Looking For Dive Charter Pompano Wrecks

[RyanT]

Tying in is awesome in that you are guaranteed to hit the wreck. Doing deco in a ripping current....not so awesome. Of course you are never guaranteed to hit the wreck on a hot drop, but a good captain is doing a lot more than guessing. With a good captain, I'll take the small chance of a missed hot drop any day over having to deco on a line in current. @boulderjohn, give Hydrotherapy charters a call and try captain Nick. He gives good drops!

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

I have done hot drops on many SOFLA wrecks . We rarely ever missed.

It is just like Kentucky Windage

 

[boulderjohn]

With a good captain, I'll take the small chance of a missed hot drop any day over having to deco on a line in current.

The way Pompano Dive Center did it, they asked for everyone's run times, and they sent the DM back down to unhook once everyone had started the ascent. From then on you and the line drifted along together pleasantly until you were done with the deco.

 

[LandonL]

[*]They are tying in. That was Pompano Dive Center's procedure, and I think it was part of what made them so popular. They tied in unless the current was too strong, in which case going down a line would be too difficult.

I was one of the one doing the tie in at the time. It certainly helps inexperienced tech divers get down to the wreck, but comes with other drawbacks.

I honestly didn't care much for a down line. Everyone crowded around the same spot trying to decompress, any current over a 1/2 knot and you get bounced around if it was still attached, which all made for a fairly miserable ascent. We did start pulling the line so everyone drifted on the line, but then the inexperienced tech divers would explode towards the surface because they didn't have their buoyancy in check before the line was detached.

For the last few years, every tech dive done by SFDH (and anyone else) has featured a hot drop, where the captain guess the strength of the current and drops divers into the water where he thinks they will hit the wreck if they descend quickly enough. I have done that on the Hydro Atlantic twice, and both times we missed the wreck and were diving on sand.

Then the issue was the drop location, lead distance, or the diver (ex: CCR divers often take longer to get down, so they need more lead on the wreck). Any of the good captains down here don't miss. Nick does a great job dropping for us.

 

[chrisjur]

An update....

As I mentioned earlier, when I talked to the owner of Aqualife a couple years ago, he said they focused on shallow wrecks and reefs.

I am on a South Florida FaceBook group, and Aqualife just made a post showing them diving the Hydro Atlantic, which is a technical diving site near Boca Raton, roughly 150 feet to the deck and 170 feet to the sand. They were tied into it, meaning that a DM dropped down and tied a float to the wreck.

This brings up two changes in the local dive scene.

1. A local dive charter that used to specialize in shallow dive opportunities is offering deeper wreck dives now, including some at technical depths.
2. They are tying in. That was Pompano Dive Center's procedure, and I think it was part of what made them so popular. They tied in unless the current was too strong, in which case going down a line would be too difficult. (Believe me, it can wear you out!) For the last few years, every tech dive done by SFDH (and anyone else) has featured a hot drop, where the captain guess the strength of the current and drops divers into the water where he thinks they will hit the wreck if they descend quickly enough. I have done that on the Hydro Atlantic twice, and both times we missed the wreck and were diving on sand.

I have dove both shallow and deep wrecks with Aqualife in the last year. He has tied in for both.

I like Aqualife, which is essentially Skip, their owner. It's no frills, but he's a diver's diver and a good guy. Easy parking for your car and the boat is right at the inlet, so you can be at a lot of good sites 15 mins from the time they turn the key.

 

[FreqFlier]

It's no frills, but he's a diver's diver and a good guy

+1!