My wife and I will be driving down to Pensacola on June 23rd and coming back June 29th. I've scheduled a couple of dives on the Mighty O. I am stoked!! My plan will be to touch the flight deck (just to say I did) then start an upward spiral around the superstructure. I'll be doing a couple of reef dives as well, then going up to Morrison Springs on the 28th for the day and dive there. I'll provide a full report when I get back. I'll be going out with H2O Charters. Anybody out there use them?
Pensacola or Bust!
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I've done the O quite a few times. It's always a great dive. I've also been out on the H2O Below before. Unless you're a tech diver, with a tech c-card, you won't be touching the flight deck if you plan on making the second dive. The flight deck is at 155' now, and Capt. Doug has a DM in the water and back on the boat making sure no one goes below 135'. They run a safe boat with good dive briefings. The hot dogs on the ride back in are nice as is the head and shaded diver stations.
The top of the superstructure is between 80-90' now. The lowest bridge is at around 132'. As long as the whale snot isn't too thick, viz is usually good and current isn't horrible. I'd plan on hitting the lowest bridge on the first dive, then hitting the POW/MIA flag for a picture, and work your way up the front of the superstructure. For the second dive, I'd hit pri-fly and check out the back of the superstructure.
We usually run 28% nitrox to squeeze out a little more bottom time. If you plan on diving nitrox, make sure you have your nitrox card with you. They'll check.
We always like to make a run up to Morrison Springs once we get back to Pensacola. It's about 1.5 hours a way and is a great opportunity for some unlimited viz (as long as it's not blown out), an interesting "beginner" cavern, and a good way to wash all of the salt out of your gear. They have new bathrooms, external showers, and great access for divers.
Enjoy the dives!
Txyaloo, thanks for the heads up. I thought the deck was at 130' but with storms and shifting it could easily have dropped. Your dive plan recommendations are greatly appreciated, especially from someone who has dived the O numerous times.
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Skip, Stefen and I dove the O last month with Due South charter. Great boat to ride on. The O is over 20 miles out and some charters take up to 2 hours to get out there. Due South got us out there in under 90 minutes and it was a very smooth ride. The flight deck was around 150 give or take a few feet but not much to see on the deck itself. The flight tower will keep you busy though so dont worry. Were going back in May to touch the screws.
Guba
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Last year, my dive buddy and I had a blast at Morrison, and we also headed over to Vortex. We had a great time there, too. Both springs are interesting and exceptionally clear.
I've been on the O a dozen times with several different ops, including the H2O. All my future trips will likely be with H2O. The six packs are great when the seas are flat but the bigger boats are more likely to make it out. A few years back I tried to go out with a six pack and we turned around shortly after leaving the bay, thoroughly drenched. The H2O made it out that day. Capt. Doug keeps his boat better equipped and maintained than most six packers. Last August me and a buddy dove the O with him while some friends of ours enjoyed a day on the beach because their six pack had engine trouble. There are no guarantees when it comes to boats and seas, but when I drive 500+ miles and only have a few days there I'm going with the greater odds of making it out at all over making it out 30 minutes faster.
I just dived Morrison on Sunday and it was a zoo, though not quite the zoo Vortex was. If you do the springs in the summer, try to do them on a weekday. There are lots of OW classes there on weekends. If it must be a weekend, aim for late afternoon when most of the classes have finished up.
There are also some nice beach and jetty dives in the region. Fort Pickens jetties has a ton of marine life on it. You have easy access and decent facilities on site. Check the tide tables and dive at slack tide, preferably high tide.
I just dived Morrison on Sunday and it was a zoo, though not quite the zoo Vortex was. If you do the springs in the summer, try to do them on a weekday. There are lots of OW classes there on weekends. If it must be a weekend, aim for late afternoon when most of the classes have finished up.
There are also some nice beach and jetty dives in the region. Fort Pickens jetties has a ton of marine life on it. You have easy access and decent facilities on site. Check the tide tables and dive at slack tide, preferably high tide.
When it was initially sunk, the deck was at ~135'. The last few storms that have come through have shifted it. IIRC, 3 years ago, it was at 146' when we were there and last year it had shifted again to 155'. The last hurricane that came through also ripped a large gash in the superstructure that makes a neat swim-through.
Capt. Doug's wife usually gives a nice briefing of the site on the way out letting you know the cool things areas of the ship to see, where the resident octopi hang out, and a quick fish identification run down. Be on the lookout for slipper lobsters. They're on the wreck, and there is no season in Florida for them. They make a nice meal on the ride back in. :cool2:
If you have time for springs, you might also want to check out Cypress Springs. It's off the beaten path, but close to Morrison and Vortex. You'll need to rent a canoe to get there, and there will likely be no other divers around. It's a small site, but the viz is great and there's a lot of fish. There's a small cavern that is not OW friendly (you definitely want to stay out if you aren't cavern certified), but the site does have a swim through and some other cool features. The canoe trip is also a lot of fun.
These are from Cypress.
GaryBDavis
Contributor
Where do you rent canoes for Cypress Springs? It says it's on priviate land now, but I assume the public can still go there? The official Florida springs web site wasn't much help.
chrpai
Contributor
Why did they put the ship out so far and so deep? Was it just not possible to try to get it more in the ranges of rec limits?
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