Question about diving history

[Ele]

Hi all,

I am a researcher looking for information about diving in the '50s in the San Francisco Bay. Specifically interested in information about people who were treasure hunting or salvage diving - anything to do with shipwreck diving, and the legality of diving in the Bay at that time. I know it's a long shot, but any help or pointers in the right direction would be much appreciated!

Thanks in advance,
Liz

 

[Nick_Radov]

I am a researcher looking for information about diving in the '50s in the San Francisco Bay.

Do you mean literally in the San Francisco Bay, or just generally around the Bay Area? Most diving in the Bay itself has always been commercial hardhat work for construction and maintenance on infrastructure stuff like the bridges, the Transbay Tunnel, pipelines, etc. There's also the usual vessel inspection and maintenance.

The bad visibility in the SF Bay makes sport scuba diving kind of pointless, although I'm sure a few people have tried it. Most sport divers drive south to the Monterey Peninsula where visibility tends to be better, or occasionally to a few shore dive sites along the north coast.