Basking Ridge Diver
Contributor
Did two dives today - at Fort Wetherill - thank you AfterDark for the suggestion.
Bull Point at the marina and out to the island with my son. The cove was pretty with seaweed - red, yellow, brown and green - but the sea life was very quiet. A few small fish, a couple crabs and 4 lobsters - one looked like a keeper but since I was out of state - the lobster stayed where he was resting. Dove low tide got in the water around 12:20pm and did the cove on the left out to the point and then to the island. We toured the island but I was not quite sure of the tides and currents (first timer) so we had some fun and then headed back to the cove to stay safe. May have cut the dive a bit short but did not want to end up floating in the Bay trying to get back to shore... First dive was 66 minutes - min temperature was 52F (warm compared to NJ) and the viz was about 10 feet maybe a tad more but lots of whale snot at times...
Second dive was the Boat Ramp out to the point on the right side. I was solo - Tom was chilled (we dive wet) and did not want a second dive but he said he would be happy to come back in the summer or fall looking for more sea life. Again I love the rocks since we dont have much of that in NJ. No lobsters, but lots of abandoned traps (counted 10) a few bigger fish but nothing that was striking. Again the water was relatively clean here above 20 feet a bit lower the viz was about 5 to 8 feet. This dive was 71 minutes - min temp was again 52F even down to 48 feet.
Traffic was relatively light but I think because folks were taking off Wednesday for Thanksgiving - still takes about 4 or 4.5 hours to get there.
Next year hope to meet up with some folks to find the local loops and spots.
Bull Point at the marina and out to the island with my son. The cove was pretty with seaweed - red, yellow, brown and green - but the sea life was very quiet. A few small fish, a couple crabs and 4 lobsters - one looked like a keeper but since I was out of state - the lobster stayed where he was resting. Dove low tide got in the water around 12:20pm and did the cove on the left out to the point and then to the island. We toured the island but I was not quite sure of the tides and currents (first timer) so we had some fun and then headed back to the cove to stay safe. May have cut the dive a bit short but did not want to end up floating in the Bay trying to get back to shore... First dive was 66 minutes - min temperature was 52F (warm compared to NJ) and the viz was about 10 feet maybe a tad more but lots of whale snot at times...
Second dive was the Boat Ramp out to the point on the right side. I was solo - Tom was chilled (we dive wet) and did not want a second dive but he said he would be happy to come back in the summer or fall looking for more sea life. Again I love the rocks since we dont have much of that in NJ. No lobsters, but lots of abandoned traps (counted 10) a few bigger fish but nothing that was striking. Again the water was relatively clean here above 20 feet a bit lower the viz was about 5 to 8 feet. This dive was 71 minutes - min temp was again 52F even down to 48 feet.
Traffic was relatively light but I think because folks were taking off Wednesday for Thanksgiving - still takes about 4 or 4.5 hours to get there.
Next year hope to meet up with some folks to find the local loops and spots.
