Where to go in Portsmouth, NH?

[Soggy]

Ugh...Seas are up to 4-7 ft, subsiding to 3-5 off of Maine.

Guess I'm just going to have to see in the morning. It'll be a nice drive, regardless, eh?

 

[large_diver]

If you get washed out, you can go hang out on York or Ogunquit beach, buy some lunch at one of the local fried clam shacks, and sit and eat it on the beach while watching the surfers.....I think I've seen more surfers on those two beaches than anywhere else in New England combined......

 

[Soggy]

Generally speaking, what would you guys consider a washout in terms of swells? 4-7 seems extreme in my head, but is it really? I don't know what I've dived in.

 

[Spectre]

AaronBBrown once bubbled...
Generally speaking, what would you guys consider a washout in terms of swells? 4-7 seems extreme in my head, but is it really? I don't know what I've dived in.

When your at nubble, you'll see the waves crashing on the rocks and shooting up into the air [bring your camera!].

Then it becomes a judgement call.. "Ok... I perceive a 75% chance of imiating that wave... no dive today"

Also.. be cautious of those reports... they are for _huge_ areas [most 'zones' are from shore to 25 miles offshore].

 

[Soggy]

Spectre once bubbled...
Also.. be cautious of those reports... they are for _huge_ areas [most 'zones' are from shore to 25 miles offshore].

Yeah...I noticed that.

I imagine that closer to shore, the seas will be less turbulent...maybe I imagine wrong, though.

It looks like Nubble is somewhat protected, too. Is that correct?

 

[King Kong Matt]

AaronBBrown once bubbled...
It looks like Nubble is somewhat protected, too. Is that correct?

Yes...reasonably so.

 

[large_diver]

Pretty protected under most conditions, except for possibly a wind straight out of the north. I've been diving there when the wind was blowing so hard that my baseball hat kept blowing off. Waves that day south of nubble were 6 ft +. Conditions at the dive site were practically calm.

If waves are big where you will be entering the water, you don't want to be there.

 

[Soggy]

We ended up going to Old Garden Beach. It was beautiful...a bit choppy, though, but not too bad. There were no other divers out....I think they all saw the 4-8 ft seas and decided to stay home or go somewhere more protected.

 

[Arduous]

I have been too busy to log on in the last few days and have missed this thread. I wish I had logged on sooner as I may have been able to help at Nubble Light. I dive Nubble all the time. I mostly dive towards the deeper area, in the 65 to 80fsw range.
When diving at Nubble it is very easy to control your depth by just following the bottom contour. One can go as deep as they are comfortable with and then just stop reverse direction and follow the contour back to shallower waters. Diving to the north west of the entry point can be a beautiful dive , however it has it’s hazards. The bottom is littered with miles of filament line from cast fishermen and can cause an entanglement issue. If there are active fishermen present I would not dive that area at all, unless you’d like to get hooked. Nubble is my favorite shore dive because it has available parking, a bathroom close by, a small food stand and it’s clean. The place is all rock, so there’s no getting sand in your gear. It’s also easy to get deep with out a long swim, should you lean towards that type of dive. It also makes a great night dive spot. …………………….Arduous