Ed Martin
Registered
I just wanted to post a quick review of Blue Stone Dive Resort in Thomasville, NC. I learned about it here so I thought it was good form to put up some positive comments in return.
I live in Mooresville, NC. Blue Stone is just over an hour's drive. So it's close... but not as close as the PDRA Quarry here in town. I like them both, but Blue Stone is definitely worth the trip.
My son & I have now done 4 dives there over 2 trips in the last month. The water is significantly more clear than PDRA is right now. The usual - it gets even more clear once you get to about 25 feet. Surface temps in the 80's. At the deepest point ("the hole") it was 54 on Sunday.
Lot's of things to explore - a couple of helicopters, several boats, cars, and even a couple of toilets. Everything is well-marked with buoys.
Blue Stone is set up really well. Kind of a rustic campground meets theme park feel. You park at the main building and unload. Plenty of carts for your gear. Friendly staff including Janet, the owner. They have a shop and rental shop - everything you could need. You then load your gear on their tram - which is a retro-fitted luggage tram from an old airport. There are 2 main docks and the tram takes you to either one. The main one is set up really well with bathrooms, full showers, lots of picnic tables with umbrellas and covered cement platform. Really nice.
We've only been there on Sunday. They have training classes but it's never felt over-crowded.
The first time we went, we didn't know what to expect so we just brought our gear. But when we got on the tram, we saw a group that clearly had Blue Stone figured out so on our second trip we followed their lead. We brought a portable grill and cooler and made a really nice day out of it! My wife doesn't dive but they have 2 stand up paddle boards for rent. So she did that while my son & I dove... and we all hung out floating in the sun on a surface break. Afterwards, we sparked up the grill and had a great lunch on the shore before packing back up and heading home.
Blue Stone is only open on weekends. but if you are in NC looking for a quarry dive, I highly recommend it!
I live in Mooresville, NC. Blue Stone is just over an hour's drive. So it's close... but not as close as the PDRA Quarry here in town. I like them both, but Blue Stone is definitely worth the trip.
My son & I have now done 4 dives there over 2 trips in the last month. The water is significantly more clear than PDRA is right now. The usual - it gets even more clear once you get to about 25 feet. Surface temps in the 80's. At the deepest point ("the hole") it was 54 on Sunday.
Lot's of things to explore - a couple of helicopters, several boats, cars, and even a couple of toilets. Everything is well-marked with buoys.
Blue Stone is set up really well. Kind of a rustic campground meets theme park feel. You park at the main building and unload. Plenty of carts for your gear. Friendly staff including Janet, the owner. They have a shop and rental shop - everything you could need. You then load your gear on their tram - which is a retro-fitted luggage tram from an old airport. There are 2 main docks and the tram takes you to either one. The main one is set up really well with bathrooms, full showers, lots of picnic tables with umbrellas and covered cement platform. Really nice.
We've only been there on Sunday. They have training classes but it's never felt over-crowded.
The first time we went, we didn't know what to expect so we just brought our gear. But when we got on the tram, we saw a group that clearly had Blue Stone figured out so on our second trip we followed their lead. We brought a portable grill and cooler and made a really nice day out of it! My wife doesn't dive but they have 2 stand up paddle boards for rent. So she did that while my son & I dove... and we all hung out floating in the sun on a surface break. Afterwards, we sparked up the grill and had a great lunch on the shore before packing back up and heading home.
Blue Stone is only open on weekends. but if you are in NC looking for a quarry dive, I highly recommend it!