Diving in Myrtle Beach?

[beachlawyer]

I am looking into Express Scuba and visiting the Goldfinch site? Anyone have any experience with that site? I just did 10 dives over 2 weekends with Aquatic Safaris in Wrightsville Beach, and the diving was incredible....I am just going to be in Myrtle Beach with friends, and wanted to see if I could get at least one day of diving in during the trip.

 

[wvjohn]

never been to goldfinch site, but been out several times with Express and they're good.

 

[Rand]

I am looking into Express Scuba and visiting the Goldfinch site? Anyone have any experience with that site? I just did 10 dives over 2 weekends with Aquatic Safaris in Wrightsville Beach, and the diving was incredible....I am just going to be in Myrtle Beach with friends, and wanted to see if I could get at least one day of diving in during the trip.

I dived Goldfinch with Express Watersports on 08/01/08. It was an interesting site, however the visibility was only about 5 feet. The ship is upside down and resting on its starboard rail which makes some interesting areas to swim under. On the port side there are a few holes cut in it to look into or penetrate with proper training.

There is also a large barge about 35-40 feet next to the main wreck. A rope is tied off near where they tie up the mooring line that leads you to the barge and back. There was a pretty good, but manageable current over top of the barge. I'd recommend using a reel if exploring it due to the current and poor viz. A good primary light would be good for looking under the main wreck.

Temperature was 73 at 65 feet.

The crew said a hurricane earlier in the season stirred everything up and the viz has been poor all summer. I also dived the Bill Perry and 11 Mile/Tugboat sites with similar conditions.

Also, take Dramaine or keep your stomach full. I did 3 dive trips with them that week and with 3-4 foot swells, about 3 or 4 people each trip yacked after the boat stopped moving forward.

 

[NCInstructor]

I have been diving off the MB coast for a while and found that Larry at Nu Horizons Dive Shop is a load of information and diving expertise. Give him a call. He has never disappointed me.

 

[scubapolly]

Haven't dove the goldfinch, but have been out with Express. They are a good op.

 

[samcoult]

I just got home from Myrtle Beach today after spending 3 days there and checked out the 3 scuba shops there The guys at Coastal Scuba and Nu Horizons were very friendly and took time to answer most of my questions. I must admit that Nu Horizons owner Larry was there on Saturday and spent about an hour talking with me and explaing how the gear works and all about the open water class they offer. Even after I told him I was from out of town and was looking to learn scuba and said good stuff about the two shops in my town. Costal scuba also took time to talk but I never got any of he two guys names but they were cool and explained a lot. I also went to Express Scuba he guy behind the counter stayed on the computer the whole time and finally asked if I needed help but never left from behind the counter. he did have a nice golden retriever behind the counter though. Other than that I will not be planning on going back to that shop once I get my c card for any dives. Just got a bad vibe in there. But the other two shops seemed ok. If this helps any?

 

[carolinasdiver]

Glad to see Myrtle Beach diving is getting some exposure. I am a divemaster/instructor and worked for Coastal Scuba in N myrtle for 3 years. I no longer work for them as I am now a firefighter/paramedic in ky with 3 kids to provide for, however, I can probably help with some questions anyone has of diving in the area. Certainly wish i could still be working there full time but doesnt quite pay the bills.

 

[c. carcharias]

My girlfriend is in training in SC. She will have a four day break (late feb) before going to Virginia. We both freedive and she is comfortable at 70'. My questions are
1 What are freedive friendly charters in the area?
2 Must dive sites in the area.
3 Shore dives?
4) 3mm ok?

She is also an advid shark diver as well so that would be a plus too.

 

[diversteve]

A couple of things to know:

Some of the charters don't run in the winter at all. The only one of the three mentioned above that I know does is Express Watersports. The water will be in the low 60's, and weather is always a factor.

Most (all?) of the diving is off boats. Mostly man-made objects except for the Ledges. What makes Myrtle Beach such a good beach makes for lousy shore diving, it's very flat with a sand bottom for a long way out. So just about every dive is a long boat ride.

We dove the Perry Wreck, your g/f could probably snorkel it. The bottom under the boat was just about 60'. Vis was really bad though. Another shallower wreck is the Tugboat/Airplane, they're at 40'. At both sites, it was just them surrounded by flat sand farther than we could see. So be aware that you're not going to see a lot of stuff. Also they spearfish the wrecks since the fish congregate there.

Express has divesite listings/depths on their site here. Notice that on their map, every site is some distance offshore.

We looked for shorediving in the area but weren't able to find any sites. Talking to Express, they told us about a possible site on a breakwater of some sort but it would've been a long trek from the road with gear. Might be more doable snorkeling.

Since your g/f likes Sharks, maybe drive to NC and do the wrecks. Sand Tigers live there. I don't know if they run in the winter either as I understand that some of them are long rough trips even in summer.

 

[c. carcharias]

Thank you you for the advice it has helped alot