Moving to Chapel Hill, seeking LDS

[oceancat]

Hi. I am moving from the Boston area to Chapel Hill and will be seeking a new LDS. Any recommendations? I have done a fair amound of deep wreck diving up here (however no deeper than 130' and am not so much into going in them, more about seeing all the critters living in and on them) and am wondering if the diving there is comparable. I have seen posts about how much difficult the diving is, but I assume it's similar to NE in terms of currents, viz etc.? What sort of exposure protection do people use? I dive dry year round--should I keep the drysuit for the winter months? Do most people have their own tanks and bring them on charters or are they provided? Up here, people bring their own tanks on charters. I want to know because I don't know if I want to move all my tanks down--moving company won't move them so I may have a car full of cats and scuba tanks. Should be interesting.

Thanks in advance your help. I am sad to leave the dive community up here, but looking forward to meeting divers down in NC.

 

[BabyDuck]

and we'll be glad to have you!

chapel hill itself doesn't have an lds, but there are several in the area. depending on where you actually end up, you could be quite close to one.

there's water world in durham, down under in cary, gypsy in raleigh...and i'm sure i'm forgetting some.

in summer to late fall, the vis is often spectacular and temps 80s down to 120. of course, nothing is ever guaranteed. not often very current-y as somewhere like the speigel grove is, and can be that lovely gulfstream blue. i guess 'most' dive wet, 3 to 5 mil range, but plenty of drysuits as well, even in summer. boats and dive shops will rent tanks, no prob as long as you want al80s or other common tanks. renting doubles might be tricky. on boats, i'd say most people rent tanks, but many folks on charters are traveling. bringing your own isn't a problem. if you dive 80s, just bring a couple. if you prefer more unusual tanks, bring them.

if you get a chance, check out ncdivers.com - it's a lot of the same people as here, but we all pretty much know each other in real life and dive basically every weekend, year round.

see you soon! are you coming for school?

 

[LindaBluedolphin]

I use Carolina Dive Center and Gypsy Divers both in Raleigh

 

[SelkieDVM]

Moving to Chapel Hill. Hmmm, jealous - I miss my hometown. My brother's a DM with Water World in Durham, check them out.

How do you feel about basketball?

Cheers,
Lilla

 

[fireflock]

A good number of NE divers come down to dive NC and enjoy conditions that are a bit nicer than what they find at home. First of all, you can see Most divers wear a 3mm in the summer, and 7mm or dry in the winter. Bring your tanks; tanks and weights are not included on the majority of charters.

 

[herman]

Welcome to the area. The major shops have been listed. You do need your own tanks, they are not provided by any NC charter. There are several active dive clubs in the area so meeting other divers and diving is not a problem. A bunch of us dive the local quarry all year long and there is at least a few of us there on most any weekend. Not the best dive NC has to offer but it beats being dry.

 

[LindaBluedolphin]

Welcome to the area. The major shops have been listed. You do need your own tanks, they are not provided by any NC charter.

Just to clarify, tanks and weights are not part of the charter cost, but can be rented from the charter.

 

[packman]

If you have your own tanks, bring 'em...especially if you have doubles and/or high volume tanks.

Welcome to the area.

 

[packman]

BTW, when you read about the difficulty level of diving in NC, remember that is being compared to somewhere like the Caribbean. If you've already been diving offshore up north, you won't find this any more difficult.

 

[oceancat]

Hi all! I want to thank you for all of the shop recommendations and being such a welcoming group. I will check them out! I will definitely bring my tanks with me. I don't dive doubles, but I do have a few steel 100's.

We are moving down due to UNC, but I am not a student--my husband got a faculty position there. If anyone knows of any research scientist positions, let me know!

I am actually a Terps fan, having grown up in MD, so I guess I will keep my basketball opinions about UNC and Duke to myself .

Thanks again. I do look forward to diving warmer, clearer water...it was 63F and 10 foot viz yesterday! At least I saw a lobzilla!

Along the same lines, do most people dive charters out of Wilmington or is someplace else closer? Which ones? I will be coming down a few times in the fall and wouldn't mind jumping on a charter.