NC Newb Diving Info

[Chelloveck]

My wife and I live in Charlotte, NC, but make frequent trips to the Wilmington/Wrightsville Beach area to visit friends and family. As yet, neither of us are certified, but we are looking to begin the process ASAP and are looking foward to diving some of the sites off the coast of NC.

How much diving can be done off the NC coast with OW vs. AOW? Both of us are very aware that we have a lot of learning to be done before we can do anything approaching serious diving and this is a process that we want to take slowly. Are there easy dive locations that can be done with only OW in the Wilmington area? It would be nice to get some diving in during those times that we are there if possible. If the safer bet is to do quarry diving until AOW though, we can certainly accomodate that as well.

Thanks,

- C

 

[Nitrogen Narcosis]

Check out Pat’s Wilmingtondiving.com page. And NCdivers.com.

 

[Tortuga James]

I do a lot of inshore diving on the AR's within a few miles from the beaches off Morehead, albeit from my own boat. From Morehead, Olympus runs trips to the Indra, which is in 60' of water and go for OW. The problem is with visibility conditions, which are usually in the 8'-15' range, and somedays zero, others up to 25'. Once you get a feel for watching the weather, you can predict conditions with a fair degree of certainty.

 

[herman]

Welcome to the board. Doing some easy diving after your cert is a really good idea before heading off to our coast. OW (open water) training is just the start, your taught enough to keep you alive but not much in the way of the finer points of diving. You really don't get enough time to practice what you have learned. Several post training dives in a local quarry with an experienced buddy can be very helpful. If possible, a trip to the Keys would also be a good idea. If you can find an experienced buddy to join you on some quarry dives, they can help you improve your skills drastically and make diving a lot more fun.
Come join us on the NC board. We have an active group of local divers who are diving somewhere most every weekend. Newbies are always welcome to join in the quarry fun. There is a link under my sig.

 

[Tortuga James]

I agree with Herman on that. My stepdaughter got certified OW last summer, and I made the mistake of taking her striaght to the ocean, although we went on the Cape Lookout rock jetty, at depths of only 20', she just had an anxiety attack because she didn't feel comfortable in the ocean and I haven't gotten her back in the water since. All 3 of my biological children jumped in descended and never looked back, but they were water rats since being toddlers. Get comfortable with your gear and the whole process.

By the way, I have been diving NC for 3 years, but I am new to this board. I look forward to getting to know my neighbors, especially the ones from Carteret.

 

[Chelloveck]

Thanks for the welcome and the advice. Having grown up in NC and spending many summers on Wrightsville Beach and two years of college at UNCW, I am very comfortable in the ocean, so I guess that's a plus. Don't want to jump head-long into anything here though, particularly since my wife is a bit more tentative than I when it comes to the ocean. We'll focus on the OW certification and some quarry diving for the time being and if all goes well, we'll look forward to joining some of you on your underwater adventures.

- C

 

[herman]

Both of you come see us on the NC board and join us on some of the quarry or offshore outting.
Love the photo dog, it's been a long time since I have been in that part of the waterway. I spend most of my time down around Southport.

 

[Tortuga James]

Come on Herman, that ain't the waterway, that is the bight at the cape!

 

[herman]

Well, if you want to get picky it's not the ICW.
If it's salt water and behind an island it's waterway to me. The fish biting up there yet? I am getting a fishing pox outbreak with this cool weather.

 

[Tortuga James]

Next month the fishing will be at it's best. We dove the Indra yesterday, vis was about 20' and it was covered up with bait and big jacks and cudas. The report we got was 2-4' of vis, so we were pleasantly surprised.