What are some of your favorite dive sites in our area?

[SeaJay]

I think it'd be great to meet more 'boarders and do some diving.

That guy John: Yeah, I think he was the owner of Atlantic Reef Charters, wasn't he? He had a little shop off of Matthews Drive on HH Island.

He's sold all of his scuba gear... In fact, I don't think he even has the shop any more.

But there's some great places in Savannah... And one in Beaufort, too. My personal favorite LDS is Eddie's "Fantasia Scuba" in Savannah. Eddie is a great guy... Straightforward and honest, and he really takes good care of his customers. Major purchases I research personally and buy online, but all of my LDS stuff goes to Eddie. Classes, air fills, accessories, trips... Eddie. I've rented much gear from him, too, while I was buying my own, and I still do when my stuff's in the shop.

We have a fairly good relationship with some local charter captains... They typically want anywhere from $70 per diver to $100 per diver, and require anywhere from four to six divers to charter their boats. It's pricey, but totally worth it.

Stick with our calendar on the LCscuba website and let us know if something there appeals to you. If you have a suggestion for a particular date, let me know and I'll put it on there and see what we can do to get everyone diving.

 

[scottish2]

His names Joe and I know his Mathew's Drive shops closed but he does have a spot around the corner though haven't been. I don't think iut's an actual shop per say though just sort of a warehouse to store his gear. He says he's still doing classes and such but not sure as he's extremely hard to get a hold of to get any info.

 

[New2ScubaSC]

thats his name joe, dont know him heard of him , big may river diver guy

 

[Aquatic Eagle]

Ok, I've been wanting to dive the Cooper and Ashley River for a while now mainly to collect some fossil teeth. How likely is it that you actually find any shark's teeth on a dive? Also, describe any "blackwater dives" any of you have done. How did you like it? Any info on diving these rivers would be great, I'm planning a trip in the next month or two to Charleston to visit a friend and want to dive while there. Thanks!

 

[SeaJay]

NatureDiver once bubbled...
Ok, I've been wanting to dive the Cooper and Ashley River for a while now mainly to collect some fossil teeth. How likely is it that you actually find any shark's teeth on a dive?

Well, I know of a couple of people who take divers out to find teeth... And frankly, if they're paying, then they better find some teeth, right? So I'd say the likelihood is pretty good.

...Of course, for those of us here in the Lowcountry, we know that EVERY sound and river has teeth in it, and so we avoid the places where the tourists are taken so that we can dive a fresh bed and find the REALLY GOOD stuff.

...So we have our own spots. C'mon out...

Also, describe any "blackwater dives" any of you have done. How did you like it?

Pfffttt... Every dive here is blackwater, unless you're diving offshore. We've got tons of dives we could describe.

Inland waters have such poor vis that if you place your guages against your mask, you still can't see them.

'Course, it's not always that way... Some days you get six inches or more. Lol...

I'm exaggerating a little... In the wintertime, vis can go to an astounding ten feet.

Offshore, though... It's just like the Keys. No, I'm not kidding. And it's rarely dived. It's a trip to get in a boat and watch the color of the water change at about the five mile point.

You asked me to describe blackwater diving; Let me put it this way... I often dive with my eyes closed just to keep my mind from trying so hard to make out shapes in the water. Once, though, at about 40' (blackwater makes it feel like 400') I opened my eyes, quite by accident. What I saw was amazing... Billions of bioluminescent plankton were being swept by the current into my mask. It was like watching Star Wars when the Millenum Falcon went into hyperspace.

Any info on diving these rivers would be great, I'm planning a trip in the next month or two to Charleston to visit a friend and want to dive while there. Thanks!

No prob.

In Charleston, we like Charleston Scuba, although they're known to be a bit pricey... Expect $100 a dive. They're good, though... And they can hook you up with other charters which do inland blackwater fossil dives.

For information on dive sites offshore (and there's tons of great diving there), check out my site... It's all there, man... Maps and all.

Don't miss seeing the Hunley on a non-diving day. Oooo... And the Aquarium, too. RavenC and I used to dive there as volunteers. It's super-cool.

 

[scottish2]

Yeah that's one dive I want to do as well is a fossil dive though haven't dove the rivers at all. That and of course the Betsy Ross offshore. Did mention to Raven maybe we can find someone with a boat who dives to help minimize the costs. All chip in gas money and such. Obviously we'd have to swap off to keep the required people on board during the dives but would still be a fun day.

But that is one dive I want to do as well is a fossil dive.

 

[Raven C]

Blackwater diving....

Ever been in the water when you can't see the gauges up against your mask, you can't see the glow of your buddy's light when it is pointed off to the side and if you let go of your buddy's hand, you will never find him/her without surfacing? Then suddenly, you feel a large something, at least 4ft long swim the length of your body and you can feel it brush your body and you know that it is moving the water around you. That is a blackwater dive. Or one of mine anyway. Wanna go dive with me? R

 

[Aquatic Eagle]

I'd love to do a dive with you. I'll let everyone know when I'm getting down to Charleston and maybe some of us can do a dive. I definitely want some fossil dives though. I had heard before that Charleston Scuba is a bit expensive so we'll see what happens. How 'bout a full 3mm suit for late October/early November in Charleston? Thanks or the info SeaJay.

 

[scottish2]

Anyone ever do I think what they call blue water diving? Fromm what I gathered in an article once they do this a lot in Florida where they take you out to like 800 feet deep and put you down about 70-80 feet and you float in the middle. Supposedly it's quite cool but I haven't done it personally.

 

[SeaJay]

RavenC once bubbled...
Then suddenly, you feel a large something, at least 4ft long swim the length of your body and you can feel it brush your body and you know that it is moving the water around you. That is a blackwater dive. Or one of mine anyway. Wanna go dive with me? R

I've had that dive, too. What an eerie feeling...

I think the time I most jumped out of my skin was on this zero-vis drift dive I did off of the island here. I was under for about 40 minutes (max 20 feet of depth) and I'd been sorta cruisin' along with the current, checking out what was on the bottom. I had found like six inches of vis right along the bottom, if I didn't stir anything up...

That's when *wham* something hit me in the leg so hard I nearly had a heart attack.

Knowing that I wasn't far from "the hole" on the island that's well-known for alligators, I grabbed a big friggin' stick from the bottom of the muck and pulled out my dive knife. I spun around, but couldn't tell that I was facing a different direction.

Resisting the unbelievable urge to surface like a missile and walk on water, I floated to the top, taking the occassional swing at shapes in the black water.

When I finally popped my head above the water, I nearly caused myself a concussion (*whack*) on a low beam on a dock. I'd surfaced directly underneath of it.

The thing that hit me in the leg was a piling from the dock. Actually, *I* hit *it*, because I was drifting with the current.

Man, my heart's racing, even now, just thinking about that...

Now, let me tell the "flip side" story: I went down to the local dive shop to get a couple of tanks filled... And met a buddy of mine down there. He smiled and said, "come check this out."

He had his old, beatup pickup outside, which was towing an old, beat up glass Carolina Skiff... Of course, with a brand new Yamaha outboard on it. Inside the boat, he had two 5-gallon buckets of what used to be chlorine for someone's pool.

Each bucket was overflowing with nearly perfect, palm-sized megladon teeth.

"Holy crow... You've hit the motherlode."

"Yep." <smiles a deep south, good-ol'-boy smile, and his bright blue eyes glimmer>

"Where the hell did you find those things?"

His look told me that he'd rather die than give up "his spot."

"All I can tell you, SeaJay, is that from now on, I only dive this site at night. I don't want anyone to see me out there and figure out where this spot is. I had to dump a whole bunch of other teeth, man... I only brought two five gallon buckets, and so I could only keep the best ones."

"Hooooollllllyyyyyy ssssshhhhhh______tttttt... (Pause) What do you think they're worth?"

"Well, I've already got a buyer for the big ones, and he's paying as much as $3500 for the really nice ones. I got more than a few of that quality today. The little ones (picks one up that's only 3 or 4 inches across) will still bring $50 to $100 on Ebay."

"Wow... Whatcha gonna do with all that money, boah?"

"Dunno. Might be nice to pay some of my child support. (Slaps mosquito biting the back of his neck.)"

Ah, the Lowcountry.