Planning a trip to NE in June...

[shadragon]

Good Day,

I am trying to organize a trip for a small group (probably 8-12) this June. We wanted to get together somewhere in New England and spend a week or so diving together. Problem is we don't have a lot of folks in the area to advise us on the opportunities there.

We want to explore a diverse series of dive sites. "Reefs and Wrecks" as a friend would say. We are rec divers for the most part so nothing too extreme. Something we can do comfortably on a single tank.

Any good shore dive opportunities?

Can anyone recommend a boat charter outfit?

What would you suggest for accommodation? Would be nice if we could stay together or at least gather as a group.

Any comments welcome.

Cheers.

 

[Tampico_ED]

I think you best shoot is Gloucester, MA.

 

[TimK]

There are a number of good dive sites in the area and lodging should'nt be too much of a problem most anywhere since there are plenty of motels along the coast. Probably the first place you might come to on your way down from Canada would be Nubble light in York, ME. Nice shore dive to 40-50ft. Parking can be a bit tricky especially on weekends in nice weather. There is also the Piscataqua River in Portsmouth, NH where you can dive Pierce Island and get down to 70 ft but you have to watch the tides closely due to currents. On down the coast a bit more would be Cape Ann with a lot of shore diving. The club I belong to uses Northeast Charter Boat www.northeastcharterboat.com and have had good success with them. They will do dives in the river or out among the Isle of Shoals (about 7 miles outside of Portsmouth, NH). Another charter boat company I've heard good things about is Cape Ann Divers and I think they're out of Gloucster, MA. www.capeanndivers.com You can also look at the Cape Ann divers site and they have a pretty good listing of the local shore dive and wreck opportunities in the area as well. Word of caution though, parking in the Cape Ann area can be problematic and a number of divers get tickets for parking "illegally" every year there. Further down from Cape Ann you would run into the Boston area. Not too familier with it although I have heard of a number of diveable wrecks off of Boston. South of Boston you run into Cape Cod, with relatively shallow shore diving and then over to Rhode Island where there are some good shore dives and wreck dives including a German U-boat (U-853) in about 130 feet of water. You might try these guys out of Ct (never used them so don't know how good or bad they are) http://www.atlantis.nu/html/schedule.htm. I'll have to let the folks answer for their areas south of Cape Ann since I've not been down that way to dive except for one shore dive on Cape Cod last summer. Hope this helps a little bit...
If you have any specific questions PM me and I'll try to help out as much as I can with information.

 

[MSilvia]

South of Cape Ann, there is a lot of great boat diving around Boston Harbor and the Boston Harbor Islands National Park. I recommend contacting Boston Diver Services for charters in that area, although North Atlantic Dive Expeditions out of Salem MA also runs charters to the area.
Single tank highlights in the area include the City of Salisbury and Romance wrecks, although there is also some interesting terrain and marine life around the various islands.

 

[Boston Diver Services]

Thanks for the plug Matt. The web address has changed. Check us out at Bostondiving.com. See you soon.
Capt. Pat

 

[atedeschi]

Interested inre NJ? Can stay in the AC area and have night life and diving. PM me if interested can give dive options as well as places to stay.

 

[LobstaMan]

I think your bet best would be to dive the Boston area and North into Cape Ann. I'm a South Shore guy, but I have to admit that the diving is more varied with more sites both from shore and boat North of Boston. The south is a bit sandy for many shore diving possibilities. I can recommend both Cape Ann Divers(CAD) and Cape Ann Charters/Daybreaker(Fran Marcoux's boat) for Cape Ann/Gloucester area dive charters. I second the thumbs up for the Boston Harbor Diving Company. Capt Pat and Capt Jim run a nice big boat that was recently refitted with diving in mind. They're both veteran Boston area divers and I've dove with them several times.

As far as where to stay, my house is booked the whole month of June, sorry. Seriously, stay anywhere but in Boston. Waaaaaaay too expensive. Good luck. Lots of NELD members dive the Cape Ann area, so when you're down here announce yourself and I'm sure one or two of us could show you folks the sites. In the meantime, check out the links already posted.

LobstaMan

 

[spectrum]

If you find yourself in southern Maine we have over a dozen delightful shore dives between Cape Elizabeth and Kittery. Just give me a shout.

Pete

 

[judydivescoz]

I would recomend Cape Ann Divers. Check thier web site www.capeanndivers.com. Lots of dive sites, great wreck dives. Nice boats with heads. Accomodations will be plentiful. We have stayed at the hotel in the marina where CAD keeps their boats as well as looked into renting a house in the area for a week.

 

[shadragon]

I would recomend Cape Ann Divers. Check thier web site www.capeanndivers.com. Lots of dive sites, great wreck dives. Nice boats with heads. Accomodations will be plentiful. We have stayed at the hotel in the marina where CAD keeps their boats as well as looked into renting a house in the area for a week.

Thanks! I have received a lot of feedback which actually makes the decision a lot harder as there are many high quality operations down in that area.

Do you have a name for that hotel...? A diver friendly motel / hotel nearby is certainly a good thing. Saves wheeling a sea water dripping tote through the Trump hotel lobby in AC...