Keys GPS Coordinates?

[WetDawg]

Bud,

The NOAA Automated Wreck and Obstruction Information System (AWOIS) is available online here: http://chartmaker.ncd.noaa.gov/hsd/hsd-3.html

The trouble is that it has inaccuracies, most of the digits are sent in by commercial fisherman, but not always verified. They just report when a net gets snagged and roughly where it happened, some times they don't know exactly "...sometime during the night watch the line went slack ... must have lost the net a while back."

According to NOAA - "Users should be aware that the AWOIS position may not agree with a charted position for a similar feature. Most of these differences are minor and due to the fact that the paper chart cannot always show a location as accurately as a digital list. Other more significant differences are generally due to a time lag in updating either the chart or AWOIS."

Remember the focus of the database is to provide information on the hazards to navigation - not a comprehensive source of information for divers.

Sometimes the snags are caused by wreckage, (like a WWII era coal carrier - not a real valuable cargo), sometimes it's an old washing machine, sometimes it's a pile of rocks.

If you have a lot of free time and the right gear on your boat you may find some cool stuff. For sure you will always spend countless hours spinning around in the water trying to find a pile of rocks that may or may not be of interest.

PM and I can give you some details to try and make your search a little easier.

Good Luck.

 

[archman]

Here is the my dilemma. Most of these would probably be those "private little spots" that nobody wants to share with the general public. For instance, this wreck is just charted as a lump on the bottom rather than an obstruction or a wreck. Does anyone have any input as to how to handle the potential dive spots in this database?

As your database is geared for primarily non-local divers who likely are not very familiar with the area, I recommed excluding sites that are:

1. Very small (i.e. a sunken truck). Usually this means they're fragile or it's easy to scare all the critters off. Or overfish them.

2. Anchoring problematic. If there isn't a mooring structure or good sand nearby, anchor damage to the site is common. I've seen a lot of this in Hawk's Channel north of Looe Key.

3. In a well-used boat channel (i.e. Pine Channel). Some great diving can be found here, but parking your boat in the thoroughfare sucks for everyone else. You also may get run over.

4. Directly adjacent to a restricted area (i.e. S.P.A.'s, research areas, refuges). Not only is it courteous to the wildlife, but it reduces temptation from people to trespass. A lot of people also just navigate badly and accidentally trespass. Last I heard, the Sanctuary-designated research areas are off limits to everybody. And those folks that park their boats and fish right outside S.P.A.'s are rather aggravating.

5. Useful only for fishing. Places that aggregate critters might make great fishing holes, but those spots often are used for breeding or refuge purposes. There's already enough overfishing in the Florida Keys. Try not to contribute to the problem.

You can use common sense for the most part in figuring out what is/isn't a good site from a diving perspective, and what sites may result in more harm than good if their location was better known to the public. You should check out sites yourself that you don't have much information on.

What you'd be kind of doing is what marine park managers do; zoning. A lot of people (i.e. me) think it's fun.

 

[surfbummer]

Ned DeLoach's Guide to Underwater Florida has GPS coordinates for almost every frequented dive site.