prince albert night dive.CCV

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aboalreem

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Scuba Instructor
Messages
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Location
Chicago
# of dives
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What is the best way to dive prince albert afternoon and night dive? I was planning to spend a day at Roatan before heading to Utila...I will be staying at the west end...can I just rent a tank from Coco View and dive....what is the best way and the least expensive!!?
 
Doc will probably be better at answering this than me but I think you would need to contact either cocoview or arrange it on your ship...I am assuming you are coming in by cruise ship....here is the coco chat board and they may be able to answer your question http://www.websitetoolbox.com/tool/mb/ccv

Hey Doc help this diver out:D but the best way to dive the Prince Albert is via CoCo View....have fun

OOPS reread your post you said you are STAYING in West End sorry :-)
 
It's not simple, but then- most things that are worth it never are.

I would suggest making it a three dive series. Sure- they will wire you in and rent you tanks for a shore dive, it just that the dive itself lends itself to some assistance from a local expert, a DM or frequent visitor.

Here's the layout: http://www.wikimapia.org/#y=16358531&x=-86432759&z=17&l=0&m=a&v=2

Like any shore dive, you wade in from the resort. It's usually calm as it begins in a "pool" structure behind a fringing reef. From the shore to the wreck is about 300 feet. It's a better shore dive from that location than across the channel for many reasons.

The best reason to dive the Prince Albert wreck from CCV is that the anchor chain is laid out and winds you through the cuts in the reef. Once you understand where on the wreck (the starboard bow) the chain is attached, and that it leads you comfortably home, there's little reason to hustle homeward with much more than 500 psi... once you are familiar.

She is an intact 140' tanker lying in 35-65fsw with decks that rise to 22' depth. Just off of her port bow lies the remains of a placed DC3 aircraft, about 35 feet away. The PA (as the wreck is known) is home to a very specific array of niche denizens including the obvious and polular favorites such as a large: Cuda, Parrot, and Moray. For the more observant, a treasure trove lies before you.

On night dives, it is easy to tick off a list that would include Octopus, Slipper Lobster, Medusa Worms, Basket Stars, and miriad Coral polyps that are probably the best fed (by diver's lights) in the world. (Check out the right forward ladder top!) The starboard aft and stern are alive with plate corals that are alive at night!

With a closer look, note the many varieties of Blennies, Crustaceans and little critters that have found a home.

Always take a light- even in the daylight. Inside the wreck, if you are good to dive inside- you will only find occasional large fish or fish balls, so your time below is best spent closely inspecting what has become 20+ years of shallow marine growth.

This is a fabulous shore dive, but I would suggest diving it with guidance at least once before trying to do a night dive there... as with any dive site.

I may spend a week or two at CCV and log 50% of my dives in CCV's "Front Yard", especially concentrating on the PA. Do not hurry to return or go out- the life along the anchor chain is equally fascinating, and- always look up.... lots of squid.
 
I almost crashed into the PA at night last year while gazing at my gauge. Whoops...no harm no foul. Almost doesn't count.
 
Although the front porch/Prince Albert dive is nice, I found the boat night
dive at CCV better. The area close to the resort doen't have as good
vis as the sites out a bit farther.
 
Addenda- for what it's worth, PADI Sport Diver May 2007 listed the PA Wreck as #2 in the Caribbean list of Top Ten Night Dives. Of course, a few years ago, they listed under the boat docks at AKR (?) as being a "must do-dive" on Roatan.

Never mind.
 
thank you all for the help...and tips
so basically, we can rent some tanks and do the dives on our own after we do the first with a guide?
 
aboalreem:
thank you all for the help...and tips
so basically, we can rent some tanks and do the dives on our own after we do the first with a guide?

Yep....that's the drill....look at it as a really really good dive briefing...it is really worth it for your first time because it covers such a large area and there is so much to see....just beyond the ship are two fantastic walls to explore...
 
I will be there on May 6....anyone is interested doing a couple of dives afternoon and a night dive there?!!!!
 
go here http://www.websitetoolbox.com/tool/mb/ccv introduce yourself on their board and ask your question....I am sure you will get several replies....there is always someone there wanting to nightdive
 

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