie) seems pretty obsessed with the U-853. They no longer have their own boat but arrange charters with two of the local captains. One of the boats is that Ocean Adventures guy. The other boat I not familiar with but it is bigger. They have two divemasters/instuctors they use for the U-853, Keith and Eddie both of whom are good guys.

http://www.pierdive.com/

Newport Diving Center has been running charters to the U-853, but their captain is currently sick so their charters are on hold. I am not sure how long that will last. I can't tell you much else about their operation, however, I have seen people post on this board that they had good experiences:

http://www.newportdivingcenter.com/

Another operation is Ninigret Divers. I really know nothing about them, but you will find some people have posted positive things about about them on the board.

http://www.ninigretdivers.com/

 

[matt_unique]

Hello everyone, I need some help planning my dive to the U853. Yes I'm advanced certified with many New England dives to similar depths of the U853 so please don't lecture me. My primary diving is in the Cape Ann area so I'm unfamiliar to scuba shops and dive charters that service the U853. I'm not picky when it comes to travel time so will depart from the Cape, R.I., or CT, just the same. Please let me know if you have any recomendations for this. Thank you all and hope you can join me on what should be a terrific dive Aug. 22. SID

No lectures here dude! Go nuts....give em hell....etc.

I would suggest a boat that departs Pt. Judith RI to minimize your ride. I know you said you don't care about the distance but the time to the wreck is dependant upon the sea conditions. If you're not a regular sailor a long pitchy ride to the wreck could be uncomfortable.

--Matt

 

[matt_unique]

....Well...what advice, if any could you give me in regards to preparing for this dive? Any reccomendations as to what other dives(besides the Poling) I might try first to get me up and ready for it? Any advice would be appreciated.

In my opinion, if you're comfortable with night dives on the Poling you're definitely good to go on the U853. Everyone I know who has done the U853 had a touch of the "willies" the first time on it. That was the case for me too. Not so much from the procedural aspects of the dive. There is definitely a sense of energy (perhaps in the history) around this wreck if you know what I mean. I think that aura is partly what makes it such a great dive. This is the real deal WWII history.

--Matt

 

[Soggy]

I agree with Matt