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Notes about things regarding scuba diving that I have come to know.
Pete's Southern Maine Regional Dive Site Guide
I like to back into a parking space along the shoreline. This lets
me be on the cobble stone beach head to avoid sandy gear while
enjoying the view as I set up and break down. You can dive this site
at any tide but it's best enjoyed mid tide or above. Being at the
mouth of the river it is susceptible to silting after heavy rains so
beware.
If you get to see the beach at a lower tide you will see an
outcropping of ledge that sits in the tidal region toward the middle
of the beach, see photo on right. Make your entry and exit between the
midpoint and the sea wall to avoid these rocks. If the tide is high
enough the outcropping is worth checking out on the return leg while
you use up any remaining air. The easy entry and bounty of natural
navigation featues make this a nice site for night dives. I am finding this site to be more and more popular with folks fishing from boats. You will want to consider pulling a dive flag.
The basic dive here is pretty simple, you find the ledges on the
left hand side and explore them as you work your way to the mouth of
the cove and even beyond. You can expect a long dive with 20 feet
only being exceeded at high tide far from the beach. Be sure to spend
some time down on the sandy bottom where depending on the season you
can see flounder, skate, lobster, moon snails and even juvenile sea
ravens to name a few. It was in the rocks here that I saw for the
first time a golden brown Sea Raven.
On the return, especially on a rising tide be sure to stick with the
street (outbound left) side of the cove. The current into the river
is swift and you can find yourself sharing the river channel with
some pretty big boats if you are not careful. It is not uncommon to
have fishermen casting from the jetty on the river side of the cove
so give them a wide berth. The dive will take you into active
lobstering space so pay attention during working hours. There is also
considerable fishing and tour boat operations coming in and out of
the river. When out at the far reaches of this dive you want to shoot
a buoy before surfacing, it is best to simply stay down. If the wind
is not blowing into this site it is also a very enjoyable skn-dive
location. There are no toilet facilities at this site. Parking is
free but the place will fill up in prime time. Diving may be
prohibited at this site if there is a presidential visit at the Bush
compound on Walker's point.
The river and Jetty can be seen on the right hand side of this
picture. The good dive is down the rocky shoreline.
After setting up on the clean cobble beachhead you can enter to the left or right of the ledges shown at the waterline. This picture as taken at near low tide.
This page created January 2008 |