Folly Cove, MA

[Mike M]

I made the drive from Burlington, VT to Gloucester, MA for my first salt-water dive Sunday. Wow, it was great to be able to see colors underwater. Lots of marine life all over. I was impressed with the Sea Raven, never seeing one before. We stayed near the wall and had a bottom time of 49 minutes with a max depth of 30 ft. Diving wet, the water temp got to my girlfriend and we called the dive. Times like this I wish we had drysuits for more bottom time.
After the dive we stopped for lunch and then dove back beach. Another nice dive with lots of marine life as well. Had a bottom time of 29 minutes and max depth of 28 feet, before the cold started to get to her again. I can understand as the air temp was 52 degrees and the water temp was 47 degrees, with rain coming down and putting on a wet, wetsuit.
As we were gearing up at Back beach one of the locals asked if we drove from Vermont just to dive, my response " Yes, and it was worth it!"
We will be back down to dive this area again soon.

Mike M

 

[large_diver]

Mike,

Thanks for the report -- Folly is one of my favorite dive sites.

FWIW -- both are great night dive sites as well, although you need to make sure the tide is high for a Folly night dive -- you take your life in your hands climbing over the rocks in the dark ;-)

Dove Back Beach at night 2 weeks ago -- nice easy access in the dark and plenty of parking at night!

-Chris

 

[jan]

Hi Mike
I'm glad you liked the dives on Cape Ann, it is a great area to dive. There are many places to dive there as well as a few dive boats to go from. Check out Cape Ann divers for boat trips. Also beware once the summer season starts as there is metered parking at Back Beach and Resident only parking at Folly,you can drop off you gear at Folly and then drive to the next left where you should be able to find a spot to park.
Have Fun
Jan

 

[Mike M]

Yes, parking does seem like it could be a problem in the summer months. We did stop by Cape Ann divers and was giving a sheet with all the dive sites and instructions on how to get there, were to park, and what you'll see. The people at Cape Ann Divers were really nice, and helpful.

Mike M

 

[large_diver]

The folks at CAD are great, and as Jan mentions, they run 2 well-run charter boats.

Lots more dive site and charter details on their web site:

http://www.capeanndivers.com/

 

[Cecil]

Dove there last, Friday, God I do love that spot. Here's a photo of the visibility, best I've ever seen in NE, probably 25'.

 

[dkerr]

Folly's cove was my first cold water dive. I go there probably every other dive because there is so much to see there. When diving the left side of the cove I generally surface swim out to the gazebo and start my decent there. Near the point you can start getting some real depth where some of the bigger critters hang, but I still love the shallower areas more. Great lobstering there to. The right side is very pretty as well but gets pretty shallow when the tides are low. You deffinately need to have the correct weighting to enjoy it.
Besides Folly's there are tons of great diving and I cant wait to get to all the rest of the sites!

 

[Cecil]

Our present plan is to hit the right side this weekend. I've done the left four times now, want to try the right. Not sure which day yet depends on the boss ladies.