Diving in the Wilmington Area.

[a4lod]

I will be visiting North Carolina this July. After learning about the great diving NC offers, I will definately be bringing my gear. I will be staying in the Wilmington area and was wondering if anyone could offer any suggestions or advice as to which dive charter to deal with? I understand Aquatic Safaris and Bottom Time both offer charters. Anybody have any preference over these two shops? Also, what dive sites are recemmended. I am an intermediate diver (Advanced and DIRF certification with about 75 dives logged) soon to be certified in Nitrox. Suggestions? Thanks.

 

[herman]

There are a lot of wrecks to dive off our coast, choose the ones that meet your interest. If you intend to dive the weekends, you need to go ahead and book NOW. Our charters fill up fairly quickly. You may be able to find weekday charters at short notice however. It's not uncommon for us to get blown out about 1/2 of the time and 4-5 ft seas are common so be prepaired for the possibility of a rough ride. If you have never gotten back on a boat in 5ft seas, it can be quite an experience. Travel times of 2 to 3 hours to the dive sites are common. Seasickness is also common and unless you are totally sure you will not get sick, taking meds is a good idea. As a first dive, the liberty ship off Wrightsville beach is a good choice, it's only 3 miles off shore in 50 ft of water. Here is a link that you may find useful. http://www.nc-wreckdiving.com/

 

[jdh]

I will be visiting North Carolina this July. After learning about the great diving NC offers, I will definately be bringing my gear. I will be staying in the Wilmington area and was wondering if anyone could offer any suggestions or advice as to which dive charter to deal with? I understand Aquatic Safaris and Bottom Time both offer charters. Anybody have any preference over these two shops? Also, what dive sites are recemmended. I am an intermediate diver (Advanced and DIRF certification with about 75 dives logged) soon to be certified in Nitrox. Suggestions? Thanks.

I'd go with Aquatic Safaris. Unless things have changed recently, Bottom Time doesn't really have charters out of the Wilmington area. You should call them to make sure.
I'd also suggest doing the nitrox thing before you go.
Weekend charters fill up fast, you should reserve a spot now if you haven't already.

Contrary to Herman's suggestion, I'd say the Liberty Ship isn't a good first dive.... it's a good last resort dive.

John

 

[fireflock]

I would suggest Aquatic Safaris as well. They run a professional operation and visit some great sites. You would probably enjoy a trip to the Hyde and/or Markham.

In addition to all of the things Herman mentioned about NC diving (long rides / rough seas) you should also keep in mind that Aquatic Safaris runs Island Hoppers, which IMO are not as comfortable for longer trips as the Crew Boats in Morehead City. If the boat is full then at least some of the group will have to sit in the sun and spray. If you get sick, there is really no out of the way place to go lay down. Right now they have a 30' boat, and they have a larger boat (around 40') coming soon.

At the same time, the Aquatic Safari boats can run fast when the weather is good and the wide beam makes for a stable dive platform.

 

[herman]

John, I agree that it's not the best dive to be had BUT looking at his diving experience (and doing some guess work I admit) he most likely has no ocean boat diving experience..at least not in our average sea conditions, so a short boat ride to a shallow dive would be good experience. Learning you get bad seasick 30 miles at sea is never a fun thing. Add in 4 to 5 ft seas for a fun Carolina ladder ride for good measure and it can turn a new diver off NC diving real quick.

 

[flounderer]

The Hyde and Markham are some of the better dive sites. They're about 18 mile offshore (hour and a half ride) and the sand tiger and sandbar sharks have moved in. It is a dive that many novice divers do, both wrecks are easy to navigate, has vis of at least 30 ft usually better, and most of the dive can be done around 65-75ft, the sand is at 85. The vis on the lib ship has went way down recently but it is a short ride. There is also a resident sand tiger on the lib ship, which in 10 feet of vis can be a fun thing to see.

 

[jdh]

The Hyde and Markham are some of the better dive sites. They're about 18 mile offshore (hour and a half ride) and the sand tiger and sandbar sharks have moved in. It is a dive that many novice divers do, both wrecks are easy to navigate, has vis of at least 30 ft usually better, and most of the dive can be done around 65-75ft, the sand is at 85. The vis on the lib ship has went way down recently but it is a short ride. There is also a resident sand tiger on the lib ship, which in 10 feet of vis can be a fun thing to see.

I was on the Lib Ship Saturday the 22nd and saw at least three distinct Sand Tigers then. Vis was maybe 15'. I also saw a 24-26" flounder laying off the port side near the bow. The largest of the sand tigers (~5ft, female, chewed up dorsal fin) had just swam by there so I left the flounder.

John

 

[hogfish]

Spearit Charters is another small six pack boat that runs out of Carolina Beach in Wilmington. I don't know what he has available for those dates but his website is
www.spearitcharters.com and it has his phone numbers on the site.