Where can I rent equipment and go on a dive in New England?

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Hello Salt,

Welcome back to New England. For Cape Ann diving the nearest dive shop is Undersea Divers, the shop is located in Danvers MA, close to the highway (MA route 128) which leads to and from Cape Ann to and from the metropolitan Boston area and points further west and south. Undersea Divers rents scuba gear and has group shore dives (Dive Society) at various Cape Ann sites on Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings.

Compared to the clear, warm water typical of most vacation diving, New England's cold water diving is a completely different experience. If you haven't yet, you'll soon grow accustomed to, if not fond of, a thick, hooded wetsuit (or drysuit) and limited visibility (gives you the opportunity to hone your underwater navigation skill).

For Cape Ann shore diving, parking is often an issue. Often gear must be dropped off at the dive site and the vehicle then parked quite a distance away. In many areas the town of Rockport allows non-resident parking before 10 AM, hence its popularity, but the towns of Gloucester and Manchester are not as accommodating - if you want to dive sites in those towns sometimes you will just need to 'eat' the parking ticket, treating it as part of the cost of the dive.

Hope you enjoy New England diving. As a plus, it will make you appreciate that much more the clear and warm water of future vacation dives.
 
A bit further afield for you, but there is also Mass Divers in Natick, MA. Excellent, safety-oriented, shop that regularly schedules Cape Ann shore dives and some boat dives.

It is certainly true that the charter boat situation in Cape Ann appears to be in a state of some transition. Cape Ann Charters (Daybreaker) is a wonderful charter operation and my go-to boat, but it seems they are running a very reduced schedule this season. Maybe that will change, don’t know. Other boats out of Gloucester (Charterboat 1 and Cape Ann Divers II) appear to have relatively limited single-diver/walk-on openings remaining. Tough season this year for boat diving, but you may at least be able to get in some shore diving at Rockport. You will enjoy it!
 
The daybreaker's captain's wife recently had a baby. I think that's why there's the reduced schedule. I don't think it's a long term issue - just timing.
 
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