My company - based out of Beaufort, which is about three hours south of Myrtle Beach, is a commercial dive entity... We change props, zincs, and do more boat cleaning than anything else. We also have "more fun" jobs like working on the Georgia Aquarium, working for three local historical foundations, working with the South Carolina Institute of Anthropology and Archaeology, and doing a lot of work for both the water and phone companies and for the local military bases. We don't work with recreational divers - our company is strictly commercial.
However, since we're all divers, naturally our recreational pasttime is exploring local shipwrecks and history. Consequently, we have worked on the Hunley project, have been on the Discovery Channel for our work regarding the Tybee Bomb, and are currently working on two projects with E. Lee Spence himself, author of many books and the original finder of the Hunley submarine.
...So our shipwreck and "historically significant artifact" knowlege - if you include Lee Spence and Gary Gentile (with whom we have open lines of communication and plans to explore the virgin wreck of the
City of Savannah) is second to none, and exceeds any information otherwise publicly available.
There are wrecks all over the South Carolina coast, which has seen European history since 1520, and Native American history for thousands of years before that. South Carolina is also well known for it's submerged yet exposed layers of the Hawthorne Formation, a fossil bed dating between 2 and 24 million years old. Aside from human activity, bone, skulls and teeth from various animals - the teeth of the shark
C. Megalodon are the most popular and valuable - are findable by the diver willing to put forth the time and effort in high current and low visibility waters. "Meg" teeth can exceed six inches in length (see this thread:
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/underwater-treasures/332987-new-6-92-megalodon-tooth.html ) and be valued from about $40 to many thousands of dollars each. They are rare and sought after... Really, only found in three places in the world - near Peru, South America, at ROV depths in the Pacific Ocean, and between the North/South Carolina border to about Jacksonville, FL on the East Coast of the United States. Check eBay for "Megalodon" for more details.
Regarding shipwrecks (and as commercial divers, our passions run deep regarding shipwrecks), there are more than 2,000 wrecks in or around the Charleston Harbor alone. Long sand bars, shallow, shifting obstructions, hurricane alley, low visibilty waters, and a long maritime history produce conditions which have resulted in more shipwrecks here than anywhere in the United States. Yet, they are rarely dived - inshore waters tend to be an unattractive, low visibility, and many boat rides to access them can be comparatively long, rough, weather-questionable, and expensive. Many local divers simply drive to Florida when they want to dive.
...Which creates a unique opportunity for virgin or near virgin exploration for those divers willing to brave the conditions. In many cases, when we find a new wreck, it'll produce artifacts from multiple eras, perhaps separated by 100 years or more... This is because there are literally wrecks on top of wrecks. The same obstruction or weather phenomena which caused a ship to sink in the early 1700's also may have caused a ship to sink during the Civil War, which was around 1865. You can imagine how difficult it can be to identify two - or even sometimes three - wrecks which have been interlaced for a couple hundred years.
In fact, in some cases the obstruction of the first ship CAUSED the sinking of the second or third ship. More on that another time.
Gary Gentile has put together a fantastic collection of a few, good, diveable wrecks in each State along the East Coast - it's an excellent addition to anyone looking to dive wrecks, both of the "natural" and "artificial" variety. The South Carolina version is called
Shipwrecks of South Carolina and Georgia and is a part of the
Popular Dive Guide Series. With that, there are many choices that will fascinate and entice you to dive South Carolina's wrecks.
The wreck of the
Fred W. Day is one of the more popular wrecks for divers off of Charleston, and dive operators make runs to the
'Day at regular intervals. According to Gary Gentile's
Shipwrecks of South Carolina... book:
"On September 16, 1914, the Fredrick W. Day was nearing the end of a routine passage from New York to Wilmington, North Carolina, when she ran afoul of a storm that struck the entire eastern seaboard. Captain William Oram and his crew of seven were unconcerned - the schooner had endured worse storms in the past. The vessel labored well against the high winds and heavy seas. Her holds were dry - and so was the cargo of cement in bags.
The [four-masted] schooner [172 feet long] was rounding Cape Lookout when an awful thump sounded on the bottom of the hull. It was Captain Oram's opinion that he had struck a sunken wreck. The holds began to leak at once, and suddenly the Fredrick W. Day was in trouble."
She currently sits in about 55 feet of water near Charleston. Not much of her hull is left, but her cargo of cement bags is easily distinguishable, and the local sea life has created a thriving community which is a diver's paradise.
We recommend the
'Day to people visiting our wrecks - the water is comparatively clear, the trip not so abusive or pricey, and the wreck's history fascinating and yes - natural.
Let me know if I can be of further assistance or if you'd like a wreck closer to Myrtle Beach.