Did anyone dive NC this weekend?

[BabyDuck]

nags head is a long ways from wilmington. on hwy 17 to 64...about 5 or 6 hours. there might be a quicker way, but i can't think of one & don't feel like googlemapping. for staying at kittyhawk, though, obx would likely be the best choice - just don't try to rent anything other than an al80. i think it's something like obxdive.com. for the family vaca thing, if you're not going to nags head then (which is a nice family spot to me), other reasonable choices would be morehead/beaufort/emerald isle and wilmington. if you need more info, ask away!!

 

[flounderer]

Good dive conditions this weekend.

Saturday wound up being like a pond and Sunday was a little bumpier but divable.

Saturday I made it out to one of the twin wrecks which is about 45 miles south of Wilmington and 8 miles east of the Tower. All I can say is I have a new favorite wreck. It is in 115 ft of water and the structure rises into 85ft. The wreck was covered in baitfish and sand tigers. There are immense swim-throughs around the stern of the wreck all the way up to mid ship. I was in awe at how cool the wreck was. Because of the location the vis a little hazy but it was still 40-50ft. The wreck lies in very fine silty sand. I was able to do some good exploration of the wreck and found an old silver plated fork. There is definitely a lot more to see so I'll hopefully get out there a lot more. I've got some pics on my picture page but they are a little silted out.

Sunday at the Dredge and Stone the water is still green with about 20-25ft of vis. There are a lot of baitfish around which bring in some nice big amberjacks and mackerel.

Pat

 

[coop1]

Saturday we dove the U-352 and the Spar. The ride out wasn't too bad with a hardy group of self proclaimed "yankees" aboard. When I hit the water to tie in, I usually start to see the sub at about 35 feet. Things were dirty until I hit 75' then it was like falling out of a cloud. The viz jumped to about 60' and the water actually warmed up about 2 degs. It was just the first 70' or so the were dirty. The Spar was about the same way with heavy particulates in the water to about 50' then viz improved to about 50'. After tieing in, I had the wreck to myself for a few minutes, three really large sand tigers on the bottom, lots of baitfish and amberjacks and..... a 7' bull shark... giving me the evil eye. So I decided to explore the inside of the wreck as I watched him swim off toward the Aeolus. Always neat to see them but they put me on
edge. The Spar is really starting to look like a veteran wreck even after being down only 14 months. Water temps were 75 and 76 respectively at depth.

Sunday- the group wanted to go east to see lots of sharks. With a NE wind at about 15kts, that wasn't happening. The further out of the lee of Cape Lookout shoals we got, the rougher it got. After a quick discussion with the group leaders, we elected to dive the Suloid and the Indra. Viz was about 25' on both with a touch of current. Not too bad though. Lots of flounder on the reef next to the Indra and some nice grouper on the Suloid. Water temps were 75deg on the bottom.

 

[PAdiver93]

nags head is a long ways from wilmington. on hwy 17 to 64...about 5 or 6 hours. there might be a quicker way, but i can't think of one & don't feel like googlemapping. for staying at kittyhawk, though, obx would likely be the best choice - just don't try to rent anything other than an al80. i think it's something like obxdive.com. for the family vaca thing, if you're not going to nags head then (which is a nice family spot to me), other reasonable choices would be morehead/beaufort/emerald isle and wilmington. if you need more info, ask away!!

Hwy 17? Is that the one in the middle of the swamp with gators all around? (it was either 13 or 17 - I was on it like 9(?) yrs ago...

 

[cornfed]

Hwy 17? Is that the one in the middle of the swamp with gators all around?

17 runs right through the great dismal swamp.

http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=36.477067,-76.348114&spn=0.177288,0.303326&hl=en