Savannah River Dive 11/04/12 Augusta, GA

[diveprof]

Although I average about 150 local dives in Augusta each year I do not generally post video of our dive site due to vis of less than 15' generally and no freshwater filter for my camcorder. However, this past Sunday I decided to give it a shot at one of my favorite sites in the Savannah River. Vis was only 10' (was 15' -20' last weekend)and water temp was 62F. Here are two short youtube videos of the dive.
Savannah River Dive 11042012 Part 1 - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzcpMjf6Ak0

 

[divad]

Do you ever see alligators in there?

 

[cerich]

hmmm, I've alligator hunted there and have seen them...

 

[diveprof]

Not lately. Came up on a 10' gator a few years back. Not interested in us though. They pulled a 9' gator out a ways from this dive site this summer. Good thing about cooler water - no snakes or gators

 

[cerich]

would love to dive there one day. Looks like fun

 

[diveprof]

hmmm, I've alligator hunted there and have seen them...

Likely you were hunting just below Augusta (at least S. Augusta). This dive is slightly north of Augusta in the fall line of the river (hence the rocks, sheets of rocks and boulders. Fewer gators north of Augusta, but the few we have keep the snake population down. Seriously, in over 700 river dives I've only encountered a gator once.

 

[cerich]

we put in below the damn and ran south in zone 9...

 

[diveprof]

we put in below the damn and ran south in zone 9...

If you are referring to the Lock and Dam on the Savannah River south of Augusta, you are absolutely in the "big gator" country. If you are referring to the dam for Clark Hill Lake (Lake Thurmond for those SC folks), then I'm hoping they are eating a lot of snakes . Seriously, there are gators in the general area, but they have not posed a problem for us folks who dive locally. I'm not aware of any incidents (well, except maybe in my wetsuit with the 10 footer that I surfaced next to - within 2' - 40' from shore - ). He wasn't aggressive or scared- just there...and we finally parted company. DNR relocated this gator a couple days later as he was eating the ducks at Riverwalk.