It may be hard to believe, but people actually recreate in the waters around New York. Head underneath and everything.
David Rosenthal, author of SCUBA Diving: the Wrecks and Shores of Long Island, NY, offered some tips on diving in the sometimes tricky waters near the city:
What are the biggest dangers of diving around New York?
The biggest danger is becoming lost or disoriented, especially for new divers or those used to resort diving in blue, crystal clear monster. A huge problem is monsters in their head. They brush up against things, go into a state of high anxiety, and maybe do something dumb.
When’s a bad time to dive?
In poor visibility. Visibility problems are usually churned up by the wind. Waves on the surface. When large waves occur at sea it makes “surges” on the seabed. When they approach shore, the surges precipitate stuff on the bottom. It takes a day or so for the particles to settle out.
What would you say to people considering diving around New York?
On the whole, local diving has good visibility. Give it a shot. Get to know the dive sites when the visibility is decent, and then you’ll be more comfortable diving in lower visibility. I go–poor visibility or not–because I’m looking for various artifacts. But you’ll almost never have zero visibility. There’s a lot of good diving around the New York area.
Most times people are surprised local diving is more pleasant than they thought it would be. There’s a lot of history, ranging from coastal Native Americans to Europeans. New York City is also one of America’s oldest ports. As long as ships have been traveling they’ve been sinking [making for good wrecks to explore].
Where are the best places to try diving around the city?
Rockaway beach at 9th Street. The Hamptons. The wreck of the USS San Diego. It’s off shore–a 500 ft naval vessel from World War I. There’s the wreck of the Oregon, an ocean liner.
How can someone get into it?
Read my book!
(Some responses have been edited for clarity).
