Shark River back bay, Barnegat Bay?

[TMHeimer]

Shark River, NJ: On the back bay I've heard you can get 10-12'. Anyone know the best (legal) parking place? Memorial Park in Neptune? I've heard the back bay is legal to dive during the day in July, no?
Barnegat Bay: Any shore dive spots at all? Depth, parking, etc.

Thanks in advance.

 

[agilis]

Things are still unsettled since Sandy hit the area, so there may be significant changes from what you can find described on the internet from past years. Belmar and Avon have plenty of municipal parking areas. When I dive the Shark River on a weekday, especially at dusk and at night, I'm usually able to find on the street parking very close to the water. The 'back bay' does have some decent shallow diving, but nothing to compare with the inlet's jetties. The bottom in the back bay is, or was, mostly mussel beds with very little structure.

Shark River is a tidal basin, not a river. There is no river there at all, so there is not as much sediment as might exist at a river site. The best diving is during the period just before and at peak high tide. The amount of marine life can be amazing. In late summer the number of tropical fishes there compares favorably with some similar sites in Florida.

There are no particulary good shore dive sites in Barnegat Bay that I'm aware of, except for the area around the inlet. Because I'm a fish watcher and occasional collector I dive there often, sometimes under the docks used by commercial fishing boats and boat rental operations.

The currents in and around Barnegat inlet can be difficult, and because of the heavy boat traffic there are many restrictions, both legal and practical, on where and when you can dive. This is also true of the Shark River inlet. Weekdays are best. Weekends bring heavy boat traffic and many fishermen. I always carry 3 different line cutters with me because of the monofilament entanglements. The amount of fishing sinkers and fishing lures one can effortlessly collect is amazing.

 

[njdiver1]

[SIZE=+1]New Jersey General Diving Regulations
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[SIZE=+1]
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The NJ Dive Council has posted signs at Shark River Inlet and Manasquan Inlet with the diving rules, please obey them. (some missing since Sandy)

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*** THIS FILE INCLUDES ALL REGULATIONS ADOPTED AND PUBLISHED THROUGH THE ***

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** NEW JERSEY REGISTER, VOL. 42, NO. 7, APRIL 5, 2010 ***

TITLE 13. LAW AND PUBLIC SAFETY
CHAPTER 82. BOATING REGULATIONS
SUBCHAPTER 3. OPERATIONAL REGULATIONS​

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§ 13:82-3.17 Diving and swimming

(a) General provisions with respect to diving and swimming are as follows:

1. Underwater diving with or without an underwater apparatus is permitted in all navigable waters in New Jersey unless otherwise prohibited in this section.

2. Any person while diving shall mark his or her position with a buoyed flag:
i. Such flag shall be displayed so that it is visible all around the horizon from a buoy, float, boat or other floating object;
ii. Such flag shall be a minimum of 14 inches by 16 inches, shall be rigid to enhance visibility and shall be a red background with a white diagonal stripe running from one corner to the other.

3. No person shall operate a vessel within 50 feet of the buoyed flag.

4. No person shall display a flag at times other than when diving is in progress.

5. No person shall swim or dive in a narrow, confined or improved channel or in a marked fairway, under a bridge, or impede, obstruct or interfere with passage of watercraft therein.

6. No diver shall surface more than 25 feet from the buoyed flag except in an emergency.

(b) Provisions for Manasquan Inlet are as follows:

1. Underwater diving shall be permitted in the Manasquan Inlet only within 50 feet from the stone jetties and bulkheads.

2. Underwater diving is permitted only in the area east of an imaginary line drawn from Ocean Avenue, Point Pleasant Beach, extended to a point across the inlet at First Avenue, Manasquan.

(c) Provisions for Barnegat Inlet are as follows:

1. Except as provided in this subsection, no person or persons shall, while engaged in goggle fishing, spearfishing or skin diving, enter into any navigable channel or approach within 200 feet of any boat anchored or underway within the water adjacent to the land areas of the Borough of Barnegat Light.

2. No person shall dive in any of the waters of the Barnegat Inlet channel.

3. Skin and Scuba diving is permitted from the north and south jetties, but no person shall dive further than 25 feet from the rock jetty or bulkhead within the inlet.

4. No person shall dive within Barnegat Inlet between 8:00 A.M. and 5:00 P.M. on Saturdays and Sundays from June 1 to September 30.

5. A diver shall mark his or her position with a float and skin diver's flag.

6. Only "buddy diving" shall be permitted in the Barnegat Inlet.

7. Recreational diving is prohibited within 100 feet of the north monument.

8. Recreational diving is prohibited within the inlet when the current is at flood.

(d) Provisions for Shark River Inlet are as follows:

1. Underwater diving is permitted in the Shark River Inlet in that area which lies east of a line extending from the northwest end of A Street in Belmar to the southeast end of First Avenue in Avon.

2. Divers shall stay within 25 feet of the jetties and bulkheads in the area described.

3. A diver shall mark his or her position with a float and skin diver's flag.

4. No diver shall surface more than 15 feet from the buoyed flag except in an emergency.

5. No underwater diving shall be permitted in Shark River Inlet between the hours of 8:00 A.M. and 5:30 P.M. during the period each year commencing May 1 terminating October 1.

NJ Scuba Diving Rules
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[TMHeimer]

I won't be diving either inlet, only the (back) bays. Any of these rules apply to there?

 

[agilis]

I won't be diving either inlet, only the (back) bays. Any of these rules apply to there?

The flag regs definetely do apply everywhere, just as written. Note the large size flag required. Rules regarding diving in navigable channels, near boats, etc., also apply. In fact, just about everything not specific to a location- like hours during which diving is permitted- applies. Note also that the Marine Police are now part of the State Police. They are now state troopers, and have wide areas of interpretation and discretion, unavoidable in a complex, fluid (no pun intended) system.

August and September twilight when the water is calm and the wind light out of the north for a few days can be magical. A shoal of half-dollar size Butterfly Fish sharing the same boulder pile as a Maine Lobster. Then a school of silver Lookdowns flashes by. Clinging very hard to a bit of bottom debris is a huge seahorse covered with all sorts of string-like camoflague, hunting intensively, eyes moving in that independent seahorse manner, his body twisted like a pretzel to conform to every angle of the small wooden piling remnant he is clinging to. Your focus changes, becomes more macro, and as you swim back to your exit point you realize there are dozens of them.

 

[Jersey]

August and September twilight when the water is calm and the wind light out of the north for a few days can be magical. A shoal of half-dollar size Butterfly Fish sharing the same boulder pile as a Maine Lobster. Then a school of silver Lookdowns flashes by. Clinging very hard to a bit of bottom debris is a huge seahorse covered with all sorts of string-like camoflague, hunting intensively, eyes moving in that independent seahorse manner, his body twisted like a pretzel to conform to every angle of the small wooden piling remnant he is clinging to. Your focus changes, becomes more macro, and as you swim back to your exit point you realize there are dozens of them.

Very well written, thank you Agilis. September is my favorite time at the Jersey shore for any activity. (Assuming we aren't having a Nor'easter or a Hurricane)