The last Dive (of '09) Nubble New Years Eve dive

[Mr.X]

Hi Guys, I love the photos. From the photos, it (Nubble light) looks like a nice area to try. Never been there, can you give me some info on it? (where is it,access, depth, vis etc) Thanks

Logs

X

 

[Serdin]

Very nice,thank you Mr. X. Going to have to put i on my to do list. I also happen to like light houses. :cool3:

 

[dave4868]

Hi Guys, I love the photos. From the photos, it (Nubble light) looks like a nice area to try. Never been there, can you give me some info on it? (where is it,access, depth, vis etc) Thanks

Glad you liked the photos!

Nubble Light is popular with divers for a lot of reasons:

• Easy to get to the dive site (located at Sohier Park, across from Cape Neddick Lighthouse, York, ME. (See limitations below)
• Free parking close to the dive entry (approximately 14 spaces within 150' of the entry, another 30 spaces up to twice as distant)
• Food and comfort facilities nearby (less than 150' away in season)
• Fairly easy entry on gently sloping rocks
• Varied bottom (sand, gravel, rocks, boulders, ledges, walls, crevices)
• Depths to 80' or more are attainable on single tank dive
• Good variety of marine life (including the occasional Atlantic torpedo ray, one of my favorites)

Things to consider:

• The cove is exposed to north and northeast seas
• Good parking spaces fill up fast on Saturdays in the summer (often by 7am)
• Occasional mild to moderate current on the ocean side of the island

Typical dive plans:

1. Follow a 30 to 50 degree heading along the rocky base of the island where it meets the sand until getting into 60' of water (about 150 yards out), then ascend and return along the rocky slope at a shallower depth, such as 20 to 30 feet (some crevices and boulders may be found on the return trip)
2. Similar to #1, but at the turn of the dive, head west across the sand at about 50' depth for 100 yards, looking for torpedo rays, etc, then ascend and follow the rocky slope south at a depth of about 20' until the slope curves to the east near the entry. There you'll find a 15 to 20' wall and a plaque on the bottom commemorating a deceased diver. Schools of stripers, pollock or bluefish may be seen in the summer occasionally.
3. If you have enough air, similar start as #1, but instead of turning the dive at 60', continue further east around the north side of the base to depths of 85' and headings of southeast (about 250 yards total). Then ascend the slope to about 15' and reverse the recent headings to return along the rocky slope, north and northwestward. Keep the rocks on your left to avoid compass confusion.... On the north and east side of the island, the diver may encounter surface current, surge, and/or surf under certain conditions, so plan your air well unless you like surface swims.....(I use most of 120 cubic feet and sometimes part of a pony bottle, depending on how hard I had to work against current.) Some interesting rock formations and crevices can be seen.
4. Shallow dive on south side of Cape Neddick, entering on that side or swimming through the channel between island and mainland (note that the bottom of the channel is exposed on low tide and at high tide it's occasionally used by lobster boats). Heading southwest, the 15 to 20' rocky depths on the south side of the mainland are craggy and often frequented by stripers and pollock.
5. Circumnavigate the island..... Haven't done this one yet, but hope to!

If you have Google Earth, the following coordinates might be helpful.

Parking coordinates:
43° 9.953'N
70° 35.590'W

Dive entry coordinates:
43° 9.957'N
70° 35.549'W

Sohier Park Diving regulations (see prohibition of diving on Sundays and holidays from the first Sunday in April to last Sunday in October, inclusive)
http://parksandrec.yorkmaine.org/Sohier%20Park%20Ord.pdf

HTH.

Dave C

 

[Serdin]

Thanks Dave. I usually hit RI around May in my 7mil and hit Cape Ann around end of may begining of june. Unless I can cough up the money for a dry suit I'll prob. check it out around mid june.

 

[dave4868]

Thanks Dave. I usually hit RI around May in my 7mil and hit Cape Ann around end of may begining of june. Unless I can cough up the money for a dry suit I'll prob. check it out around mid june.

Good plan, I think, since Nubble is often a few degrees colder than comparable depths around Cape Ann.

I only go to Nubble about once a year because Cape Ann seems to have more marine life, especially the edible kind.... (where's the smiley with the bib and eating utensils....)

I usually like to wait until mid-summer when Nubble might be getting a few stripers, flounder, pollock and torpedo rays.

It doesn't hurt that the water temps will finally break 50F by then, in the shallows at least....

Dave C