Diving tours in NC, SC or GA?
- Thread starter Lisa Klink
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
70 mph no stops from Raleigh, NC to about 8 miles from the boat. That 8 miles is 45 mph and only a few lights ..... unless there is a stupid marathon going on which happens from time to time.
Something to keep in mind with NC/SC diving, it's not a sure thing. You really can't "plan a day to dive", you arrange a charter and hope it goes but fact is we have times that charters don't go out for weeks due to bad weather/rough seas.
Our wrecks tend to be a long way off shore, 2 to 3 hour boat rides in 4 to 5 ft seas are not uncommon. Seasickness is common. Don't get me wrong, NC diviing can be wonderful, nothing like having a large sand tiger shark school with you in gin clear water but you have to understand is NC diving is not like diving in Cozumel or other Caribbean areas. Flat seas are the exception rather than the rule and divers are expected to be self sufficient. DMs and hand holding is not what NC diving is about.
Our wrecks tend to be a long way off shore, 2 to 3 hour boat rides in 4 to 5 ft seas are not uncommon. Seasickness is common. Don't get me wrong, NC diviing can be wonderful, nothing like having a large sand tiger shark school with you in gin clear water but you have to understand is NC diving is not like diving in Cozumel or other Caribbean areas. Flat seas are the exception rather than the rule and divers are expected to be self sufficient. DMs and hand holding is not what NC diving is about.
Herman is right on the weather. But, I have been blown out in Key Largo (many times), Greece, West Palm, NC, SC, California (south), California (north). It happens anywhere. Except in West Palm you have BHB and in Key Largo you have Jules so you can still get wet.
- Messages
- 26,281
- Reaction score
- 5,874
- # of dives
- I'm a Fish!
I agree about Charleston - fascinating city. I enjoyed the Ft. Sumter tour far more than I expected. Also there's some excellent, award winning restaurants.
We scheduled a dive with Charleston Scuba but it was canceled due to weather - 1st week of June. The South Carolina Aquarium is there also - worth a stop if you're in the area. They have both exhibits showing local conistions as well as a several story tall coral reef tank. We also spent an afternoon at Patriot's Park - which has an aircraft carrier and several other ships to explore.
A few days later we drove up to Myrtle Beach and dove with Express Watersports out of Murrell's Inlet nearby. They have a larger dive boat and do both nearsore wrecks and if conditions are good go to the clearer, deeper wrecks out in the Gulf Stream - we did both with them. Don't expect great visibiility, the whole area is very sandy and it stays in the water a while if stirred up. One different dive there is the Subway cars - they're old NYC cars dropped to make an artificial reef. There's not a lot of natural reef in the area - just some ledges. Several of the deeper wrecks also attract the Sand Tigers - they're big sharks with a mouthful of teeth but pretty benign. You see them more off NC though. There's almost no diving off Georgia that I'm aware of - we used to summer at two different islands and the only shop on one closed years ago for lack of business.
Myrtle is about 100ish miles from some of the NC towns that offer diving also. Just not something you'd want to drive up for - stay in the area instead.
We liked Broadway at the Beach in North Myrtle - sort of a shops/restaurants/entertainment area. There's also several dinner theaters (and traffic) narby. Its also the mini-golf capital of the US. And a lot of nice beach but no shore diving - too flat and sandy for a long way out. Not that there isn't some but I'm not aware of a single shore dive along either the SC or GA coasts.
While there is some diving along Florida's NE coast - in fact some GA shops dive around Jacksonville weekends, the better diving starts mid/south state around Jupiter Beach and towards Ft. Lauderdale which is a long drive south - its a long state. With limited time, I wouldn't try it, you'll spend too much of your time in the car. Besides the distance - there's often a lot of traffic.
hth,
We scheduled a dive with Charleston Scuba but it was canceled due to weather - 1st week of June. The South Carolina Aquarium is there also - worth a stop if you're in the area. They have both exhibits showing local conistions as well as a several story tall coral reef tank. We also spent an afternoon at Patriot's Park - which has an aircraft carrier and several other ships to explore.
A few days later we drove up to Myrtle Beach and dove with Express Watersports out of Murrell's Inlet nearby. They have a larger dive boat and do both nearsore wrecks and if conditions are good go to the clearer, deeper wrecks out in the Gulf Stream - we did both with them. Don't expect great visibiility, the whole area is very sandy and it stays in the water a while if stirred up. One different dive there is the Subway cars - they're old NYC cars dropped to make an artificial reef. There's not a lot of natural reef in the area - just some ledges. Several of the deeper wrecks also attract the Sand Tigers - they're big sharks with a mouthful of teeth but pretty benign. You see them more off NC though. There's almost no diving off Georgia that I'm aware of - we used to summer at two different islands and the only shop on one closed years ago for lack of business.
Myrtle is about 100ish miles from some of the NC towns that offer diving also. Just not something you'd want to drive up for - stay in the area instead.
We liked Broadway at the Beach in North Myrtle - sort of a shops/restaurants/entertainment area. There's also several dinner theaters (and traffic) narby. Its also the mini-golf capital of the US. And a lot of nice beach but no shore diving - too flat and sandy for a long way out. Not that there isn't some but I'm not aware of a single shore dive along either the SC or GA coasts.
While there is some diving along Florida's NE coast - in fact some GA shops dive around Jacksonville weekends, the better diving starts mid/south state around Jupiter Beach and towards Ft. Lauderdale which is a long drive south - its a long state. With limited time, I wouldn't try it, you'll spend too much of your time in the car. Besides the distance - there's often a lot of traffic.
hth,
sonofzell
Registered
I just chartered with Roanoke Island Outfitters in Matteo, NC this past Tuesday. We dove two offshore wrecks (USCG Jackson & AR145 Advance) and were treated to some abnormally pleasant conditions. The viz was not great (10-25'), but the temps were exceptionally warm (69f @ 77') and both sites were very lively. At the Advance we were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of about 8 sizeable sand tiger sharks - that alone made the trip worthwhile! Our DM and captain both echoed what @herman mentioned above: the conditions have a lot of variability, and can be really hit-or-miss, especially this early in the season.
For what it's worth, ROI was an absolute pleasure to book with! Everyone in the shop is super friendly and helpful, and the captain ("Mark") and DM ("Sara") both went out of their way to make sure everyone aboard had a fun & safe trip. For a very small shop, it's a very professional staff that I'd highly recommend!
For what it's worth, ROI was an absolute pleasure to book with! Everyone in the shop is super friendly and helpful, and the captain ("Mark") and DM ("Sara") both went out of their way to make sure everyone aboard had a fun & safe trip. For a very small shop, it's a very professional staff that I'd highly recommend!
Roanoke Island is awesome. Matt, Pam, and Sara run a nice operation. I'm not from NC, but love to dive there, between OBX and Wilmington, so wanted to do any training there - Sara did my AOW checkout dives, she's rock solid.
If you get a chance dive the U-85 there, still one of my favorite wrecks to dive. Sara pointed out to me the exact spot where the shell that doomed it penetrated. I spend more time now diving for meg teeth further south, but RIO holds a special spot in my heart.
If you get a chance dive the U-85 there, still one of my favorite wrecks to dive. Sara pointed out to me the exact spot where the shell that doomed it penetrated. I spend more time now diving for meg teeth further south, but RIO holds a special spot in my heart.
sonofzell
Registered
The U-85 was one of the potential sites, but I guess the day's conditions took us elsewhere. It's on my wishlist for sure, and I normally get down to OBX every couple of years - I won't come back without booking an RIO dive first lol! We loved listening to Sara "geek out" about the various wrecks... those guys clearly love what they do and it shows!
Similar threads
