Any Decent Diving North Carolina?

[a4lod]

This July my friends and I are planning a small trip to North Carolina. We will be staying in the Cape Fear area. I was hoping to do some diving and was wondering if anyone knows of any decent charters and dive site recomendations? Please respond. Thanks.

 

[herman]

Any Decent diving in NC??
Well, we are rated as some of the best wreck diving in the US almost every year so I guess Yea, we have some good diving. Where are you staying (city)? Cape Fear is actually a river in the Wilmington area. Below are a couple of web sites that may be of some help. Weekend NC charters tend to fill up very early so if you intend to dive on the weekends I would suggest you consider booking now. I have no idea what your diving experience is but a lot of the diving here in NC is not well suited for novice divers. Many (not all) of our wrecks are a long way off shore, 2 to 3 hr boat rides are common, they trend to be deep, depts of 90-120ft are common and the seas can range from flat to 6-8 ft swells. If you have any inexperienced divers in your group you would do well to let the operator know. Some require at least AOW for some dives. Seasickness is very common and when your are spending 5 to 8 hours at sea it's not a fun experience.

http://www.aquaticsafaris.com/
http://www.nc-wreckdiving.com/
http://www.capefeardiveclub.org/pn/html/index.php

 

[a4lod]

Apparently I will be staying just outside of Wilmington. I am AOW certified and have about 60 dives logged. I plan on becoming Nitrox certified before heading down which will help with the deeper dives. I have seen various dive operators with different prices depending on the distance. Do you have an site recomendations? I would prefer to stay in the 80-100 foot range. I will not be diving doubles and wold prefer to avoid sites that takes hours to get to for a mere 30 minute dive. Do you think it would be better to simply drive to Moreshead amd dive there? I heard it is about a 30-45 minute drive. Also, what thermal protection should I wear? I have a one piece 5mm steamer. Would this be enough? Will I need gloves and a hood? I hope to dive in mid July. Any other useful information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[DivingGal]

I'm heading there at the end of the month. The charter we're going out on is out of Wilmington, and we'll be doing two wrecks (both barges sunk as artifical reefs) that are in that range. Will be able to give you a report on the wrecks, and stuff that I visited on my return.

I've been told the water temp will be in the low 70s at the end of May, so it's likely to be warmer in July.

 

[RICHinNC]

call aquatic safaris and see if they have a dive going out to the Markham and Hyde the time you come down. That is about an 85 to 95 footer. In fact, go to their website that herman gave you and they have a listing of all their dives with depth, distant out and cost. Pretty good site....dang good people.

Some dive with hoods but i would say most dont in July. I would take a 3mm one piece but i dont get cold easily and you will only be doing two dives so major heat loss shouldnt be a problem.

A 5 mm would do fine... a little over kill...but nothing like a Canadian friend of mine (been Canadian all her life by the way) actually plans (snicker) on wearing (snicker snicker) A DRY SUIT....HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
Sorry DG...couldnt resist.

 

[DivingGal]

Rich -- you're asking for it!

FYI (In my own defence)... it's a shell, there for not much heat protection. I just like being dry between dives.

 

[a4lod]

. . . looking forward to your trip report. Have a good trip.

 

[jdh]

Apparently I will be staying just outside of Wilmington. I am AOW certified and have about 60 dives logged. I plan on becoming Nitrox certified before heading down which will help with the deeper dives. I have seen various dive operators with different prices depending on the distance. Do you have an site recomendations? I would prefer to stay in the 80-100 foot range. I will not be diving doubles and wold prefer to avoid sites that takes hours to get to for a mere 30 minute dive. Do you think it would be better to simply drive to Moreshead amd dive there? I heard it is about a 30-45 minute drive. Also, what thermal protection should I wear? I have a one piece 5mm steamer. Would this be enough? Will I need gloves and a hood? I hope to dive in mid July. Any other useful information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

It's more like a 90 minute drive to Morehead City from Wilmington. The boat trips are as long or longer from there anyway. There are dive sites ranging from 3 -45 miles out in Wilmington, depths ranging from 45-130ft. The Markham and Hyde are popular sites. They are about an hour out (18 miles) in 85' of water. There should be some sharks hanging around by mid July.

As someone mentioned above, check out http://www.aquaticsafaris.com for more info.

John

 

[jdh]

I'm heading there at the end of the month. The charter we're going out on is out of Wilmington, and we'll be doing two wrecks (both barges sunk as artifical reefs) that are in that range. Will be able to give you a report on the wrecks, and stuff that I visited on my return.

I've been told the water temp will be in the low 70s at the end of May, so it's likely to be warmer in July.

I can't think of two barges here in that depth range. There is one (Alton Lennon?) in the same area as two large dredges (Markham and Hyde).

John

 

[DivingGal]

oops -- I was working from memory, you are correct JDH, that be the Markham & Hyde dredges. This is the blurb I received on them:

"Generally the end of May the water temp. is in the low 70's at the Hyde and Markham. Both the Hyde and Markham are ocean going hopper dredges sunk as part of the artificail program. The Hyde is 215 feet long, the Markham 320, and both are still intact. Each wreck can be fully explored in one dive and the marine life varies depending on the time of year. As the season progresses they come alive with massive schools of cigar minnows which attracts a variety of amber jacks and barracuda. Looking closer at the wreck you are likely to find a range of tropicals and the Hyde in particular is covered with growth. Also keep an eye out for the resident sand tigers that are often seen on both sites."