Good Snorkeling Locations for L'il Buddy

[thinkxingu]

My 6-year-old loves to snorkel right now--are there any places that he could easily see stuff without having to dive?

Thanks!

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[upthesaukee]

Grew up summers on the lake. Dock areas, fish love to hang out under them (caution: watch for electrical around the dock.) Don't block navigation markers, but snorkel around the rocks near the markers. Steamboat Island. Steamboat Belknap starts in about 10 ft of water then goes deeper. We used to anchor on the south side of the bridge and then snorkel under the bridge to the wreck. Uninhabited shorelines : rocks, fish, all sorts of fun things to see.

I live here... I am always Upthesaukee.

[upthesaukee]

Originally Posted by thinkxingu

My 6-year-old loves to snorkel right now--are there any places that he could easily see stuff without having to dive?

Thanks!

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So, have you taken the little guy out yet?

I live here... I am always Upthesaukee.

[thinkxingu]

Originally Posted by upthesaukee

So, have you taken the little guy out yet?

I live here... I am always Upthesaukee.

Not yet--last weekend was rough for weather--but he was asking today about seeing a sunken ship. I think he was referring to the Chris Craft that made its way to the bottom the other day!

Suggestions for places in the north? We're planning Saturday or Sunday.

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[Dave R]

I agree with upthesaukee, pretty hard to beat the Belknap. I've seen it dozens of times and I still like to snorkel there. Was there on Saturday, actually. It is quite close to shore, between the shed and the last stand of trees on the Steamboat Island end of causeway. I don't know why it does not show up on google earth, it is certainly big enough. It might be the shadow here: 43.633341, -71.369872.

[thinkxingu]

Originally Posted by Dave R

I agree with upthesaukee, pretty hard to beat the Belknap. I've seen it dozens of times and I still like to snorkel there. Was there on Saturday, actually. It is quite close to shore, between the shed and the last stand of trees on the Steamboat Island end of causeway. I don't know why it does not show up on google earth, it is certainly big enough. It might be the shadow here: 43.633341, -71.369872.

Sounds great, thanks!

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[noreast]

Great Idea, If I can get the family to go diving, It'll be one more arrow in the quiver for buying a bigger boat. Thank you!

[Dave R]

Originally Posted by noreast

Great Idea, If I can get the family to go diving, It'll be one more arrow in the quiver for buying a bigger boat. Thank you!

If you don't have gear yet, check out Cressi stuff. Nice gear for the money. They sell it at Dick's Sporting Goods.

[skprbob]

Way back in camp counsellor days snorkel trips to the Belknap, the Witches, the Graveyard, and the Varney Islands were popular. Once found half of a Mercruiser outdrive in the Graveyard, complete with gear, shaft, propellor, and still oily. Kids had a blast! Also lots of fishing lures around.

[thinkxingu]

This was a post asking for the whereabouts of the sunken ship because I'm a doofus and forgot it was above.

[znh]

Originally Posted by Dave R

I agree with upthesaukee, pretty hard to beat the Belknap. I've seen it dozens of times and I still like to snorkel there. Was there on Saturday, actually. It is quite close to shore, between the shed and the last stand of trees on the Steamboat Island end of causeway. I don't know why it does not show up on google earth, it is certainly big enough. It might be the shadow here: 43.633341, -71.369872.

Where do you approach / anchor when going here to check this out?

[Dave R]

Originally Posted by znh

Where do you approach / anchor when going here to check this out?

The north side of the bridge is perfect for anchoring. Anchor there, swim under the bridge (make sure there are no PWCs coming through...) and go right. The south side (where the ship is) is also ok for anchoring, but watch for the rocks and the power cable.

Just want to correct myself here. The wreck is on the east side of the bridge, the best anchoring is on the west side of the bridge.

[Dave R]

Wanted to add that there's usually a massive school of fish (like thousands of them) in the weed bed near 43.680979, -71.384980. They are mostly yellow perch and blue gills, however, they attract larger predatory fish, so you may seen some decent size bass and pickeral as well. Swimming over and among them is better than being in any aquarium I have ever been to. The best viewing is in the deeper water and weeds that don't make it all the way to the surface. The downside of this is that it's in Braun Bay and the crowds can cloud the water up on weekends.

[upthesaukee]

Originally Posted by Dave R

The north side of the bridge is perfect for anchoring. Anchor there, swim under the bridge (make sure there are no PWCs coming through...) and go right. The south side (where the ship is) is also ok for anchoring, but watch for the rocks and the power cable.

Dave R, isn't it the reverse. Anchor on the south side of the bridge (Gilford side) and swim to the north side (Ossipee Mts side)? I don't have my Bizer chart handy, but that was my recollection.

I live here... I am always Upthesaukee.

[Barney Bear]

The Belknap is on the east side of the small bridge between Birch Island and Steamboat Island. There are numerous large rocks in the vicinity of the sunken vessel.

[Dave R]

Originally Posted by upthesaukee

Dave R, isn't it the reverse. Anchor on the south side of the bridge (Gilford side) and swim to the north side (Ossipee Mts side)? I don't have my Bizer chart handy, but that was my recollection.

I live here... I am always Upthesaukee.

Yup, I had it backwards. Sorry...

edited to add: After I answered you, I looked at a map and realized the wreck is east of the bridge.