Are South Carolina and Georgia worth a dive or two?

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

In my opinion all of these dives were worth doing. A lot of the dive has to do with what you are personally looking for.

I am interested in photography. Normally this means reasonable viz. There are many places that people love because of spearfishing and lobstering etc but when I dive there I never get good photos. Purely from a photography point of view, are there any places worth diving?

Thanks -

 

[Lee Taylor]

The viz offshore SC and NC does not compare to Crystal River and Jupiter.

The exception would be the furthest offshore shipwrecks. They attract large schools of large sea life and they are in 110 to 160 feet of beautiful high viz deep blue water.

Unlike Florida, the Carolina's have very rich soil and very large rivers. Massive amounts of organic matter is constantly being carried into the ocean by the rivers. This makes for low viz close to shore. Are there exceptions? Yes. On occasion the viz close to shore will be excellent. Unfortunately there is no way to know when it will be good and when it will be bad.

In general, we do not have beautiful water close to shore. For that we dive the towns between Jupiter and Islamorada

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

How does NC vis compare to SC? I did some filming in NC and it turned out to be great. Not as good as Florida but over 60 ft viz on U 352. Are there wrecks / reefs in SC that give you that kind of viz?

 

[anytime]

The offshore wrecks I listed are comparable to the offshore wrecks found off the coast of NC. The vis is about the same.

 

[Lee Taylor]

It has been quite some time since I dove the U-352. I dont remember how far offshore it was but I remember it was a LONG boat ride. I am guessing it was 3 to 3.5 hours offshore depending on surface conditions. I agree with you on the viz. I remember seeing the U-boat clearly and the water above being blue.

There are not many, if any, charters going that far offshore in SC. You will have to research the dive store websites. I am guessing again but I think the shipwreck Hyde and the St Cathan are currently the furthest offshore SC. I have been on the Hyde and the water was very blue and the viz was excellent that day.