Your Favorite Dives

[Dive Master]

I thought it might be fun to hear about everyone's favorite dives.I was certified in March of 2000, hold a Dive Master rating, and have logged 371 dives to date. I have ben fortunate enough to dive most of the cruise ship ports in the Eastern and Western Caribbean as well as Bermuda. My other dives have been the Florida springs, Carolina coast, and local.I wish I had seen some of the more exotic destinations but my funds are definitely limited. Here is my list:

 

Favorite snorkle location: The Baths, Virgin Gorda, BVI

A beautiful day with my wife snorkeling among the huge boulders--lots of fish life--but I did give up diving the Rhone for this.

 

Favorite reef dive: Palancar Gardens Cozumel, MX Maybe my favorite dive ever--80 feet down riding the "underwater wind" through huge coral heads with tons of beautiful tropical fish.

 

Favorite wall dive : Eagle Ray Pass on the North Wall Grand Cayman

You come out of the pass through a coral shute at about 100 feet on a sheer 500 foot wall (so they say-I did not go to the bottom thankfully)

Huge turtle and spotted eagle ray A deep dive but you usually follow it up with a very shallow dive at Sting Ray City playing with the rays.

Grand Turk and Santa Rosa Wall in Cozumel get a honorable mention.

 

Favorite wreck dive : The Papoose Morehead City, NC so many to choose from but my favorite is the Papoose not a cruise ship dive but you do go 30 miles offshore into the Gulf Stream. The Papoose was a large tanker torpedoed by U-124 on 3/19/42. The wreck is largely intact and lies upside down in 125 feet of water. If you like sharks this is your wreck. The Papoose is a breeding ground for the Sand Tiger Shark. These large "boys in gray" are simply amazing and you interact with them in their natural habitat. I have counted 37 sharks on the stern. George Purifoy of Olympus Dive Center told me he has counted over 80 sharks on one dive !!!! You will also see the occasional Bull Shark, turtles, and rays.Honorable mentions go the Caribe Sea and the U-352 both off Morehead City.

 

Favorite cavern dive: Ginnie Springs High Springs, FL My very first open water dive and still a favorite. Some define Ginnie as "visability forever". I still get a thirll hanging on the grate at 52 feet while over 1 million gallons of water per hour whizz past you.Let go and enjoy the ride--just make sure no one is behind you ! If you can get the cavern to yourself on a weekday morning, you are in for an awesum dive.A night dive is also a must do.All of the springs are great dives.Honorable mention to Paradise Spring and Blue Gotto.

 

Favorite lake and local dive: Mount Carmel Church Cemetery Lake Jocassee Salem, SC Yep, you get to dive a "spooky" graveyard 138 feet down in the cool, dark waters of Jocassee.Most of the graves were excavated but the grave of 2 year old Doris Hinkle is still there (her family did not want her relocated) Many head stones, large markers,curb stones, and empty graves remain.If you ever saw the movie "Deliverance" this is the church and the graves being relocated at the end of the film.Chiily, dark, and narced---Do I hear banjo music or is it just the nuts I dive with?I do believe some of them were in the movie! This is a technical dive due to the depth but it is the "signature" dive at Jocassee.The "Wall" is also a great dive at the lake.

 

That is my list. I would love to see yours.

 

Joe

[xSandman3`]

I have been diving in Roatan, Belize, Coz, Grand Cayman, Hawaii, and all up and down the west coast. My favorite spot of all is the dive park at Casino Point on Catalina island. I have over 100 dives logged in the park, and still have not seen it all. Depths range to 110', with something to amaze you at every level. I have laid on the bottom 3 feet from a large bat ray for 10 minutes, come face-to-face with a 400 lbs giant black sea bass, swam through the kelp forest, which is the underwater version of a rainforest, hovered along a wall watching 1" Catalina Gobies, and taken pictures of many different divers posing by the Jacques Cousteau monument at 45' (the park is dedicated to him).

 

If you are ever in SoCal and want an awesome dive experience, let me know, and I'll show you the park.

 

Dale

PADI OWSI

[Pilot70D]

My favorite dive is the next one.....wherever it will be. :-)

[scubaran]

Hi,

 

I've been lucky to dive all over as well. My dives include, most, if not all, of the Caribbean, Bermuda, Ireland, Norway, Spain, NE U.S., California kelp beds, St. Lawrence river, Key West, Gulf of Mexico, Lake Champlain, Lake George, NY, and local lakes and rivers in the area.

 

Favorite snorkel area: Norman and Peter Islands in the BVIs. With caves, reefs and beach time definitely fun all around.

 

Favorite dive area: Really tough, it's between the atolls in Belize (including the blue hole), the "real" wrecks of the St. Lawrence (no artifical sinking needed with 200 yrs of shipping and accidents), the Florida Keys, and the Atlantic off MA/ME. But I have had lots of other fun dives as well.

 

Favorite wall dive: Belize and Grand Turk. Both had excellent walls off of wonderful shallow reefs.

 

Favorite wreck: the Rothesay, a twin paddlewheeler that when down in the late 1900s and still sits on the bottom of the St. Lawrence as an easy shore dive from Prescott, Canada.

 

Favorite lake and local dive: Great Sagandaga Lake, NY. The lake is artifically dammed and at the base of the lake is a span of three two-lane bridges that they left on the bottom of the lake. I also have to include Nubble Lighthouse in Maine, though frightfully cold, with a light house as your backdrop, huge lobsters, crabs and scallops everywhere.

 

My short list but not inclusive in any way!

Randall

[Dive Master]

My favorite dive is the next one.....wherever it will be. :-)

 

 

Pilot,

 

I do believe you are right on this one. Guess my next ones will be at Jocassee this weekend.Hoping for the "graveyard" and the "wall".

[Dive Master]

I have been diving in Roatan, Belize, Coz, Grand Cayman, Hawaii, and all up and down the west coast. My favorite spot of all is the dive park at Casino Point on Catalina island. I have over 100 dives logged in the park, and still have not seen it all. Depths range to 110', with something to amaze you at every level. I have laid on the bottom 3 feet from a large bat ray for 10 minutes, come face-to-face with a 400 lbs giant black sea bass, swam through the kelp forest, which is the underwater version of a rainforest, hovered along a wall watching 1" Catalina Gobies, and taken pictures of many different divers posing by the Jacques Cousteau monument at 45' (the park is dedicated to him).

 

If you are ever in SoCal and want an awesome dive experience, let me know, and I'll show you the park.

 

Dale

PADI OWSI

 

 

Dale,

 

One of our local dive shops did a trip to Catalina Island two years ago.I saw some of their pictures and videos. The kelp beds and forrest look like a great dive.We dive the underwater forrest in Lake Jocasse quite often.The lake is so deep that Duke Power did not bother to cut the trees down below 110 feet in most of the lake.Kind of neat swimming through a underwater mountain forrest.NO exotic kelp forrest but at least it is only 50 miles from home.If I ever make it to Southern California, I will take you up on your offer.

[bruce-r]

Did someone say "kelp"?

 

 

I love diving in the Channel Island. I'm going again in September this year for my 4 year in a row.

[scubadiver888]

I thought it might be fun to hear about everyone's favorite dives.I was certified in March of 2000, hold a Dive Master rating, and have logged 371 dives to date. I have ben fortunate enough to dive most of the cruise ship ports in the Eastern and Western Caribbean as well as Bermuda. My other dives have been the Florida springs, Carolina coast, and local.I wish I had seen some of the more exotic destinations but my funds are definitely limited. Here is my list:

 

Favorite snorkle location: The Baths, Virgin Gorda, BVI

A beautiful day with my wife snorkeling among the huge boulders--lots of fish life--but I did give up diving the Rhone for this.

 

I dove the Rhone last month. My wife went to Virgin Gorda. The Rhone was okay but from what my wife described I think you made the right choice going to Virgin Gorda. Actually, my wife is suggesting we go back to BVI so I can dive Virgin Gorda. I just have to find someone who can take me diving there.:)

 

Favorite reef dive: Palancar Gardens Cozumel, MX Maybe my favorite dive ever--80 feet down riding the "underwater wind" through huge coral heads with tons of beautiful tropical fish.

 

Favorite wall dive : Eagle Ray Pass on the North Wall Grand Cayman

You come out of the pass through a coral shute at about 100 feet on a sheer 500 foot wall (so they say-I did not go to the bottom thankfully)

Huge turtle and spotted eagle ray A deep dive but you usually follow it up with a very shallow dive at Sting Ray City playing with the rays.

Grand Turk and Santa Rosa Wall in Cozumel get a honorable mention.

 

Favorite wreck dive : The Papoose Morehead City, NC so many to choose from but my favorite is the Papoose not a cruise ship dive but you do go 30 miles offshore into the Gulf Stream. The Papoose was a large tanker torpedoed by U-124 on 3/19/42. The wreck is largely intact and lies upside down in 125 feet of water. If you like sharks this is your wreck. The Papoose is a breeding ground for the Sand Tiger Shark. These large "boys in gray" are simply amazing and you interact with them in their natural habitat. I have counted 37 sharks on the stern. George Purifoy of Olympus Dive Center told me he has counted over 80 sharks on one dive !!!! You will also see the occasional Bull Shark, turtles, and rays.Honorable mentions go the Caribe Sea and the U-352 both off Morehead City.

 

Favorite cavern dive: Ginnie Springs High Springs, FL My very first open water dive and still a favorite. Some define Ginnie as "visability forever". I still get a thirll hanging on the grate at 52 feet while over 1 million gallons of water per hour whizz past you.Let go and enjoy the ride--just make sure no one is behind you ! If you can get the cavern to yourself on a weekday morning, you are in for an awesum dive.A night dive is also a must do.All of the springs are great dives.Honorable mention to Paradise Spring and Blue Gotto.

 

Favorite lake and local dive: Mount Carmel Church Cemetery Lake Jocassee Salem, SC Yep, you get to dive a "spooky" graveyard 138 feet down in the cool, dark waters of Jocassee.Most of the graves were excavated but the grave of 2 year old Doris Hinkle is still there (her family did not want her relocated) Many head stones, large markers,curb stones, and empty graves remain.If you ever saw the movie "Deliverance" this is the church and the graves being relocated at the end of the film.Chiily, dark, and narced---Do I hear banjo music or is it just the nuts I dive with?I do believe some of them were in the movie! This is a technical dive due to the depth but it is the "signature" dive at Jocassee.The "Wall" is also a great dive at the lake.

 

That is my list. I would love to see yours.

 

Joe

 

I haven't been to any of the places you listed. With all the diving you have done, I suspect you have been to the places I have been.

 

I think my favourite reef dive was Anse Chastanet (sp?) marine park in St. Lucia. It is a shore dive. You walk in to a shallow area. The guide checks you out for recovering mask and reg. This is a requirement. I've heard people complain about having to do a checkout dive but we did the checkout in 3 minutes and dove for another 44 minutes. The reason for the checkout dive is because the marine park has a cliff on one side (the island of St. Lucia) and a fishing area with HEAVY boat traffic on the other side. They take you around the outside of the marine park under the fishing boats (you can hear and see the boats racing by overhead) then you come back to the dive shop through the marine park. They had someone panic, surface and get hit by a boat so now they like to make sure you are comfortable in the water and your first response to losing mask or reg is not to shoot for the surface.

 

For a drift dive I really liked the Superman's Flight at St. Lucia. The viz was okay (they said it rained the previous day and viz was horrible; it was still 30 to 40 feet). With all the 'bits' in the water the marine life was out in full force.

 

For wall dives I'd have to say my favourite is L'Abym (The Abyss) in Dominica. It was a bit of a drift as well. As we were going with the flow all the fish went with us. At one point a group of trumpet fish swam past my left. I looked over my shoulder at them, wondering why they were swimming against the current. As I turned my eyes back to ahead of me, a barracuda swam past me after the trumpet fish. Quite cool.

 

Favourite wreck is a Russian destroyer just north of Cuba. I've seen a few wrecks but most have been cleaned up. This one had the deck around 60' and the bottom was 101'. The guide took us along the west side and it looked REALLY impressive. Mostly intact and massive. We went over the midship to get to the eastern side. On the eastern side was a gaping hole with all kinds of shredded metal. First time I saw a wreck with a hole big enough for penetration but definitely not safe and cleaned up. Don't know what the inside looked like as I'm not wreck certified yet.

 

With only 35 dives and nothing local, yet, that is about it for me.

[mamasue]

I'm a PADI instructor,(almost 3,000 dives) I worked in Egypt, in the Red Sea for over 4 years. Most of the dives there were awesome... I love the Red Sea!!

I also dived in the South China sea in Vietnam (poor visibility, rough sea)

and St Maarten (quite nice!!)

The worst dives I ever had were when I was working in the United Arab Emirates. The visibility was lousy,there was nothing to see (just a few shallow wrecks... none spectacular!!)

Next month I'm cruising to the Western Caribbean.... so far I've booked a dive in Grand Cayman, and will probably book a couple more!!

 

Sue.

PADI MSDT

[beachbunny1206]

I have only been diving in the Galapagos 7 times and Cozumel once, but I must say with all that I have seen I don’t know how the rest will compare. In the Galapagos I seen 4 White Tip Sharks, Lots Sea Turtles, Sting Rays, Eagle Rays, Sea Lions, Marine Iguanas, Marbled Ray, Tiger Snake Eel, and of course lots and lots of different fish. Also, I know of a place where you can go to a cave full of sharks or go to Gordon Rock to see the Hammer Head Sharks. I am going to the Cayman Islands on a Cruise the week of Aug. 23rd, I hope to see some more sharks. Good Luck

[tootsiescurly]

Night Manta Ray dive in Kona and diving with the sea lions in La Paz.

[NeurosurgeryNP]

I haven't dived much yet - but my favorite dives I would have to say - Grand Turk - the shallow coral reef with the 7000 foot wall and coral chute we went through.

 

Also- I know it is corny - but I just dived at EPCOT at Disney - awesome I have to say - I don't think I will EVER see as many species in all my years of diving as I saw on that day with unlimited vis and also interacting witth the Disney guests through the glass.

 

For snorkeling - I would have to say it was swimming with the Manatees in Crystal River Florida in their environment. Wonderful, intriguing, and playful creatures.

[scubaran]

Also- I know it is corny - but I just dived at EPCOT at Disney - awesome I have to say - I don't think I will EVER see as many species in all my years of diving as I saw on that day with unlimited vis and also interacting witth the Disney guests through the glass.

 

Not corny, I did it and thought it was one of the cooler dives I've done. Where else can you sit on the bottom and have a shark swim right over your head (I watched the circuit the shark was swimming and my buddy and I hit the deck a 1/2 circuit ahead of him and he swam 5' over our heads). Also the interaction was great. I went up to the windows where there was a woman with two boys. I walked my hands up the window with the bigger boy and he kept going up until he had to jump to get to the same level. Then I did it with his little brother who only could go up 1/2 the distant but then jumped in his mother's arms and went higher than his big brother could go. I couldn't hear them but the look on the younger boy's face knowing he'd outdone his brother was priceless! :D

 

Randall

 

P.S. but I do seem to remember they gave us shorties in 70-something degree water and I wished I'd had on my full suit.:eek:

[SantaAna,CA]

I think my favorite dive has been with the huge mantas in Kona. That was spectacular. My one and only night dive as well!

 

In the Caribbean, I liked Mayreau. Under one rock, I counted eight lobsters. All I could think about when I saw them was how happy the chefs from the cruise ship I was on would be if I brought them back for dinner (which of course I didn't!)

 

I've also been to Aruba and they had some fun wrecks.

 

In St. Vincent we swam through a bat cave. Shallow, so you could lift up your head and see them eeee eeee eeeee'ing all over. Ew!

 

Few people like diving in St. Martin. I had a beautiful dive there with zillions of plants that felt like chamois when I ran my hand over them, and the way they gracefully waved back and forth with the gentle surge of the ocean was pretty. I also saw a humungous barracuda with B-I-G shiny teeth. :eek:

 

I live in California and have been to Catalina to dive. I appreciate the kelp forests, garibaldi and eels, but after discovering the warm waters of the Caribbean, I don't dive here anymore. The water is freezing and I scrape the skin off my knuckles trying to pull on a 7mm wetsuit!!

 

P.S. Randall, that sounds SO wonderful! I'd love to do that dive at Disney!

 

Jane

[Dive Master]

It's great reading other diver's experiences. Keep them coming.The EPCOT dive sounds really neat and I hope to do it the next time I am there.Most all of my diving this summer has been the "exotic Lake Jocassee" but I am really starting to appreciate our local treasure.I have met divers driving 500 miles or more to dive Jocassee (mostly technical divers).The lake has been really down this summer (25-29 feet) due to the drought but that has presented the opportunity to see many new things.

 

Here is an update on the Cemetery Dive. The lttle girl's who is still buried there is Doris Hamilton not Doris Hinkle. There is a large marker for Silas Hinkle so an easy mistake when narced! I found a good video on Youtube for this dive. Just google Jocassee Cemetery or Graveyard dive.There are 2 videos--one about 7 minutes and one 2 minutes.

 

Keep the "great dives" coming.If I can't be there, I love reading about them.

 

In memory of"

Doris Yvonne Hamilton

Nov 27, 1932 -- Nov 12, 1934

" I pray to the Lord my Soul to keep"

 

Resting peacefully 118 feet under the clear, dark waters of Lake Jocassee, SC.

[scubaran]

\Here is an update on the Cemetery Dive. The lttle girl's who is still buried there is Doris Hamilton not Doris Hinkle. There is a large marker for Silas Hinkle so an easy mistake when narced! I found a good video on Youtube for this dive. Just google Jocassee Cemetery or Graveyard dive.There are 2 videos--one about 7 minutes and one 2 minutes.

 

Gee, I thought it was spooky diving in the Great Sagandaga Lake in NY going through three spans of bridges left under the water, but a graveyard? Hate to be diving with one dive buddy to find out I now count two...... :eek:

[mamasue]

I'm an instructor.... I was taking a group of 5 students for their 1st ever open water dive in the Red Sea.....a hammerhead shark, obviously lost in shallow water, cruised by us, about 10 feet away!!!:eek:

That'll be a tough act to follow for a first ever dive!!!

[Moostang]

The only diving besides the pool I have done is Whiskeytown Lake, but not bad, we go down and feed crawdads to the fish.

[Sandgnat]

My two favorite dives are the Santa Rosa Wall in Cozumel and diving in Boco del Toro, Panama.

My least favorite was in Ocho Rios Jamaica. They have killed their reefs and it was so sad to see the dead reefs and hardly no sea life.

[JABTPS]

Molokini island was excellent and we had over 100 ft visibility, no current, lots to look at including whales! It's really a pleasure when you can see everything so clearly even when you don't wear prescription mask.

 

The worst was last year at Huatulco MX. Terrible visibility, strong current, the divemaster lost one of 2 divers and didn't seem to care I was the only one still remaining. Finally caught up to the diver at the end after he had surfaced on another side of a rock point. Stay away from this site. Nothing worth seeing.

 

Great barrier reef was fun, but was not very good again due to visibility. :(

[DiveNav]

........ My favorite spot of all is the dive park at Casino Point on Catalina island. ..........

....../quote]

 

Hi xSandman3,

I totally agree with You :D

 

I liked Casino Point so much that I decided to recreate it in 3D and put it online so everyone can now virtually dive this beautiful dive site here --> www.ediving.us

 

Regards,

 

AM

[cmdchiefthom]

I believe my best freshwater dive was the spring Almiros, on the island of Crete. Around 140' to a cave entrance, unlimited vis, hundreds of freshwater eels, and just to make it interesting, seven truckloads of WWII live German ammo, as well as the trucks themselves, driven off cliffs above the spring. I worked in this spring with a U.N Hydrogeology team for three months back in the late 60's, and absolutely loved the vis, not to mention the eels.

 

As for wrecks, a fisherman directed me to a site between the Greek islands of Naxos and Paros where his nets would snag. My dive partner and I discovered an ancient amphora wreck. We found an amphora so large, we could swim through the neck of it wearing twin 72's. The jugs were very unique, and almost duplicated those on display at Konossos Palace, which is dated circa 1700 BCE. A close second is the wreck of the Empire Mica off Cape San Blas in Florida. The Mica was a British tanker, torpeoded during WWII, and when I dived her in the mid 70's, she was still pretty much intact. She was home to a ton of hammerheads, visibility was fantastic, and I brought up a gorgeous porthole from her.

 

My best wall dive had to be the pass into the Rangiroa, in French Polynesia. Natural pass into the second largest atoll on the planet, its 120' deep, no more than 200' yards wide, and perhaps 2 miles long, but you literally fly through the pass along with eagle and manta rays, tons of sharks, turtles, etc., etc., etc. Absolutely incredible.

 

I have to agree that the best reef diving I've ever experienced is in the Red Sea, and that's almost anyplace you choose to dive.;)

[mellowrose]

Mushroom Forest, Curasco and The Aquarium, Lighthouse Reef, Belize. Mary's Place in Roatan was amazing. The Blue Hole in Belize is epic but once is enough.

[mellowrose]

I should add I never went on a bad dive in Bonaire! :o

[traveler523]

It's great reading other diver's experiences. Keep them coming.The EPCOT dive sounds really neat and I hope to do it the next time I am there.Most all of my diving this summer has been the "exotic Lake Jocassee" but I am really starting to appreciate our local treasure.I have met divers driving 500 miles or more to dive Jocassee (mostly technical divers).The lake has been really down this summer (25-29 feet) due to the drought but that has presented the opportunity to see many new things.

 

Here is an update on the Cemetery Dive. The lttle girl's who is still buried there is Doris Hamilton not Doris Hinkle. There is a large marker for Silas Hinkle so an easy mistake when narced! I found a good video on Youtube for this dive. Just google Jocassee Cemetery or Graveyard dive.There are 2 videos--one about 7 minutes and one 2 minutes.

 

Keep the "great dives" coming.If I can't be there, I love reading about them.

 

In memory of"

Doris Yvonne Hamilton

Nov 27, 1932 -- Nov 12, 1934

" I pray to the Lord my Soul to keep"

 

Resting peacefully 118 feet under the clear, dark waters of Lake Jocassee, SC.

 

Not certified yet, but I did check the YouTube videos of Jocassee Cemetery. Some of the video(s) is hard to make out due to the lack of light and you can really only see what the dive light is on - but pretty cool in my book - in a weird kind of way :cool: .

 

Keep cruisin n divin

 

T523