New to the board, questions on Boston area dives

[Kjempene]

Hey all, long time lurker of the site, decided to jump in because I could use some info on diving in the general area of Boston. I'll be in town on business in July, and will be free over the weekend of the 15th and 16th so I thought it'd be fun to get out on a charter one of those days.

I've never dove in New England before, but I've done plenty of cold water diving in the NorCal kelp fields, so I know my way around the extra gear that you don't need on the "valet" dives in balmy points south. But, I don't own any cold water gear (hood/gloves/boots), and I likely won't be able to travel with any besides a mask.

My big question is, I've looked around the interwebs for a shop that does both charters and full rentals, and have run into a lot of nothing. The ones that do rent gear say on their site that they don't rent out hood/gloves/boots or mask/fins. I gotta say, this seems odd to me. I mean, I can't be that atypical a customer to walk into a diveshop and say "I need everything," can I? Almost any diveshop I've been to in the world does that. So, can any of you recommend a shop that has a "gimme everything" rental package? Do any exist in the area or am I out of luck?

But assuming my big question can be worked out, can you give me some recommendations for charters? I'll actually be staying north of town, so it appears that the Cape Ann area would be most accessible if that matters.

Anything else I should know? I've snooped around this forum for favorite dive sites, but I realize that depends on what charters I can find.

Are shore dives a possible alternative to a charter? Do any shops offer a guided tour for a single, for example?

Any info you'd be willing to share would be much appreciated. I've heard a lot of great things about diving in New England, and would love to take the opportunity.

 

[Tug]

Welcome!

There are really only two charters that are associated with shops and provide rental gear. All of the others aren't associated with a shop but could point you in the right direction to rent gear. The two shops are Boston Scuba in East Boston and Cape Ann Divers in Gloucester. Of these two, Boston Scuba is the only one that will rent you everything. Cape Ann Divers requires you to own your own personal gear (mask, fins, boots, hood, gloves). Both shops offer two charters a day (2 tanks a charter) and are great. The other charters that aren't associated with a shop are Cape Ann Charters (mixture of recreational and technical diving, great charter and one of my favorites), Northern Atlantic Dive Expeditions (mostly technical, another great charter and another one of my favorites) and Down Under (recreational, unfortunately I don't have much experience with them)

If you're looking for a shore dive, there are plenty of sites around Cape Ann to explore. Cape Ann Divers has a great list of various shore sites that is a great resource. East Coast Divers in Brookline has a very successful shore diving program where there is a DM available to assist you and give a site briefing but they don't always lead a dive. Most of the other shops will provide a private DM but East Coast Divers probably has the best program for shore dives.

If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to shoot me a PM or post back here.



For the record, I'm one of the Captains with Boston Scuba and crew for Cape Ann Charters

 

[Komradebob]

What about on the Cape? Seems there are plenty of wrecks, though I can't find a listing for a shop or a boat anyplace. Seems surprising.

 

[Tug]

Unfortunately there aren't any charters on Cape Cod and are only a few shops down there.