Week of August 12 trips to San Diego or Oregon

[Ojai Diver]

I'm a Pacific diver looking to visit family on Long Island (Wading River) and would like to do a charter if available to the USS San Diego or the Oregon. Is there any central site for dive boat scheduling in this area? From searching the web, it seems there's just a hodgepodge of small six pack boats going on private trips. Am I missing something? It appears the boats mostly only go the weekends as well.

Any tips on setting this up, if possible, would be appreciated.

 

[mrscotch]

All of the larger boat captains have retired / passed away, so you are correct in that there are only six pack charters on Long Island these days and they mostly go out only on weekends. Some of them are willing to do a weekday charter but you may have to find some more divers for that date. Give them a call and see what they can do. Both the Oregon and the USS San Diego are amazing wrecks and are well worth your time, but not a lot of people from other regions realize that, so this is not considered a big diving destination. Fair warning, the water is cold, and the weather may cause your dive to get cancelled or diverted to another site. Happens all the time. Also, the Oregon at 130' with little relief, so to get any real bottom time, you need to plan on some deco. There's lots of good diving to be had on the San Diego at more reasonable depths.

The two boats that hit these wrecks the most are
Tempest - http://eastcoastwreckdiving.com
Sidekick - Soggy Bottom Diving, LLC

The Tempest is a very large, comfortable six pack, but leaves out of Freeport, so it takes a while to get to those wrecks. The Sidekick is closer to those wrecks, and to Wading River, but it's a smaller boat.

 

[Ojai Diver]

Mrscotch, thanks very much for your response. What kind of conditions and weather can I expect in August? Thanks.

 

[mrscotch]

Bottom temp will be around 52-56 degrees. Most local wreck divers dive dry but a few use 7mm wetsuits. Visibility is usually 30ft but could be 20 on a bad day or 40 on a good day. Finding your way back to the tie in line is essential, so a reel is recommended, especially for the Oregon. Also, make sure you have an SMB. Topside is usually sunny in the high 70's to low 80's. In August, there may be a slightly increased probability of high seas from a tropical storm or hurricane in the Caribbean, but there's really no way to predict these things.