Myrtle Beach worth diving?

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

judypots

Registered
Messages
66
Reaction score
13
Location
New Jersey, USA
# of dives
200 - 499
Hi all,
My husband and I are going to a family event in Myrtle Beach in August and staying 5 days. We've been diving for 5 years now, mostly in the Caribbean, also Palau. The only place in the U.S. we've dived is Key Largo, FL and compared to our other trips, we wouldn't go back there. We have about 150 dives each. I'm wondering if it would worthwhile to schlepp our scuba gear and spend any time diving at Myrtle Beach. We're staying at the Prince Resort at the Cherry Grove Pier, if that helps. What dive operators do you recommend? Thanks.
 
There is some very good diving in the Myrtle Beach area. However, this is different than what you are used to. The boat rides are long and can be rough and the boat is just a ride out and back, they will not be setting up your gear or providing a guide or anything else.

However, you can dive on wrecks from the civil war, World War II, and artificial reefs. Water temps are warm (upper 70's), and the visibility can range from 40 - 70+ feet this time of year. You'll see everything from baitfish to sand tiger sharks and the diving ranges from beginner level to advanced.

I highly recommend Express Watersports in Murrells Inlet - Express Water Sports - Myrtle Beach Scuba, Parasail, Kayak & dolphin watch & Ocean Sightseeing, Banana Boat And jet skis rentals, Memorial at sea & hydro testing in Myrtle Beach South Carolina - Home

They are close to where you'll be staying and run a quality operation. I've always enjoyed diving with them and they do take care of their customers. The web site has their charter calendar and also has descriptions of the dive sites.
 
Thanks so much for your input. It is very helpful.
 
If you didn't like Key West, I'd leave the gear home as it's quite a bit better than Low Country diving. You're not going to see any coral reefs, the closest thing would be the offshore ledges. And lots of wrecks. The Low Country area is mostly flat and sandy for a long way off. The wrecks attract the fish/sharks etc. but past them there's literally nothing else nearby except sand and open water in many areas. The longer/deeper all-day wreck trips get you out into the fringes of the Gulfstream so the fish life tends to be better. In July there were a lot of jellyfish also - at a couple sites we had to do the reg purge to re-board so even though the water - at least at the shallower sites - will be mid-80's I'd still bring a skin.

I second Express Watersports also. Good operation, 46' Newton dive boat. The only downside for you might be they're 30 miles south of Cherry Pier in Murrell's Inlet. I-17 often gets congested in the North Myrtle Beach area - especially around the dinner theaters and Broadway on the Beach. We once sat at least 1/2 hr. in traffic near there - in the summer. There's some good restaurants in Murrell's Inlet also for lunch/dinner after diving.

I might suggest Coastal Scuba instead - they're a lot closer. Coastal Scuba No personal exp. with them since we stay farther south closer to Murrell's Inlet.

If you do get to Broadway on the Beach there's a Ripley's Aquarium there. In one of the smaller rooms there's Leafy Sea Dragons in a tank - only aquarium I've ever seen those.

Do you golf? There's a lot of golf courses in the area. Although in August that would be pretty miserable (humidity) after 9am...It's also the miniature golf capital of the U.S. - seriously...lol.
 
I'm a Carolina Diver, I don't know if that is what is being referred to as "low country" diving. I can tell you this....I've been diving in the Keys (yawn), Carribean (yawn), Lakes, Rivers, Quarries, etc. Carolina Diving, while not some luxurious spoon fed (set your gear up for you) experience.... is the best diving in the US. As for there being no life and nothing but sand? Not so sure about that one either. Ledges all over the place with spiny lobster, tropical fish, sharks, etc. By the way, we're not talking about wimpy spiny lobsters here....we grow them big in the Carolinas. No offense to the senior moderator there, but I beg to differ about Keys diving being "better" than Carolina Diving. Different, easier, maybe.....Better???? That depends upon your perspective and experience. Are the corals as dense? No. Are there as many tropical fish? Yes. We have everything you could possibly see in Florida...just bigger and better. Plus we're in the middle of Sandtiger breeding congregations. Seeing them in person, unbaited, is akin to a religious experience...not to mention a bit thrilling.
normal_biglob2.jpg
They don't get this big eating sand and "nothing".
normal_sandtiger46.jpg
As you can see above, its a virtual wasteland down here, vis stinks, and there is nothing to see, a virtual desert.

Yeah, the boat rides are long. Nope, the boats don't fill your tanks for you, bring them for you, nor do the mates set up your gear for you. Frankly, I never understood all that anyway...I don't like anyone touching my stuff, I don't trust them. The reward is some outstanding density of pelagic life seldom seen in any other East Coast waters. There is a reason that Carolinas are alwasy a top dive destination in the US. You just have to be tough enough, and a good enough diver to figure it out. If you want the easy 15 minute boat ride, or luxurious treatment...maybe this diving isn't for you. You want the mystery and adventure of the unknown? Or some spoonfed yawner of a 30 foot dive on some lame-o reef?

Tom :wink:
 
I'm a Carolina Diver, I don't know if that is what is being referred to as "low country" diving.
Ask: http://www.lowcountryscuba.com/ or Wikipedia:
The Lowcountry (official spelling, sometimes spelled Low Country or just lowcountry) is a geographic and cultural region located along South Carolina's coast. The region includes the South Carolina Sea Islands - Applied more broadly, the term can also refer to peripheral or adjacent areas. These include Allendale, Georgetown, and Williamsburg counties.
I may have mistakenly thought it included the Grand Strand also. IIRC one of the Myrtle Beach television channels called itself Low Country News. Of course it may've been re-broadcast from Charleston.
I can tell you this....I've been diving in the Keys (yawn),
Agreed
Carribean (yawn)
Not places I've dove like Grand Cayman's North Wall, French Cay in the Turks/Caicos - Cay Sal Banks in the Bahamas. Carolina Diving, (yawn - sorry had to...:D) while not some luxurious spoon fed (set your gear up for you) experience.... is the best diving in the US.

What about Hawaii, Florida, California or the Pacific NW? They don't hold your hand in SoCal where I certified either. The DM just counts you on/off the boat. Better know how to cut yourself free from the Kelp also - it's harder than it sounds - often you do a mid-water dance while doffing, clearing then re-donning your gear..
As for there being no life and nothing but sand? Not so sure about that one either. Ledges all over the place with spiny lobster, tropical fish, sharks, etc. By the way, we're not talking about wimpy spiny lobsters here....we grow them big in the Carolinas. No offense to the senior moderator there, (none taken) but I beg to differ about Keys diving being "better" than Carolina Diving. Different, easier, maybe.....Better???? That depends upon your perspective and experience. Are the corals as dense? No. Are there as many tropical fish? Yes. We have everything you could possibly see in Florida...just bigger and better. Plus we're in the middle of Sandtiger breeding congregations. Seeing them in person, unbaited, is akin to a religious experience...not to mention a bit thrilling.
I would like to film your Sandtigers - it's a current interest (filming sharks and large pelagics) I've had a few interesting shark experiences also - my avatar was one of them.

View attachment 130440
They don't get this big eating sand and "nothing".

Capture.JPG

They grow that big out in SoCal also. This one (11lbs.) was caught live and lives in the Monterey Aquarium now (that's not me). Funny how both shots are so similar...:D

View attachment 130444

As you can see above, its a virtual wasteland down here, vis stinks, and there is nothing to see, a virtual desert.
There's a square hatch in that shot. So is that the top of a wreck? What's 50 yds. away on the bottom? I never claimed that wreck diving wasn't good in that area - just that it's predominantly the only good diving. Quoting my previous post:
The wrecks attract the fish/sharks etc. but past them there's literally nothing else nearby except sand and open water in many areas.

As evidenced by the amount of wrecks Express Watersports lists on their dive site list vs. just several ledges sites it appears to be the predominant diving in that area. We are talking about Myrtle Beach, not NC also.

I shot this on a shallow wreck - 40-50' (2nd dive) and this was - according to the DM - a pretty good day for visibility. Shot into the sun (couldn't move the wreck..lol) so some of that is backscatter - some is also jellies. I'm sure the vis is better off North Carolina but this was my experience - in July a few years ago.

wreck.jpg.

The wrecks we dove were on flat sand - we attached to and dropped on the wreck as it was the only thing for miles. At one site where the viz was about 40' I asked the DM what would be farther away if I swam away from the wreck. His answer: more sand...Two of the wrecks we dove were pretty barren also - you could still cleanly make out structural details. One of the others had a good amount of growth on it. No idea how long any of them were down but they weren't newer looking ships - steel hulled though.
That depends upon your perspective and experience
Certified in 81' - dive mostly reefs, a few wrecks, quite a few drifts, a couple of liveaboards - since the early 90's mostly warm water - got tired of waddling around in a 7mil... You?

You like deep wrecks, long boat rides, challenging conditions. For you that's "best" I like lots of fish, interesting geology, lots of coral on coral reefs so for me "best" in the U.S. is Hawaii. (best so far period was Turks/Caicos for what I like) Based on the OP's assessment of Key West and that she's dove in the Caribbean and also Palau (probably makes any of either of our experiences pale by comparison) I attempted to convey that she'd likely be disappointed in what she'd find off Myrtle Beach. Should've used a word other than better.

It's all good...:wink:
 
What Tom said. We have sharkage. None of that mamby pamby choreographed sharkage either.

But it is big boy diving for sure. On a good day, I like diving NC better than anything else. I haven't been diving out of Myrtle Beach as I dive mostly in Morehead and occasionally in Wilmington.

What about a drive to Wilmington? Tom, aren't many of the sites a bit closer to shore than in Morehead or Myrtle Beach? And my understanding is that the water is a bit clearer and warmer out of Wilmington too.
 
Last edited:
I Certified in 1985, did some diving in 1984 in a quarry in Virginia prior to certification. Moved down to NC in 1990, been diving offshore here ever since. I'm an extended range diver, and also Full Cave through NACD. Cave diving is a winter time pastime, my main love is shipwrecks, shipwreck history, and sharks. I have a Silent Submersion UV-18, and my GoPro mounted to it. I dive a 3 mm that is more like a 1 mm because it needs to be replaced. I do own a drysuit, but I dread donning it. Cold water is not my thing...I'll do it to get my fix, but I'd rather be out front where the water is blue and warm. I would rate my experience as "extensive" as far as diving goes, including mating and leading dives for 2 outfits. Most of my diving has been in the Carolinas, because I have been utterly bored to death with everything else I have tried. That being said....I haven't been to Truk or the Galapagos, and while those are on my bucket list, I have more pressing bucket list dives awaiting me here in NC....namely the USS Monitor and the EM Clark....both are trimix dives that I'm currently working up to. I'd love to try some west coast diving, one of my buddies is actually diving in Alaska, and has some pretty cool stories from up there. There are just so many targets for me here in NC, including reefs/ledge systems that have never seen diving pressure, that I'd prefer my diving dollars be spent out front. I'd eventually like to dive in the Great Lakes. I just think that it was a bit premature to warn the OP off from diving in SC and send them golfing. Yeah, I know we're talking about South Carolina. As the crow flies, Wilmington...where I live and dive....is about 40 miles north of Myrtle Beach. We share many of the same wrecks and waters when diving on the shoals and south of the shoals. The dive sites in Myrtle Beach...happen to be frequented out of NC as well. I guess Wilmington is still off most diver's radars, which is fine by me for selfish reasons, but we are very close to the border of SC, closer if you could drive over water.

I've made some trips to the Keys...a lot, every year for bug season. Bored of that, lots of coral....lots of coral. Saw a shark once in the Keys on all those trips, was dissapointed at how small the gamefish and lobster were. Particularly absent were grouper, giant grouper (I'm being politically correct), and the Hogs were really small. My brother worked for Cruz Bay Watersports and then on the Fool's Gold in USVI. Went diving all over down there with Mike on the Fool's Gold and private boats, including BVI...and the Rhone. The RMS Rhone was the only thing down there I enjoyed thoroughly. So, I guess you can say I like wrecks. Yep, that is a wreck in my initial post on this thread. Picture frozen from video, actually its the Hyde. Its only 14 miles offshore, about a 50 minute boat ride, and the bottom is 75 feet deep. The wreck is usually bathed in blue waters with Sandtiger sharks. The sand beyond it? A ledge system about 30 miles long, which contains grouper, tropical fish, lionfish, and meg teeth.

The Hebe and the St. Cathan are world class dives off Myrtle Beach, and can also be reached from near my home in Southport because they both lie off the south side of Frying Pan Shoals...which is my namesake FPSN. We dove them in 2008, and here is a video link from the St. Cathan SC dive..
[video=youtube;V8jFkoEXRPw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8jFkoEXRPw&list=FLxu1VDFnTKIDYgpumg-Xc1A&index=29&feature=plpp_video[/video]
That is me at 8:06, and my partner in crime behind me. As you can see, the visibility in the video is a bit different than your experience.

The visibility here can be fickle in the Carolinas at times, and I'll honestly admit that. Much depends on storms (especially hurricanes and tropical systems), tides, winds, and rain. Usually though, in the summer months and fall, the visibility is consistently golden beyond the tideline. Worst case scenario is usually 30 feet horizontal vis, best case is clear as glass and warm as a bath. Last weekend, I stood on the bottom on the stern of the Shipwreck Naeco off Morehead City, NC. It rests in 140fsw. You could see the dive boat on the surface. Video proof from my GoPro cam at 12:58:

[video=youtube;i4LzVkjeTM4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4LzVkjeTM4&list=FLxu1VDFnTKIDYgpumg-Xc1A&index=1&feature=plpp_video[/video]

Still working on the vids from the weekend before last, but here is an over-view of some of the Carolina Diving, and yes this was on shipwrecks, but the Sandies...check out the sandies. They were prolific:

[video=youtube;jTOoh5nFLEE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTOoh5nFLEE&feature=relmfu[/video]

I'll work on more of the vids from the epic trips in the Carolinas for this summer when it all slows down. I'll be on the Rosin Wreck at the tip of Frying Pan Shoals this Saturday...and they can run that one out of Myrtle Beach as well. That last video composite gives you a God's honest truth about diving in the Carolinas, this is exactly what you're going to get. The video above this paragraph was from 4 dives on back to back days 7/14 and 7/15/2012. The vis varied from cloudy 30 to crazy clear, and it depended on where you were, how close to river mouths, shoals, etc. I don't take much footage on ledges, because I'm usually hunting lobster or meg teeth when ledge diving, but I'll try and fix that this year. I do have some ledge footage from former NOAA CMAN manned weather station Frying Pan Tower FPSN7. Now the larger coral-laden ledges lie further away from the tower proper, but this dive was mostly right around the tower. (my apologies for the soundtrack...this video was shot in around 2002 or so) Here:

[video=youtube;rcfxzjXxmrc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcfxzjXxmrc&list=UUxu1VDFnTKIDYgpumg-Xc1A&index=10&feature=plcp[/video]


Leslie, I am partial to diving in Wilmington as opposed to Morehead, but only because at home, there is no shipwreck unknown to me out front. That being said, I see no need for the OP to drive up to Wilmington to go diving. Nor do I see a need to send the OP golfing........this isn't golfoboard...its scubaboard. There is plenty of great diving off SC. I do think we have some closer sites than Morehead, especially the Hyde/Markham that are in clearer waters than the Indra. The H/M also usually house prolific populations of Sandtiger sharks. Basically, I love Carolina Diving, so much so that is the main reason I chose to begin my career here after college.

So long as I make enough money to dive, I'm a happy camper. When I retire, I'll manage to pull in all the exotics, but for now, I am content to dive out front every weekend the weather will allow me to, and weekdays too. I'm under no illusions that this diving is for everyone, but I'm also convinced that many people have no idea what we have here, and I'm proud to showcase it for those inquiring.
 
Last edited:
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

Back
Top Bottom