New to diving, curious about easier dives in Gulf Shores/ Perdido Key area

[SnorkelLA]

Hmm, well then when I've dove it it must have been pretty damn well covered, because there was only a few feet of hull visible. I've been on it 5 or 6 times and it's always the same few foot tall bit of hull.

Correction- once I saw it somewhat uncovered, but I still didn't find it too "impressive". But then again I was on a penetration dive on the Oriskany the day before

 

[CKeffer]

Wow, thanks for all of the responses. As for OW being more or less useless, I'm beginning to find that out, but you have to start somewhere. I'll definitely be looking into the places y'all have suggested though.

 

[Hetland]

Wow, thanks for all of the responses. As for OW being more or less useless, I'm beginning to find that out, but you have to start somewhere. I'll definitely be looking into the places y'all have suggested though.

OW gives you 10,000 places to dive in South Florida where you have 2-3 reefs in less than 70ft of water stretching for dozens of miles along the coast, some close enough to swim to from the beach. Here, most of our diving opportunities are in excess of 70ft deep.

In California, Ocean temps are pretty constant (constantly cold), so you buy one wetsuit (or drysuit), and you're done. Here, there's a 20-25 degree water temperature shift throughout the year, so most people need at least two wetsuit configurations (I have four, and need to buy a drysuit ).

The trade-off is that we have comparatively milder currents, surf, surge, and a huge selection of artificial wrecks, and reefs (20,000+ artificial reefs, with 1,000+ public numbers) We also have more spearfishing opportunity thanks to the overabundance of the red snapper.

Here, California, South Florida, your OW card is a first step. Dive as often as you can, and you'll see that new options open up as your comfort, training, and skills develop. Don't be in a hurry, stop and smell the roses, appreciate what is in front of you, not what is on the horizon.

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Hmm, well then when I've dove it it must have been pretty damn well covered, because there was only a few feet of hull visible. I've been on it 5 or 6 times and it's always the same few foot tall bit of hull.

Correction- once I saw it somewhat uncovered, but I still didn't find it too "impressive". But then again I was on a penetration dive on the Oriskany the day before

I used to dive it 5-6 times in a month when the flounder were runnin.

I don't think anyone in their right mind would compare a 900' long, 100' wide, 150' tall aircraft carrier wreck to a 200' long, 15' tall, 30' wide lumber barque in terms of which is a cooler wreck. Then again, one is a legitimate wreck and the other is an artificial reef

However, logistics at the two divesites vary tremendously. There's no 2 hour boat ride to the Whiskey, infact a boat is simply more trouble than its worth to make the dive. You'll save $150 + a fill for double the bottom time. An AL80 can easily last a person 2 hours of bottom time without any decompression obligations. When you exit the water, you can shower off in fresh water right away and be inside Bahama Bobs for good food and adult beverages in minutes.

 

[ReefHound]

As far as boat diving goes, there is a lot more to Pensacola (area) than the Oriskany. There are dozens of other sites featuring barges and tugs, many of which are near shore and in 60-70'. I'm not saying dive deep on OW but there is no scuba police and your head doesn't implode at the 60' mark. Call around some charters and tell them your experience level and they may be able to arrange a suitable trip for you. If you're worried about it take a trip to the Keys and knock off a dozen dives on 30-40' reefs.

I'm a huge fan of beach and jetty diving. They can be really easy dives in the right conditions with the right knowledge but they can also be a lot harder dives than falling off a boat in 70' of water. Best to go with an experienced local at first and *learn* from them not just tag along.

 

[Hetland]

I've had to do more rescues on beach dives than on boat dives

 

[CKeffer]

It's sounding more and more like the jetties and Whiskey are what I'm going to want to do this go round. They sound like good confidence builders, have plenty of bottom time and travel time is negligible (a consideration on this trip). I'm aware that going below 60' won't make my head suddenly implode or turn me inside out and that there are no SCUBA police, and honestly, if I had more dives under my belt I'd probably just go ahead and do it, but I'll only have a few under my belt by that point and doubt very much I'll feel comfortable going that deep just quite yet.

 

[Hetland]

You're traveling from Texas? What day(s) do you plan to dive? Tides may make the choice for you.

 

[SnorkelLA]

Trust me, if you're in somewhat decent vis water, going deeper than 60ft really isn't any more stressful or difficult than going to 15 feet, all things considered. The only thing you need to do is have your safety stop. I dove the Oriskany with 15 dives under my belt the first time. Was I nervous as hell? Yeah! Was it one of the most enjoyable dives I've ever done? Yeah! Was my nervousness completely unreasonable after I realized just how easy that kind of diving is, especially when all my dives were done in 5' vis? Yeah! It had been several years since I was certified and I hadn't dived at all in that time, due to work and school.

In my opinion, once you go down a little ways you'll see just how comfortable you really are. Take the most comfortable you've ever been in a lake, multiply it by 500,000 and that's what it'll be in vis over 40ft in salt water with good light. You'll almost forget you're at 110ft, I know I did.

Ps- I know it isn't good practice to bring new divers out to the Oriskany or other dives like it, I was just showing that a lot of the nervousness involved in diving deep in the ocean is largely unfounded, so long as you realize that you MUST do your safety stop. I won't mention the name of the shop because that was a good while ago and I can only hope that they've changed their business practices

---------- Post added ----------

I also WAS NOT condoning him to dive the Oriskany, I was just saying that diving in 60ft of water doesn't feel any different than in 15ft, given if the conditions are good.

 

[CKeffer]

You're traveling from Texas? What day(s) do you plan to dive? Tides may make the choice for you.

I'll be getting into town on the 23rd I believe and staying till the 27th (leave that afternoon).

Trust me, if you're in somewhat decent vis water, going deeper than 60ft really isn't any more stressful or difficult than going to 15 feet, all things considered. The only thing you need to do is have your safety stop. I dove the Oriskany with 15 dives under my belt the first time. Was I nervous as hell? Yeah! Was it one of the most enjoyable dives I've ever done? Yeah! Was my nervousness completely unreasonable after I realized just how easy that kind of diving is, especially when all my dives were done in 5' vis? Yeah! It had been several years since I was certified and I hadn't dived at all in that time, due to work and school.

In my opinion, once you go down a little ways you'll see just how comfortable you really are. Take the most comfortable you've ever been in a lake, multiply it by 500,000 and that's what it'll be in vis over 40ft in salt water with good light. You'll almost forget you're at 110ft, I know I did.

Ps- I know it isn't good practice to bring new divers out to the Oriskany or other dives like it, I was just showing that a lot of the nervousness involved in diving deep in the ocean is largely unfounded, so long as you realize that you MUST do your safety stop. I won't mention the name of the shop because that was a good while ago and I can only hope that they've changed their business practices

Lol, I'm sure that I'll take to it just fine. It's just that I haven't even done any lake dives yet (those are scheduled for this weekend) so I have no idea what my comfort level will actually be, hell I hadn't even done pool stuff until last night. If I had even 10 dives under me I'd be more inclined just to say forget it and go for the deeper stuff, but till I have a few dives under me I'd rather play it on the slightly cautious side (after I get a feel for things I'm all for going in whole hog.....within reason of course).