South Jersey shore diving

[Dive Junky]

I did a shore dive at L street in Belmar Saturday. It didn't suck that much. Saw lots of crabs, flounders, hermit crabs, sea robins. Not too many starfish though. We were looking for sea horses but didn't find any. Vis was maybe 12 ft. Lots of students in the water. Didn't see any wayward tropicals.

Divers Two outa Avon-by-the-Sea is always doing dives on Fridays and Sundays at L street. Ben wanting to give it a try, not to mention its FREE. Like I said I will be away the 3 - 8 of August diving but when I get back this could be an option for me too.

 

[southjerseydiver]

i would love to dive here or on any quality boat. i have only dove singles so i cant hit any real deep wrecks but i would love a shore dive.

 

[phillyrob]

..We were looking for sea horses but didn't find any... Didn't see any wayward tropicals.

They won't be up for another two months.

 

[a_siren]

We have a fair number of folks who dive wet. Late August/September especially.

Five foot of viz? Sometimes, but usually better than that. Hell, last year we had several days of 75' of viz on the Stolt.

Some of what has been holding me back are the same issues as the other poster.
1. Drysuit. I don't own a drysuit yet, and I hate rental drysuits. I do have 14mm of wetsuit that I could wear (7mm full with 7mm shorty). That would do in August and September?
2. Equipment. You said all you need is OW equipment plus a pony. Would spare air suffice instead of a pony? If so, I think I'm set in terms of equipment. But is that is really all? No monster can light? Reels? Redundant cutting tools? Hmm. In my head I thought I'd need a lot more.
3. Ah, the general fear of boats. Don't laugh, but my Dad used to take me deep sea fishing off of Belmar when I was a little girl and all I remember is throwing up for about 6 hours or so. I didn't get back on a boat for years. Part of me being in my 30's is trying to overcome old fears. I'm pretty much ok now on boats off of Cozumel and the Carribean if I'm using the patch, but it is pretty calm there. Is the trip up here the same: one hour out, one hour dive, one hour surface interval, one hour back? I guess that cuts boat time down by 2 hours versus fishing. Be honest, is it rough as all hell?

 

[dvrliz1]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh....you all are making me a bit home sick!!!!! I remember my beginner dive days when I used to live in Pt. Pleasant and used to dive the railroad bridge. Never did any deep dives, just enough to get my fix until I got to Bonaire. Next time I visit family I'll have to look you all up and dive the bridge again......

Liz

PS, Siren, try Bonine, I too used to go fishing off of Belmar, and Pt. Pleasant, and the first time I was SOOOOOO green and so sick. The next time I took the Bonine. No drowsiness, no sickness. I use it now on Bonaire to dive with as I do have some balance issues and did get sick one time diving. Since I took it before a dive, no sickness....great stuff.

 

[a_siren]

i would love to dive here or on any quality boat. i have only dove singles so i cant hit any real deep wrecks but i would love a shore dive.

Hmm. This really didn't register with me before my wreck dive class last night. My issue really should have been not "Do I have the equipment" but "Can I physically carry the equipment".
A couple of things I learned from last nights wreck class:
1. If I had any thoughts about diving doubles before, they are now gone. There is no way, as a 5'4" woman that I could get back on a boat, particularly after the second dive, in a set of doubles. I'd like to think I'm pretty strong, but wow, that is a lot of weight! Noting that use of a dry suit increases air consumption, do most people up here dive doubles? How to smaller people like myself carry them, much less get back up stairs or onto a boat with them on?
2. Lift bags are really cool.

 

[fairybasslet]

Where'd you take the class? TS&M is smaller than you, 5'2" I think, and she dives doubles and a dry suit. I don't know if she gets up on any boats though. I figure, if she can do it, maybe I can too. If you look at her photo, you see she really is quite tiny. Anyway, I guess you dropped the class. I have a male friend who got cave certified and he almost quit in the middle because of the equipment. And he's a MAN!!!

 

[F106A]

i would love to dive here or on any quality boat. i have only dove singles so i cant hit any real deep wrecks but i would love a shore dive.

I don't know what your definition of "real deep wrecks" is but with a single 100 you could probably dive 100-110'. Of course, there are other factors such as your air consumption, training and experience, comfort level, etc. You might also consider larger tanks. Just a thought.

 

[F106A]

(Edited and combined quoted posts)

Hmm. This really didn't register with me before my wreck dive class last night. My issue really should have been not "Do I have the equipment" but "Can I physically carry the equipment".
A couple of things I learned from last nights wreck class:
1. If I had any thoughts about diving doubles before, they are now gone. There is no way, as a 5'4" woman that I could get back on a boat, particularly after the second dive, in a set of doubles. I'd like to think I'm pretty strong, but wow, that is a lot of weight! Noting that use of a dry suit increases air consumption, do most people up here dive doubles? How to smaller people like myself carry them, much less get back up stairs or onto a boat with them on?

Some of what has been holding me back are the same issues as the other poster.
1. I do have 14mm of wetsuit that I could wear (7mm full with 7mm shorty). That would do in August and September?
2. Equipment. You said all you need is OW equipment plus a pony. Would spare air suffice instead of a pony? If so, I think I'm set in terms of equipment. But is that is really all? No monster can light? Reels? Redundant cutting tools? Hmm. In my head I thought I'd need a lot more.
3. Ah, the general fear of boats. Don't laugh, but my Dad used to take me deep sea fishing off of Belmar when I was a little girl and all I remember is throwing up for about 6 hours or so. I didn't get back on a boat for years. Part of me being in my 30's is trying to overcome old fears. I'm pretty much ok now on boats off of Cozumel and the Carribean if I'm using the patch, but it is pretty calm there. Is the trip up here the same: one hour out, one hour dive, one hour surface interval, one hour back? I guess that cuts boat time down by 2 hours versus fishing. Be honest, is it rough as all hell?

The toughest thing with doubles is transporting them between the car and boat. Don't rule them out just yet. Most boats have fairly good handholds and most divers are more than willing to assist a diver reboarding.
The 14MM will probably be fine for many dives this time of year. Depends on your cold tolerance and the actual bottom temp which varies daily. This time of year I use a 7MM jacket/john for a 14MM torso insulation. Until sometime in July I go dry. Was on a 40 minute wetsuit dive last week, 50 degrees - no problem. YMMV
Spare Air: I'm not a Spare Air basher but MY opinion is it has no place in NJ boat diving. Also, I'm guessing boats that require redundancy would not accept Spare Air in that roll.
That 'one hour - one hour - one hour - one hour' assumption is just about worthless in this neck of the woods. Too many other factors like seas (height, period, direction), distance to the wreck (makes sense), how many divers (it takes time to drop them up here; not everyone goes in at the same time. If the boat carries lots of divers it could take 15-30 minutes just to get them in. I prefer boats that take out 10-12 divers. e.g. the Atlantus out of Atlantic City-42' or the Ursula out of Sea Isle City-54'), some divers may be doing deco, then there's the setting and releasing the hook. It all adds up. And you asked if it's rough as hell. Sometimes it is. Other times it's like a pond. Mostly it's 2-4' or 1-2' or something in between. I suggested in a previous post to watch the marine forecast and not sign up for a dive until you see an acceptable forecast just a few days before it's scheduled.

 

[a_siren]

Where'd you take the class? TS&M is smaller than you, 5'2" I think, and she dives doubles and a dry suit. I don't know if she gets up on any boats though. I figure, if she can do it, maybe I can too. If you look at her photo, you see she really is quite tiny. Anyway, I guess you dropped the class. I have a male friend who got cave certified and he almost quit in the middle because of the equipment. And he's a MAN!!!

Hmmm. Interesting. Maybe I need to do more investigation on the doubles.

I finished the wreck diving class, but I still need to do the 4 wreck dives to get my whizzy card for my collection.