Morehead City or Hatteras?

[jl_va_21]

I went ahead a booked a day with Olympus just to be sure I had at least something reserved while I work out the rest of the details. They're the ones that I always hear the most about so I might as well give them a try.

I'm currently thinking that we'll head down a couple days early, I'll dive from Morehead while my family goes to the aquarium or something, then we can go to Hatteras or Atlantic Beach or wherever we decide to spend the "vacation" week.

I may try to book another day later in the week (maybe in Hatteras this time) and that way I'll have a couple shots at getting in some good dives. But we'll see how much time/money I can justify spending on my dives - away from the family vacation.

Also, jscott099... you mentioned the drive from M/C to Hatteras takes a while. How long is normal? Looks like maybe 3 hours, but I see that there are a couple ferries involved - so it seems like it could be unpredictable.

 

[fireflock]

Olympus does a nice job. Almost everyone who dives with them is impressed by the way they run their trips.

The ferry trips do add some time, but a lot of people consider them to be part of the vacation. Bring bread to feed the gulls if you have kids, and enjoy the ride(s). Your trip from Morehead will probably involve a ferry to Ocracoke, a drive across Ocracoke island, and then a shorter ferry to Hatteras. Last time I checked the ferry from Cedar Island to Ocracoke took reservations but the Ocracoke to Hatteras section does not. As a result, you travel time can really vary based on how long the ferry lines are. ncferry.org will have the details you need.

If you're making a vacation out of it, you can spend some time on Ocracoke Island as part of the travel day. The divers tour of the island includes the British Cemetery and the United Methodist Church. They are extra cool if you were lucky enough to dive the Bedforshire or Caribsea soon before visiting.

http://www.nps.gov/archive/caha/oc_walk.htm

If you're traveling north to get home, you can make it out of Hatteras no problem without the ferries and you will pass some of the popular lighthouses along the way.

Enjoy the trip.

 

[jl_va_21]

Fireflock, thanks for the info. That is pretty cool. The downside of going to a place with so many wrecks and not know ahead of time which one you will see is that you don't really get enough time to dig into the storyline. Even before I started diving I was into this type of stuff. I've read a few good books lately on related subjects. Of course Shadow Divers was great from a history and scuba standpoint. I'm just now finishing up Lusitania which has been interesting, but one of my all time favorites is a more techie book called Ship of Gold ... I recommend it! Not much scuba diving but lots of shipwreck history and engineering nerdiness!

 

[fireflock]

No problem. Here is another site, if you want to read up on some of the NC wrecks:
North Carolina Wreckdiving & BFDC home page

To narrow it down some....U-352, Papoose/Hutton, Schurz, Aeolus, Spar, and Indra are all on the regular dive site rotation.

Most of the big dive boats will have a copy of one of the 2 books with a lot of dive site history. Once the target destination is chosen, I like to spend the trip out reading about the site.

 

[jl_va_21]

Thanks - I'll try to read up ahead of time. I'll probably puke if I read while we're on the waves.

 

[packman]

If you get a chance to get a copy, Gary Gentile's Dive Guide Series is a great reference for the history behind the wrecks. He has two books for NC...from Hatteras North and from Hatteras South. If you can get it, you want the Hatteras South version. It covers the wrecks you'd be going after between Hatteras and Morehead City.

 

[jscott099]

You mentioned the Aquarium while diving for your family. It is in Pine Knoll Shores (less than 10 miles from Olympus). It got a complete remake a couple of years ago and is fantastic!! Interestingly enough, they have a huge tank with a mock up of a portion of the U-352 in it. And the tank has sand tigers. It would be pretty cool if you get to dive the sub and your family gets to see the sub and sharks in the Aquarium.

Hatteras to Morehead is much more than 3 hours. Hatteras/Ocracoke ferry is 45 minutes. Ocracoke to Cedar Island is 2.5. The drive from Cedar Island to MC is at least an hour in the summer. Honest advice: give it the whole day. Ocracoke is an enchanting place with beaches you can drive on, fantastic restaurants, museums, a light house, a port area you can walk around in. And that's just Ocracoke.

Warning: in the summer it is strongly recommended you make reservations on the Ocracoke to Cedar Island Ferry. I think they only run 8 per day. If you just show up in the summer time, it is very unlikely you will get on and you could wait around all day and never get a spot. Someone earlier gave the link to the ferry system.

 

[RAD Diver]

Where are you located at in the Mid- Atlantic? I live in Va. Beach & make day trips to Hatteras to dive. Leave at 4am, get to the dock before 7am, fill out paperwork & get on the boat. Go diving & am home by 7pm, & that's stopping in Nags Head for a sit down dinner. I have the wife with me since she dives & she is ready for a good meal & not a drive thru, which would save me 1/2 hour.
This is diving with Outer Banks Diving if I am diving with JT Capt JT's Wreck Diving Site it is a weekend trip.
Morehead City also is great diving, the 1 op I have never used is Olympus, but have never heard a bad word & my deep diving buddy used them & raves about them. So they must be great, I trust his judgement without question.
I am diving in April with Tortuga charters tortugacharters.net Dive Tortuga out of MHC. I like the smaller ops since on the bigger boats they will do a vote on sites to visit & if you are not with the big group you dive where they want to dive.
You will have a blast either way, & a better option might be to head further South to Wilmington to dive with Aquatic Safaries Aquatic Safaris, North Carolina Wreck Diving instead of heading North to Hatteras. The trip would be much less of a hassle, but if you have the time the trip North would be fun.

 

[jl_va_21]

Thanks for the tips... I'm one of the few who at this point kind of likes the big boats (even if they are a bit less personal) since they seem to ride a little heavier through the waves and have a few more creature comforts. I've looked into Outer Banks Diving a lot too. Them and Olympus were the ones that were the best at getting back to me right away with lots of information and suggestions which I really appreciated. I'm sure I'll make it to Hatteras at some point (whether or not on this particular trip) and could well end up being the best, but I've just heard so many people have good things to say about Olympus that is seem like the safest bet, if I can only choose one this time. I'll let you know how it all turns out.

 

[RAD Diver]

No matter where you dive in NC, you will see why it is always 1 of the top rated dive areas in the World by all dive mags.