Hey from VA

[GreggS]

Thanks for this post. I had forgotten about Moorhead City. I was thinking of heading further South, like maybe Charleston, but it might be a good idea to add MC back to my list of possibles. It’s amazing how many likely places I’ve forgotten over the last decade or so since I was diving a lot!

Froggie

I don't think the diving is all that great around Charleston. Once you get below Wilmington, the bottom becomes flatter the further south you go and the shoreline goes west.. There are still a lot of sites off the Myrtle Beach area, but once you get below Pauley's Island, there just aren't many dive sites. The most popular one in the Charleston area is the Cooper River, which is a difficult dive. I actually had a friend a couple of years younger than me to have a heart attack and die while diving it a few years ago. It is black water with very strong currents from what I understand. People find a lot of Megalodon teeth there, but I have no desire whatsoever to dive it.

From the Beaufort/Morehead City area to Wilmington, there are lots of great dive sites. Olympus out of Morehead and Discovery Diving out of Beaufort are both excellent dive ops. There are few dive ops in Wilmington but the only one I've used there is Aquatic Safaris.

Here is a link to Scuba Earth on Dive Buddy. It is centered on Myrtle Beach so shows dive sites from Wilmington to Charleston. You should be able to click on the map to see the dive sites anywhere in the world.

Scuba Earth by DiveBuddy.com | DiveBuddy.com

The Original Scuba Earth by DiveBuddy.com is an interactive scuba diving map of dive sites, dive centers, charter boats, scuba divers, events and dive clubs from all around the world.

www.divebuddy.com

 

[AustinV]

The most popular one in the Charleston area is the Cooper River, which is a difficult dive. I actually had a friend a couple of years younger than me to have a heart attack and die while diving it a few years ago. It is black water with very strong currents from what I understand. People find a lot of Megalodon teeth there, but I have no desire whatsoever to dive it.

A good portion of my diving (more than my wallet likes...) is diving for meg teeth. I haven't done the Cooper River yet, I do my tooth diving off the coast of Wilmington. The dives are shorter as the depth is ~100 FSW but the viz is better and you don't have to worry about the alligators. Long boat rides though, some of the good ledge sites are 35-40 miles offshore. If one was really interested in tooth diving I'd recommend starting there.

 

[ValkyrieDesigns]

A good portion of my diving (more than my wallet likes...) is diving for meg teeth. I haven't done the Cooper River yet, I do my tooth diving off the coast of Wilmington. The dives are shorter as the depth is ~100 FSW but the viz is better and you don't have to worry about the alligators. Long boat rides though, some of the good ledge sites are 35-40 miles offshore. If one was really interested in tooth diving I'd recommend starting there.

I refuse to dive where you can't see well and there are alligators. That's just a nope, even if you can find cool stuff, haha. I get picked on by some of my friends because I'm the first one in for shark dives, have done dives around tigers and bull sharks, even orcas without thinking twice. But alligators? Nope. However, this sounds pretty cool. With the crazy weather and water patterns the beach sand has a totally different landscape than it did 6 months back at the bay down here and lots of folks have been finding them just out on the beaches here. I would do a long boat ride to try and find some Megalodon teeth!

 

[GreggS]

A good portion of my diving (more than my wallet likes...) is diving for meg teeth. I haven't done the Cooper River yet, I do my tooth diving off the coast of Wilmington. The dives are shorter as the depth is ~100 FSW but the viz is better and you don't have to worry about the alligators. Long boat rides though, some of the good ledge sites are 35-40 miles offshore. If one was really interested in tooth diving I'd recommend starting there.

Yeah, my wife and I want to do the meg ledge. Hopefully within the next couple of years we can get out there.

 

[AustinV]

Yeah, my wife and I want to do the meg ledge. Hopefully within the next couple of years we can get out there.

Fair warning - its addictive. Here's a thread from a few years ago that shows what you can expect to find.

Megalodon Tooth Haul

Went out for two days last week diving for teeth, ended up with a decent haul. These teeth were found roughly 40 miles offshore of Wilmington, NC. Haven't been cleaned yet.

scubaboard.com

 

[Green Frog]

I’m just starting to look at the possibilities in and around Charleston. I’ve been on hiatus since before Gwenn and her gang moved down there, but I’m hoping she and I might find something suitable for an old guy like me to do on a day trip from her place at Mount Pleasant.
I’ve seen several listings for dive shops around Charleston, so I’m hoping I can chat with a few folks down there when I visit her next month.

 

[Green Frog]

Although I’m an old Biologist, dark waters and alligators hold no attraction for me, regardless of the size and number of sharks’ teeth. From what I’ve read, I’ll also need to brush up on my skills before I dive Meg Ledge. It’s fairly deep as I understand it(?)

 

[GreggS]

Although I’m an old Biologist, dark waters and alligators hold no attraction for me, regardless of the size and number of sharks’ teeth. From what I’ve read, I’ll also need to brush up on my skills before I dive Meg Ledge. It’s fairly deep as I understand it(?)

I think it's about 100 fsw.

 

[GreggS]

Fair warning - its addictive. Here's a thread from a few years ago that shows what you can expect to find.

Megalodon Tooth Haul

Went out for two days last week diving for teeth, ended up with a decent haul. These teeth were found roughly 40 miles offshore of Wilmington, NC. Haven't been cleaned yet.

scubaboard.com

That wouldn't be much different than any other type of diving I've done.

 

[Rob9876]

Fair warning - its addictive.

Aside from hunting for Meg teeth, how is the diving there? Lots of critters to see, or are the teeth the main attraction?