Hydro Atlantic 11-28-20

[Kyle0692]

Hi all,

Yesterday afternoon I had an awesome first dive on the Hydro with my buddy. South Florida Dive HQ was the operator and they did a great job for us. Conditions above and below the water were very nice with 79 degrees on the bottom and about 60 ft of viz. Highlights of the dive for me were seeing four bull sharks, all the gorgeous corals covering the ship, and seeing one of the massive props laying in the sand that had broken previously.

We planned the dive for 5 mins down at the props first at 165 feet and 20 mins at 155 ft with a 67 min run time. As this was our first time on the wreck and we dropped on the bow we ended up staying a bit shallower and checked out the whole ship staying closer to the deck around 145 ft or so and had briefly dropped down to 165 to take a peek at the props. Next time we would like to check out the engine room. Back gas was air and deco 65%.

This was my deepest dive at 165 ft and longest deco to date (about 35 mins) and I was happy with how the dive went overall for both of us. Ascent was pretty steady 25-30 fpm and we did not overshoot any of our stops. Buoyancy was good. My buddy and I are TDI AN/DP as of June of ‘19 and have done a dozen or so tech dives to date.

Enjoy the photos. Thoughts and comments welcome.

Happy diving,

Kyle

 

[Johanan]

Great! A serious dive. Nice pictures. Lucky you, I didn't encounter any sharks. Just remoras tried to suck on me during the deco.

 

[NothingClever]

HA’s a great wreck. Looking forward to getting back down to SFDH to dive it again.

 

[Kyle0692]

Great! A serious dive. Nice pictures. Lucky you, I didn't encounter any sharks. Just remoras tried to suck on me during the deco.

Better to have a remora sucking on you than a shark, lol.

 

[WinfieldNC]

Thanks for the report. This is a dive I hope to do in the near future. How many divers were on the boat? Do they limit your run time? How was the current, any trouble locating the wreck once dropping in?

 

[Kyle0692]

Thanks for the report. This is a dive I hope to do in the near future. How many divers were on the boat? Do they limit your run time? How was the current, any trouble locating the wreck once dropping in?

Hey Winfield,

They let six max divers on this boat, Safari Diver, which complies with Covid spacing requirements. I am not sure on run time limitations, we ran 67 mins no problem and the other two divers went 80. I think they had earlier that morning some rebreather guys who ran 100. It’s a two tank charter for one dive so I would think they would let anything up to a couple hours almost but if you are planning a dive longer than 90-100 mins you may want to call South Florida Dive HQ for their thoughts.

We were very fortunate and had great conditions. About half a knot current, light push North as is usual diving down here. They dropped us about 300 ft South of the wreck and it ended up being perfect with both teams drifting on top of the bow at 145 feet. Water temp was 79 degrees on the bottom and viz at about 60. Can’t beat almost 80 degrees past Turkey day. Love it down here.

Take care,

Kyle

 

[lukeb]

Thanks for a great trip report. I am in a similar position to you and your buddy (TDI AN/DP December 2019 with about 10 light deco dives since). The Hydro Atlantic is high on my wish list of dives now I have the ability to reach it. It was really helpful reading your experience as a newer tech diver.

 

[Protondecay123]

Great! A serious dive. Nice pictures. Lucky you, I didn't encounter any sharks. Just remoras tried to suck on me during the deco.

A remora circled around me during deco after diving the Hydro as well. Maybe it has a home around there? LoL