Diving Delaware inlet and coast

[SlickNick]

How is the visibility?
how difficult is it?
have you dove the "china wreck"?
anything i should know?

 

[DA Aquamaster]

I used to dive out of Indian River inlet in DE and out of Ocean City MD. Viz is typical Labrador current diving and on average I usually had 30-50' viz. Water temp varies by season, but don't expect to ever see the warmer Gulf stream waters you get offshore from NC.

The China wreck is not very deep - about 45-50' - but unless the boat captain times it right around slack tide, it's a high current dive and thus probably not for a relatively inexperienced diver. Viz can be good (30') on the incoming tide, but gets poor on the outgoing tide.

The "wreck" is basically a 6'-8' tall pile of rubble, accreted material and coral on a fairly flat bottom and if I remember correctly is maybe 100' long and perhaps 50'-60' wide. Intact plates are pretty rare, and if there still there, they are well encrusted, so it would take some luck to find one and even more luck as well as skill to remove it in one piece. But you're almost guaranteed to come home with pieces of china and its not hard to find pieces with watermarks that are interesting to date and research.

The shallow wrecks and sites like the Fenwick shoals tend to be low viz due to the inshore nature of the wrecks. There are a handful of wrecks in the 70' range, but much of the diving seems to be on 90-100' deep wrecks so a AOW card and a nitrox cert would be a plus. Some of these offer pretty good relief and while the wrecks have collapsed, they still resemble ship wrecks with a fair amount of relief in the hull plates. The Washingtonian and Manhattan are good examples of that type of wreck and while they don't offer an penetration, they are still fun to explore.

There are also some deeper wrecks in the 130 foot plus range and they tend to be the more intact wrecks in the Indian river inlet area.

Requirements vary to dive the wrecks but most boat captains in the area will check to ensure you have the skills or at least the certifications needed to dive a particular wreck.

Air fills were a challenge in Indian River when I dove there, so plan on bringing enough tanks for both days of diving, otherwise plan on going to Ocean City for fills and check shop hours there. There was a small shop in Rehobeth that offered air fills (not nitrox) and their hours were reasonable - but it's been 3-4 years since I've dove there so I can't speak to the current shop situation.

 

[SlickNick]

could you give me some more info on the china wreck? what do you mean by slack tide? and are there any other good shallower wrecks and do you know their coordinates?

---------- Post added November 18th, 2012 at 07:08 PM ----------

I used to dive out of Indian River inlet in DE and out of Ocean City MD. Viz is typical Labrador current diving and on average I usually had 30-50' viz. Water temp varies by season, but don't expect to ever see the warmer Gulf stream waters you get offshore from NC.

The China wreck is not very deep - about 45-50' - but unless the boat captain times it right around slack tide, it's a high current dive and thus probably not for a relatively inexperienced diver. Viz can be good (30') on the incoming tide, but gets poor on the outgoing tide.

The "wreck" is basically a 6'-8' tall pile of rubble, accreted material and coral on a fairly flat bottom and if I remember correctly is maybe 100' long and perhaps 50'-60' wide. Intact plates are pretty rare, and if there still there, they are well encrusted, so it would take some luck to find one and even more luck as well as skill to remove it in one piece. But you're almost guaranteed to come home with pieces of china and its not hard to find pieces with watermarks that are interesting to date and research.

The shallow wrecks and sites like the Fenwick shoals tend to be low viz due to the inshore nature of the wrecks. There are a handful of wrecks in the 70' range, but much of the diving seems to be on 90-100' deep wrecks so a AOW card and a nitrox cert would be a plus. Some of these offer pretty good relief and while the wrecks have collapsed, they still resemble ship wrecks with a fair amount of relief in the hull plates. The Washingtonian and Manhattan are good examples of that type of wreck and while they don't offer an penetration, they are still fun to explore.

There are also some deeper wrecks in the 130 foot plus range and they tend to be the more intact wrecks in the Indian river inlet area.

Requirements vary to dive the wrecks but most boat captains in the area will check to ensure you have the skills or at least the certifications needed to dive a particular wreck.

Air fills were a challenge in Indian River when I dove there, so plan on bringing enough tanks for both days of diving, otherwise plan on going to Ocean City for fills and check shop hours there. There was a small shop in Rehobeth that offered air fills (not nitrox) and their hours were reasonable - but it's been 3-4 years since I've dove there so I can't speak to the current shop situation.

could ypu give me some more info on the "China Wreck" and what do you mean by slack tide? And what do you think would be the best wreck to start with? Something relativly shallow without much current but cool to see and mabe some stuff to take?

 

[manni-yunk]

China Wreck is a cool wreck. Still not positively identified. There is still China - but its hard to get to. Its basically encrusted with growth in crates and you have to get through the growth without breaking the china...not easy. And....thats after you find the right cargo hold.

Anyway - a local dove legend, BART MALONE, is currently putting together a program on the China wreck. You can try to contact him through facebook. He gives lectures for dive shops and groups about all sorts of local diving - and he has some pieces from the China wreck. WHen I last saw Bart, maybe 4 or 5 weeks ago - he was preparing for his China Wreck program. He might have already done it. If not, maybe you can find out where he is delivering it. Otherwise, maybe he will share the info with you.


As posted - slack tide (between tides when water is not ripping through) is best and slack between high and low is the best for any of the DEl Bay area wrecks. Otherwise you get the mid and dirt washout effect from the bay water. Between High and low, its usually cleanest. There are a lot of cool wrecks in that area to dive in the recreational limit - you just have to find them. The CAPE MAY reef is loaded with cool wrecks and fish. Other than that, some of hte best wrecks are within reach - but they take a while to track down.


If you get to the technical depths - WOW....some really cool things to see.

Be careful in the DEl Bay inlet as there is a lot of boat traffic. Leave someone topside and have your Alpha and dive flag up.

There are 100s or cool wrecks - I havent even scratched the surface of them, and I dive them almost every weekend!


If you can get to the China Wreck - you can get to the Cape May reef. These wrecks numbers are well documented and available through the state website. You could hit reef site 11, but visibility isnt as good. Cape May reef on the middle is the "drift fishing zone" - stay away from there. The North and South end are loaded with wrecks and fish. Ive had some nice lobster as well.

PLENTY of wrecks in 80ft or less.


PLEASE get trained on local diving, and try to find a "mentor" to show you our local techniques. Its not hard, but worth learning. Basic and advanced skills like running a reel, shooting a bag, tieing an anchor in, running a boat trail line, emergency procedures, etc. should be gone over.

This part of NJ/DEl is WIDE OPEN and there is only a few of us diving here - Have fun!

 

[SlickNick]

China Wreck is a cool wreck. Still not positively identified. There is still China - but its hard to get to. Its basically encrusted with growth in crates and you have to get through the growth without breaking the china...not easy. And....thats after you find the right cargo hold.

Anyway - a local dove legend, BART MALONE, is currently putting together a program on the China wreck. You can try to contact him through facebook. He gives lectures for dive shops and groups about all sorts of local diving - and he has some pieces from the China wreck. WHen I last saw Bart, maybe 4 or 5 weeks ago - he was preparing for his China Wreck program. He might have already done it. If not, maybe you can find out where he is delivering it. Otherwise, maybe he will share the info with you.


As posted - slack tide (between tides when water is not ripping through) is best and slack between high and low is the best for any of the DEl Bay area wrecks. Otherwise you get the mid and dirt washout effect from the bay water. Between High and low, its usually cleanest. There are a lot of cool wrecks in that area to dive in the recreational limit - you just have to find them. The CAPE MAY reef is loaded with cool wrecks and fish. Other than that, some of hte best wrecks are within reach - but they take a while to track down.


If you get to the technical depths - WOW....some really cool things to see.

Be careful in the DEl Bay inlet as there is a lot of boat traffic. Leave someone topside and have your Alpha and dive flag up.

There are 100s or cool wrecks - I havent even scratched the surface of them, and I dive them almost every weekend!


If you can get to the China Wreck - you can get to the Cape May reef. These wrecks numbers are well documented and available through the state website. You could hit reef site 11, but visibility isnt as good. Cape May reef on the middle is the "drift fishing zone" - stay away from there. The North and South end are loaded with wrecks and fish. Ive had some nice lobster as well.

PLENTY of wrecks in 80ft or less.


PLEASE get trained on local diving, and try to find a "mentor" to show you our local techniques. Its not hard, but worth learning. Basic and advanced skills like running a reel, shooting a bag, tieing an anchor in, running a boat trail line, emergency procedures, etc. should be gone over.

This part of NJ/DEl is WIDE OPEN and there is only a few of us diving here - Have fun!

Thanks! could you give me some more info on some wrecks within 65 ft what their like and coordinates if you have them? And how do you find the cargo woth te china? And how hard is it to come back up with some china even if its just pieces?

 

[manni-yunk]

coordinates........youll have to find the "non artificial" ones the old fashioned way!!!

Start Here :GPS and Loran Artificial Reef Shipwreck Coordinate List  New York and New Jersey


That link has a downloadable listing of GPS coordinates of the Cape May and Wildwood reef. Delaware has a similar site that posts their reef sites.


To find the China on the China wrecl...you have to look around. Im not the person to ask - there are others that have done better there than I. No real secret - just put in your time.......

Coming up with it is easy - go to Dutch Springs and practice with an equipment bag and/or a catch bag. Also - practice shooting objects to the surface. Its not hard...BUT NEEDS TO BE PRACTICED to be safe and proficient.

If you really want to be a good, safe NE diver - I suggest two approaches:

1) Do training (advanced, etc) with someone willing to taylor the classes to NE wreck diving. I, personally, would contact Trace Malinowski. He will do classes or "coaching" sessions and he's probably one hte the best diver as well as instructor around.

2) Find some locals to mentor you on the nuances of NE diving. If you meet me at Dutch - and show us your not a "liability" (no offense) and that you can handle our diving - I would be more than happy to take you out with me a few times to show you what we do and how we do it in the ocean. From there, you can decide what works best for you.



This area is addicting. Bottles, ammunition, portholes, dead eyes, Lobster, fish - you never know what each dive will bring!!!

---------- Post added November 19th, 2012 at 04:56 PM ----------

DUDE.....I just saw that your 14........I wish I started this that young!!!! That being said - dont rush into these dives. Even the shallower NJ dives can be a little tricky. Get the appropriate local training - and you will have a long and fun local dive life of experiences. - BUT - get the training first.

 

[Rich Keller]

Here are a few other sites you can try. As stated earlier more training would be good but in my opinion more hours in the water would serve you better. Passing courses is easy but getting in the water and properly applying what you learned is far more important. Once you are doing what you have learned in the water and it comes as second nature then it is time to move on to the next certification level. Start slow with shore dives, then work you way up to shallow wrecks and so on. This can be done at 14, I started at 13 with no training other then a book I read on the subject.

- Wannadive.net - World dive site atlas

Scuba Diving - New Jersey & Long Island New York - dive Wreck Valley - Dive Sites - Long Island - West Chart

http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/pdf/reefs/reef_guide.pdf

Wrecks and Obstructions (AWOIS)

http://shorediving.com/Earth/index.htm

Scuba diving sites and GPS destinations: Wrecks, Coral Reefs, Reviews, Trip Charters. - Dive Spots

DiveSites - The World's Largest Scuba Diving Site Location Database Resource

United States : Scuba Diving Sites : Divetime.com