We dove Cooper River on 17 May 2008. We left our town around 0400 in the morning for the 5 hour drive up to Cypress Gardens in Monck’s Corner, SC.
We got to the boat landing around 0900 and met with our Charter, Capt Phil Myers with Backwater Diversions. (
www.backwaterdiversions.com)
We loaded the boat and were on the water by 0930. Capt Phil took us to our first location and gave us our briefing. Since none of us had done this before, he talked about what we were looking for and how to look for it. He also gave us his one rule: Come up with 500 psi in your tank. We ask why and he says: “In case a gator is in the area, you will have enough air to drop to the bottom until he leaves.” Cool. We splash and get to looking for teeth. About 15 minutes into my dive, my dive light dies. I surface to get my spare and one of my buddies was asking for a little more detail on what were looking for and how we should be doing it. Capt Phil gave us a bit more detail and off we went. After finding some, I surfaced with 520 psi left. That’s when I found out I have been down 110 minutes. Since we were only 17 feet, I wasn’t watching my time, only my air. I came up with a few teeth and we headed to the next site. We did our other two dives on the next site Capt Phil took us too. This was such a big place to search in this area, we could easily do two dives and not see it all.
To make a long story, not so long:
Dive 1: 83 degree air , 72 degree water, 17 feet and 110 minutes. Slight current.
Dive 2: 85 degree air, 73 degree water, 20 feet, 83 minutes. No current.
Dive 3: 85 degree air, 73 degree water, 19 feet, 61 minutes. Ripping current (2.7 mph)
Each of us ended up with a good amount of teeth, bones, artifacts, etc. Capt Phil was a great guide and he took us to some good places. He even dove during one of our SI’s and let us divvy up and take what he surfaced with in his bag.
It was a great time out and we will definitely be headed back up there to do it again. If you have ever considered diving Cooper River for megladon teeth, it is highly recommend in my opinion. We only saw two gators that day, which was slightly disappointing, but the good thing was they were both while we were on the boat. I do need to mention that if you are dead-set on diving with a buddy, don’t like low viz or currents, this diving might not be for you. But, if you are ok with all of the above factors, you will love diving for teeth!! Call Capt Phil today and book your dives.
Pictures from the trip are in my gallery.
Cooper River 17 May 2008 
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