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Yes, Virginia, there is diving in Oregon

Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 7:36 am
by spatman
Saw these pics on the Oregon Scuba Club's facebook page. Pretty amazing shots of the pinnacles off the coast of Newport with extremely rare visibility.

http://www.photoshop.com/users/newportf ... /slideshow

Re: Yes, Virginia, there is diving in Oregon

Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 7:45 am
by spatman
Image

Re: Yes, Virginia, there is diving in Oregon

Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 8:24 am
by Nwbrewer
How far offshore is that? I want to go!

Re: Yes, Virginia, there is diving in Oregon

Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 8:39 am
by Tom Nic
Holy crap! I'd pay money for that dive!

Re: Yes, Virginia, there is diving in Oregon

Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 8:44 am
by spatman
I'm pretty sure it's not far at all.

Re: Yes, Virginia, there is diving in Oregon

Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 8:50 am
by CaptnJack
There are quite a few pinnacles off Newport. Which one is this though?
http://www.charts.noaa.gov/OnLineViewer/18561.shtml

Re: Yes, Virginia, there is diving in Oregon

Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 9:52 am
by Norris
spatman wrote:I'm pretty sure it's not far at all.
You find them and Ill drive down to YOU for a change Matt!

Re: Yes, Virginia, there is diving in Oregon

Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 11:18 am
by defied
Norris wrote:
spatman wrote:I'm pretty sure it's not far at all.
You find them and Ill drive down to YOU for a change Matt!
Ditto.

D

Re: Yes, Virginia, there is diving in Oregon

Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 11:42 am
by Tom Nic
defied wrote:
Norris wrote:
spatman wrote:I'm pretty sure it's not far at all.
You find them and Ill drive down to YOU for a change Matt!
Ditto.

D
Me three.

Spatman's organizing a dive trip!!! :boucegreen:

Re: Yes, Virginia, there is diving in Oregon

Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 11:50 am
by coulterboy
Tom Nic wrote:
defied wrote:
Norris wrote:
spatman wrote:I'm pretty sure it's not far at all.
You find them and Ill drive down to YOU for a change Matt!
Ditto.

D
Me three.

Spatman's organizing a dive trip!!! :boucegreen:
I'm in too. Can a great white sighting be included in that too? :smt064

Re: Yes, Virginia, there is diving in Oregon

Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 12:12 pm
by Mortuus
I might have to come down for this too

Re: Yes, Virginia, there is diving in Oregon

Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 1:59 pm
by spatman
I'll see what I can find out this week about location and charter info.

Re: Yes, Virginia, there is diving in Oregon

Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 3:53 pm
by Don-B
What are the normal sea conditions for this time of year down there.
If I knew the weather would be good I would take my boat.
I would hate to make the drive and not dive if it turns bad.

Re: Yes, Virginia, there is diving in Oregon

Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 4:12 pm
by selkie
COASTAL WATERS FROM CAPE SHOALWATER WA TO CASCADE HEAD OR OUT
10 NM-
WATERS FROM CAPE SHOALWATER WA TO CASCADE HEAD OR FROM 10 TO
60 NM-
317 PM PST FRI DEC 7 2012

...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR WINDS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT PST
TONIGHT...
...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR HAZARDOUS SEAS IN EFFECT UNTIL
MIDNIGHT PST TONIGHT...

TONIGHT
NW WIND 20 TO 25 KT...EASING TO 10 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES
5 FT. NW SWELL 10 FT AT 10 SECONDS. SHOWERS. :eek:

SAT
NW WIND 10 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT. NW SWELL 8 FT AT 12 :eek:
SECONDS. CHANCE OF SHOWERS.

SAT NIGHT
NE WIND 10 KT...VEERING TO SE AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND
WAVES 1 FT. NW SWELL 6 FT AT 11 SECONDS.

SUN
S WIND 10 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT. NW SWELL 5 FT AT 10
SECONDS.

SUN NIGHT
W WIND 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT. NW SWELL 5 FT AT 9
SECONDS. CHANCE OF RAIN.

MON
N WIND 10 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT. W SWELL 6 FT AT 9
SECONDS.

TUE
W WIND 20 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 5 FT. W SWELL 12 FT. :eek:

WED
NW WIND 15 TO 20 KT. WIND WAVES 4 FT. NW SWELL 14 FT. :eek:

Re: Yes, Virginia, there is diving in Oregon

Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 4:21 pm
by CaptnJack
Don-B wrote:What are the normal sea conditions for this time of year down there.
If I knew the weather would be good I would take my boat.
I would hate to make the drive and not dive if it turns bad.
Bad and worse... Late September and October should have decent vis without so much opportunity to get blown out (like nearly everywhere from Port Hardy to Monterey). Its unfortunate that sometimes diving ends up more like mountain climbing where you get all the way to Camp Muir, but just have to turn tail and go to the pub.

Re: Yes, Virginia, there is diving in Oregon

Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 4:25 pm
by spatman
Yeah, this time of year rarely has good conditions. And the rest of the year is a bit if a crapshoot, too.

Re: Yes, Virginia, there is diving in Oregon

Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 7:21 pm
by WylerBear
Just FYI, South Beach Scuba in Newport announced today that they'll be running boat charters at least every other weekend starting in May.

Re: Yes, Virginia, there is diving in Oregon

Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 7:37 pm
by Furnari
From the Newport area north and from Charleston south you can find diving like that. I've never been lucky enough to get that good of visibility, but even with 10-ft of viz, the diving is spectacular. It's so hit or miss as to whether you can even get across the bars, though- more often than I'd like to admit, we end up scuba driving for nothing.

Re: Yes, Virginia, there is diving in Oregon

Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 8:24 pm
by guitarmaker
This was posted in the Oregon section awhile back http://www.nwdiveclub.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=19316
and somewhere there was a link posted with an excellent article on how the reefs were formed - basically a volcanic lava flow running north to south. But yeah, there are cliffs, walls, canyons etc and most places you cant touch bare rock because everything is covered with life!
On the down side, it is the open ocean so bring your dramamine, and like was mentioned earlier you can drive out there only to find that the bar is closed - or - everything is in prime condition with flat seas but you have 5' (or less) viz. On the plus side tho, diving offshore Oregon is kind of like sex or pizza - when it's bad, it's still pretty good!

Re: Yes, Virginia, there is diving in Oregon

Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 10:40 pm
by CaptnJack
The swell might not be as bad as it sounds, all depending on the wave period. Is there an offshore buoy there reporting the wave period? (I could look, I'm being lazy...)

Re: Yes, Virginia, there is diving in Oregon

Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 11:44 pm
by Joshua Smith
I was talking about this with Spatman tonight. We were speculating that a good strategy would be to get a group together and rent a place out for a long weekend. If the diving didn't pan out, you'd just have to hang out at your beach rental and drink beers and barbeque. I've seen a few videos and pics of those magic days when weather and viz and surge all cooperate out there, and it looks mighty fine. Worth the risk, as long as you have a good fall back position, anyway.

Re: Yes, Virginia, there is diving in Oregon

Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 12:32 am
by Mortuus
Joshua Smith wrote:I was talking about this with Spatman tonight. We were speculating that a good strategy would be to get a group together and rent a place out for a long weekend. If the diving didn't pan out, you'd just have to hang out at your beach rental and drink beers and barbeque. I've seen a few videos and pics of those magic days when weather and viz and surge all cooperate out there, and it looks mighty fine. Worth the risk, as long as you have a good fall back position, anyway.
CLUB DIVE! CLUB DIVE! CLUB DIVE! :smt064 :partyman:

Re: Yes, Virginia, there is diving in Oregon

Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 6:36 am
by dsteding
CaptnJack wrote:The swell might not be as bad as it sounds, all depending on the wave period. Is there an offshore buoy there reporting the wave period? (I could look, I'm being lazy...)
Yes. There is. If you end up doing this, surf forecasting websites will be good for that. www.stormsurf.com has good resources and is West Coast specific.

Re: Yes, Virginia, there is diving in Oregon

Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 10:01 pm
by Dusty2
Definitely a crap shoot. I have been down there during the summer and seen Depot bay looking like the devil's punch bowl!
FYI just south of the aquarium Thousand trails has a campground and last time I checked they had trailers and yerts for rent.

Re: Yes, Virginia, there is diving in Oregon

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 5:57 am
by dalcodiver
That would make for a good trip especially if you caught good conditions. Looks alot like Duncan Rock in Neah Bay.