Hey from VA

[ValkyrieDesigns]

So, I did not intend that title to rhyme, but now I'm going to own it. New to the forum living in southeastern VA. My Mom is a Master Diver and was a successful artist painting underwater. That was until my sister and I came around and put a damper on her travels to remote parts of the world. I grew up with her paintings and stories, so I've been diving the better part of my life. While I'm not a talented painter, I do enjoy photography and other mediums. Recently, I started volunteering doing search and rescue dives for lost boaters/swimmers/etc and have been pursuing more advanced/tec certifications whereas I was pretty much just diving recreationally/for fun before that. We are heading to Zihuatanejo, Mexico later this month. Despite almost 20 years of diving under my belt, my Mom and I have spent a lot of time snorkeling together, but have never been diving together, so I am super excited for this trip. After spending my whole life frustrated with the fit and style of women's performance swimwear and wetsuits, I started my own line last year. That's been a crazy adventure in and of itself. I would also love recommendations for local-ish (MD/VA/NC/SC) dive spots. I've heard that allegedly there are some wrecks with interesting reef life and areas that actually have good visibility, but this is one area I haven't been diving in despite living down here.

 

[Rob9876]

I would also love recommendations for local-ish (MD/VA/NC/SC) dive spots. I've heard that allegedly there are some wrecks with interesting reef life and areas that actually have good visibility, but this is one area I haven't been diving in despite living down here.

Welcome to the forums! I had a weekend trip to Myrtle Beach over Labor Day Weekend one year (water was still quite warm). We got blown out one day, but the other we had a fun double-dip on a tugboat. Viz was not great, but there was a decent bit of critters to see.

 

[icechip]

Welcome to SB! Dive safe.

 

[Librarybarry]

Welcome to Scubaboard! You have quite an interesting dive life.
NC has lots of wrecks both inshore and off. Inshore visibility is often not great—I’ve dived the same tug @Rob9876 speaks of, and while not horrible, viz is in no way Caribbean-like. Further out (from what I hear—I haven’t ventured too far off shore) the viz is considerably better the closer you get to the Gulf Stream. Some charters who run out to those wrecks are Safari Aquatics, Instigator Fishing and Diving, Discovery Diving, and Coastal Scuba. There are other services as well, but that’s a start. YouTube is flush with videos of these wrecks, pull up one of the websites and find wrecks that seem interesting to you regarding history, depth, trpe, etc, and then search for some videos to get a general sense. Some of the deeper wrecks get sharply, which a lot of folks seem to like.

 

[Billg68bg]

Hi and welcome.

 

[ValkyrieDesigns]

Thanks guys! I have definitely been interested in the wrecks further offshore, but not knowing anyone personally that's been out diving there it's hard to say if it's really worth it, or I should just put those funds into another trip somewhere I know will be nice.

I will say, I did dive the ghost ships and last year and that was pretty interesting.

 

[RyanT]

Virginia is going to be pretty cold and (usually) dark/lower viz. If you don't mind it, there is good ocean diving in the Mid-Atlantic. Morehead City, in NC offers some great wrecks with substantially warmer water and better viz.

 

[GreggS]

Hello. Welcome to the board.

A whole lot of the NC wrecks will depend on the tides. I have found that if you can catch the tide flowing in the better the visibility, especially on the inshore dives. I have dived the tug mentioned earlier twice. The first time we had great visibility of about 50 feet vertical and 35 feet horizontal. The second time? About 10 feet down to the top deck of the tug and maybe 2 feet when we went below that. The deference was an incoming tide on the first as opposed to an outgoing tide on the second.

but once you get out beyond 10 miles or so, it isn't affected as much by tide. My wife and I dove the Hyde out of Wilmington a couple of years ago. The ship sits in 80 fsw. At the surface, I could put my face in the water and see the sand at the bottom. Horizontal viz was probably 75 feet. But then I 've dived it before when the viz was about 40 feet, but still a great dive. So it is possible to get nice warm water with good viz on the NC coast.

Have fun.

 

[EdC]

As RyanT mentioned the Morehead City/Beaufort NC area has dive trips out to the off shore wrecks. I have been in July and August when viz is said to be the best and was not disappointed. Dives were 95-120ish, warm, and vizability was at least Caribbeanish. Many of the wrecks are shark hangouts and to this day they rank with some of my best dive days ever.

The drawbacks are long boat rides and decent chances of getting blown out but if you get good days it is awesome.

 

[AustinV]

Morehead City is amazing diving. There are some good spots in the Wilmington area as well. Welcome to SB!