Beginner Wreck Dives?

[M_Bipartitus]

Looks like you have some good ideas, but there are some options in the Great lakes. Most areas are not beginner as they are quite cold, but in mid to late summer the 1000 Islands & St. Lawrence in New York is actually warm enough for wetsuits.

 

[Lee Taylor]

Hello Sir Veyor,

We have some very good shallow water shipwrecks in the southeastern USA. The following should prove helpful for evaluating diving offshore the Carolina's. (below Morehead City NC)

Diving offshore Carolina varies significantly with the weather. When there are high swells and choppy water, they cause the boat to make less time, thus longer rides. As a general rule, the further the boat goes out, the better the viz. The soil within the local rivers flows into the sea causing the water close to the shore to be brown. A little further out the water is green. Green water is about a 1 hour boat ride. Even further out the water turns to blue. Blue water is about a 1.5 hour - 3 hour boat ride offshore North & South Carolina. When they say inshore dive, they are usually speaking of green water 50-70 feet deep. When they say offshore dive, they are usually speaking of blue water 80-130 feet deep. All the specifics, depth, etc, on each dive site are listed on the websites. The water depth will give you a clue as to how far offshore the site is. It is helpful to ask the shop: How long is the boat ride?

Some of the sea life you will see while diving offshore Carolina.

Lobster, tropicals, angels, jelly fish, eels, dolphin, flounder, lionfish, spotfin butterfly fish, octopus, large pelagics, large grouper, rays, loggerhead turtles, invertebrate life, huge amberjacks, baracudas, trumpet fish, blowfish, spadefish, nurse sharks, sand tiger shark, tiger shark, giant southern sting rays.

We have many good dive shops. Here are a few references:


Charleston - Charleston Scuba

Mt. Pleasant - Low Country Scuba

Columbia - Wateree Dive Center

Murrels Inlet - Express Water Sports

North Myrtle Beach - Coastal Scuba

Wilmington NC - Aquatic Safaris


The following is a slide show of diving offshore North Myrtle Beach.



The video below I took while offshore on the "Scuba Express" dive boat. The dive boat is approximately 45 feet long. Duel diesel engines. Second story bridge. Lot of railing. Duel ladders (fins off). Rear dive platform. Cooler. Water. Head. Pilot house. Unique tank holders (no bungies). Spear fishing allowed. Bow flat deck for lounging. Helpful dive masters. Excellent operation overall.



Dive safely and have fun!

 

[Rhone Man]

All good suggestions so far. I like the wrecks in BVI for beginners, while wreck diving is not considered a beginner experience the ones in BVI tend to be visible from the surface, relatively safe, and easy to explore, with enough sea life and growth to be very interesting. At one site there are 4 wrecks to explore in one dive. As a general rule beginners should stay on the outside of wrecks, BVI has a variety and plenty.

A lot of people come to the BVI for some "light" wreck diving. Lots of sunken ships, and two sunken aircraft to look at, all between about 60' and 85', and all of them have mooring balls conveniently located nearby to tie up to.

Plus there are not too many places where you can still dive on a steel ship that sunk in 1867.

 

[SIR VEYOR]

Looks like you have some good ideas, but there are some options in the Great lakes. Most areas are not beginner as they are quite cold, but in mid to late summer the 1000 Islands & St. Lawrence in New York is actually warm enough for wetsuits.

Yeah, they want warm water, and I've dove BC and NS in wetsuits, so I know the Great Lakes are easily doable in a wetsuit. I've found very little "drysuit only" diving areas. The greenland shark would be a nice dive find too.
For these several beginners, the Great Lakes probably won't fit their ideas yet.

 

[SIR VEYOR]

Hello Sir Veyor,
We have some very good shallow water shipwrecks in the southeastern USA. The following should prove helpful for evaluating diving offshore the Carolina's. (below Morehead City NC)
Diving offshore Carolina varies significantly with the weather. When there are high swells and choppy water, they cause the boat to make less time, thus longer rides. As a general rule, the further the boat goes out, the better the viz. The soil within the local rivers flows into the sea causing the water close to the shore to be brown. A little further out the water is green. Green water is about a 1 hour boat ride. Even further out the water turns to blue. Blue water is about a 1.5 hour - 3 hour boat ride offshore North & South Carolina. When they say inshore dive, they are usually speaking of green water 50-70 feet deep. When they say offshore dive, they are usually speaking of blue water 80-130 feet deep. All the specifics, depth, etc, on each dive site are listed on the websites. The water depth will give you a clue as to how far offshore the site is. It is helpful to ask the shop: How long is the boat ride?

Due to the weather dependency, I'm trying to keep to the tamer locations for these guys. I work with him a lot and would rather give him too tame a suggestion where boredom (unlikely as new divers) is more probable than discomfort/issues/bad trip experience. i.e. Bubba whacked his head on the boat ladder, Fred got lost from the group, since everyone's an air hog it was a 15min dive, etc.

It is good information for me and to give them a "for your next trip...."
And, there's no warmer water north of you until you get to Price Edward Island in Canada.

 

[SIR VEYOR]

A lot of people come to the BVI for some "light" wreck diving. Lots of sunken ships, and two sunken aircraft to look at, all between about 60' and 85', and all of them have mooring balls conveniently located nearby to tie up to.

Plus there are not too many places where you can still dive on a steel ship that sunk in 1867.

The Stuart Cove shark dive was what nudged you down to #3. I heard that it is normally very good, 30-40+sharks. And while a staged/fed encounter, I'd heard that it was a good show, even for Dysons (the new Hoovers/Air hogs).

 

[lrterry]

Panama City Beach has tons of small wrecks you can dive, and also large ones like the Mighty O. Whale Sharks had been seen this past year at several of the wrecks.

Scuba Diving Panama City Beach

Panama City Dive Charters - Scuba diving charters, specializing in wreck and spearfishing dives off Panama City and Panama City Beach, Florida.

Note: Pat has a pic of the whale shark on his web site.