South Shore recommendations

[whitelief]

Hey, who is recommending what for this time of year on the south shore, say Hull to Scituate area, and what do you know about the temps these days?? And is there someplace to park nearby? Thanks amigos.

-David (whose wife is still not persuaded to join a brawling bunch of lobster divers for the annual git-your-jams out on her birthday. Huh.)

 

[MASS-Diver]

Pegotty Beach and Minot Beach in Scituate are decent spots. A little further to the South - Brant Rock in Marshfield is a decent dive. Gunrock beach in Hull is pretty nice - the end of jetty is in about 40' at hight tide (nice night dive spot), although they pull the ladder down to the beach in the winter. My secret 200' kettle pond out in the woods is good if you don't mind zero vis and a long hike (and of course it's on private property). Overall, alot of the spots have no parking, I live on the SS, but, I still drive up the NS to dive most of the time.

I'm out of action from a back injury (car accident), but, water temps are probably in the upper to mid 40s.

Alot of south shore shore diving involves hiking and tresspassing and it's hard to get much depth. For example, if you haven't been to the Glades in Scituate, check it out - it's at the end of minots' beach and is basically a couple miles of granite rock that drops in the ocean, I do a ton of free diving there in the summer- but - there's no way in hell I could hike the twins over that terrain.

 

[MSilvia]

There is some fantastic diving off the south shore, if you have a boat to get there with. Strawberry Ledge off Nantasket, several of the harbor islands, and the minot rocks off Cohasset are all good sites. There are also several good wreck dives, including the Pinthis off Scituate and the Delaware off Scituate/Cohasset.

If you ever want a ride out, I've been working as mate on a dive/fishing charter boat called "The Fugitive" out of Hewitt's Cove marina. You can contact Capt. Aleks Zlobin at (781)335-6124 if you're interested.

 

[MSilvia]

If you do go to Peggoty, bear in mind that interesting artifacts found on your dive are already spoken for. The Massachusetts Board of Underwater Archaeological Resources has issued a permit for excavation of the site of the Forest Queen wreck to the Bassings Cove Maritime Association. The claim stretches from the beach to 70°42.0'W and from 42°11.5'N (second cliff) to 42°10.2'N (North river tidal flat).

 

[MASS-Diver]

Yup stay to right when you walk down the beach - the diving is better there anyways. Good flounder spot. The FQ is pretty far out, not that I've been anywhere near her


Matt is right on about South Shore diving, in general beach diving is not that great, but, if you can out on a boat it's great.

 

[LobstaMan]

If you already live on the South Shore and don't mind going over the canal, a trip to Sandwich Town Beach is nice(don't know about this time of year, though). Plenty of parking, easy entry, little walking, lobsters and other u/w creatures. Viz is usually quite good. There's also the remains of a small WWII tugboat wreck close to shore(100 yds?)...I haven't found it yet. Max. depths to 30 feet at high tide. Good luck if you go -- won't see me there until spring.

LobstaMan

 

[Soggy]

If you are interested in a nice wreck dive, try to hit the Pinthis. It's about 8 miles off of Scituate in 100 fsw....200+ ft tanker lying turtled on the bottom with great vis and many opportunities for those who are trained to go inside.

The Mars is another wreck in the area...120fsw. I don't know much about her and haven't been on her, but I've heard it is a great dive. I'll find out next season

 

[whitelief]

I'm shore-bound at the moment, so all these tips are great. I'm looking forward to the boat dives (and some deeper adventures) next summer.

I actually live in Westwood, so Sandwich is really not too far to drive when there is no traffic, as in this time of year. Doesn't that nearby power plant help warm the water up down there??

-David

PS Just kidding about the power plant.

 

[yak]

I would add that at this time of year, you can easily park on rt 139 at the edge of the seawall, with concrete steps down to the ocean's edge. Parking there is only contentious during the summer months.

I agree it's hard to get depth there, but it's a decent lobstering spot if you avoid the straight out/straight back path, and there's stretches of sandbar between the rocks where you may find flounder.

I noticed the other day that all of the lobster buoys are gone. Is this because there aren't many lobsters this time of year, or perhaps most of these were non-comm pots?

 

[LobstaMan]

Just to reiterate...if you're pretty much relegated to shore diving on the south shore, you can't go wrong with STB. My bro and I dove there several times this summer and didn't had a crappy dive. If you time it right, you can easily avoid the bridge traffic. In any event, it's a lot quicker than going to Cape Ann. Talk to me in the Spring and maybe we can hook up.

LobstaMan

PS Mass-Diver: What's the story w/ Peggoty Beach? Good, bad sections, worth the trip, helpful hints? My bro and I scoped it out once, but the surf was pretty bad and we didn't even get wet. Like to give it a go next year, though.