Help planning my NC dive trip

[bbarnett51]

I have never experienced NC diving and I am ready to plan a trip. I know very little about the diving there so this is part of my research. It looks like I will plan 3 full days of diving. I am an experienced recreational diver and love wrecks and sharks. I understand sharks are common but if there are better times to see them then I would like to know about it! as far as places to stay, I only care about the diving so cheap is fine. But I do want the best diving so price doesn't matter when it comes to that.

In a nutshell I am looking for recommendations on charters, specific dive sites, and cheap places to stay. I really appreciate any suggestion and hope to put NC on my agenda soon!

 

[dvankirk]

I would start with the shops in Morehead / Beaufort - Discovery, Olympus, or Tortuga. They offer the most wrecks with the highest amount of success. The U352 is one of the more popular wrecks. The Spar always has a lot of sand tigers. They even have bunk houses if you want to stay for less. Nags Head & Hatteras offer dives that sometimes can be a little harder to get to offshore because of weather & currents (U701, U85) - Outer Banks Dive Center, Dive Hatteras, Captain JT. All will provide you with fine diving. Just don't come expecting to be pampered.

 

[yardpro]

ditto..

i live in morehead

i am a few blocs from olympus, and live across the street from tortuga....

olympus and discovery are great. they hae cattle boats as well as 6 packs.
tortuga is a sweet six pack setup and the owner james is a really cool helpful guy. i tend to think he goes to the cooler spots.
discovery is also a first class operation.
there are many other dive boats here... i think at least 7 or 8 others that i can think of.

if you can stay a week you have a better chance of good dives. the weather here is a moody woman.. all smiles and sunshine one minute then a nightmare if offshore the next....

olympus and discovery have hostel type rooms for uber cheap.. places here are really expensive during the summer.

if you come down and do stay a week you can tag along to some jetties or inshore stuff with me if i am running my boat out....but i would not miss a few charter days if the weather is good.

 

[TONY CHANEY]

When are you coming down? We might find several of us here to book the trip and meet each other and have fun.

 

[Nick A]

Discovery Diving has awesome charters, they have a hotel also, Beaufort Harbor Suites, nice place. I really only have experience with Terry (capt. Outrageous V) and Leroy (capt. Captain's Lady). Both stand up operators and the Out V has a great crew, usually steve and dean. Dive sites, there's a lot. The U-352 is a must IMO, awesome dive. The Caribsea is always packed with sand tigers and sand bar sharks, its kind of a gamble, you could have great vis on all the wrecks south of the shoals, but it could be braille diving on the other side of the shoals. The papoose, spar, aeolus all great wrecks for sharks and penetration. Theres A LOT of wrecks with sharks, usually deeper sites and there always a lot of sharks teeth to be had as well. Theres even a big female sand tiger, about 12 or 14', that hangs out on the indra, I see her every so often. Regardless of who ya go with you will not be let down with NC diving.

 

[C P]

Eat at Els Drive Inn, Its next door to the hospital on the way into town. You wait in you car and they come out to you. Great Shrimp burgers

 

[Choda]

There is NOTHING great about OLYMPUS. Dove with them July 2012 and NEVER again.

 

[Nick A]

Eat at Els Drive Inn, Its next door to the hospital on the way into town. You wait in you car and they come out to you. Great Shrimp burgers

El's is top notch

 

[yardpro]

el's is an icon here..... DON"T THROW FRIES OUT FOR THE SEAGULLS.......

choda,
sorry you had a bad experience with olympus. I have had nothing but good at both olympusand discovery.
sure it was not YOU that made the experience a bad one?

 

[herman]

You have gotten great advise above..well most of it. Let me give you some suggestions and tips.
Plan on staying more than a few days. As yardpro stated, it is not uncommon for us to not dive due to water conditions so having just a few must dive days may well end up in no diving at all. Trust me, if our captains don't want to go you for sure don't want to. You also need to book early, it is not uncommon for our weekend charters to fill up months in advance.

You need to understand some about our diving. Too many "experienced" divers come to us with all their expereince in Fla or the Caribbean and expect those conditions and diving style. They often end up with a "bad" experience. Our wrecks tend to be in deeper water and a long way off shore. 100ft + dives, 2 or 3 hrs boat ride off shore in 4 or 5 ft seas are the norm, with rare exception there are no 15 minute rides on glass slick water to a 30 ft wreck. Unlike most places, divers here are pretty much on their own, there is no hand holding, no DMs in the water or tank monkies hauling your gear.

If you are not nitrox certified, get the cert and rent larger tanks. Since our wrecks are deep it's always nice to have the extra gas, you spent a lot and come a long way, get the most bottom time you can. A pony bottle is not a bad idea either. Adding seasick meds to your dive kit is also a good idea. Nothing worse than being a lovely shade of green of a boat for 6 or more hours.

Some safety gear you need to add if you do not already have it. A large SMB with a finger spool or reel. We dive in the open ocean a long way from shore and if you must do a free accent, a not uncommon occurance, you need a way to signal the boat in those 5 ft seas. Understand that if you do come up away from the boat, it can not just come get you. It must wait until the other divers are on board before coming for you. You may be floating for a while and the larger the SMB the easier you are to see.

We have some of the greatest diving in the world but to enjoy it you need to be prepaired. If you expect glass slick water and dive butlers you will be dissapointed but if you come prepaired you will see huge schools of fish, great wrecks and most likely swim very close to large sand tiger sharks.