Newport Fingers

[Bric Martin]

These are the days when I am glad to have a camera, I like to shoot macro, and my partner and I have good lights! Today we had about 4 feet of viz. I know that it was about 4 feet because when I stretched out my arm I could see farther than my hand...barely.

Even with the poor viz the day was fun. This was my first time in Newport and I always enjoy a new site. I met up with Aaron and we dove a site called the "Newport Fingers". Aaron was my guide and he made the day great. The Fingers are 5 jettys that run from shore into Newport Bay. The tide was out today so the dives were shallow, the depth ranged from 10 to about 25 feet.. Aaron timed our dives around slack, so we were able to swim into the current and drift back.

We entered the water and swam out and around the first jetty, at first I was a little dissapointed. At about 18 feet of depth the boulders became very large, we started to see little nudis and small critters and the dive became fun. The rocks had a layer of silt on them which reminded me of the Hoodscanal. Aaron found 2 octos hidden under the rocks and was a great spotter for me. He pointed out a bunch of interesting nudis and other small critters. We were never really in much current but I seemed to keep bumping into the jetty, it was our only directional landmark. Although the viz was poor we stayed together really well, its nice to have good lights!

The site is nice and I hope to actually see it someday!! Aaron thanks for the great tour and a safe day!

[spatman]

nice shots, bric! i'd like to dive newport someday...

speaking of macro, when we did netarts a couple weeks ago there was a ton of macro life there, and i even said to dave "bric would love this site."

[ORDiver]

I've wanted to dive Newport for awhile too. We should plan something for later this summer. It would be fun to dive it on Saturday and then spend the night. I think a trip to Rogue Brewing would be in order after diving considering it's about a quarter mile from the dive site.

[Tom Nic]

Cool! Glad folks are diving out there - hope to get down some day.

[-Aaron-]

Sorry, took a while to chime in. I've been busy running around this week.

Great pictures as always Bric. Really cool to see you were able to pull some gems out of the challenging conditions. Seeing the great shots you are coaxing out of your point and shoot camera makes me want to pick a camera up for myself . I'm always wary of getting too tied up in camera gear and photo spotting, but I think a little point and shoot is something I could manage. I might be joining the ranks when the new S95s come out :P.

Newport isn't the most technical dive, but it is fun to check out a new location, and maybe see a few different creatures you are't used to coming across. Bonus for me it is right in my back yard, which is great change of pace from the usual long diving road trips . Speaking of which I am getting ready for the weekend now. Fun dives with Pacific Adventures on Saturday and around Hood Canal on Sunday, with some camping in between, should be great.