NC vs SC

[BettyRubble]

How much different is the vis and water temp between say Moorehead, NC and the Hilton Head, SC area?

Thinking of driving down sometime in the next 4 weeks.

 

[fireflock]

Worlds of difference.

Morehead City is probably the most popular dive destination in NC or SC. Hilton Head is not a popular destination for scuba divers.

Morehead has the right combination of WWII shipwrecks and warm gulf stream water. It's an accident of geography most other places can't match.

Search "Morehead City dive trip report' and 'Hilton Head dive trip report' in Google, and see what you find.

 

[all4scuba05]

Well in NC the water temp at depth was between 71* and 73*. Vis was less than 25. This was last week. The crew said it was an "abnormal" week.

 

[fireflock]

Yeah, things have been mucked up. They were starting to get better and now Bill comes storming up the coast. Some people love it because the swells can shift sand around and uncover new things, but it can also kill the visibility.

Such is life in the open ocean.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

Morehead City NC hands down, even on a bad day.

 

[Walter]

How much different is the vis and water temp between say Moorehead, NC and the Hilton Head, SC area?

There's not much difference in visibility and water temperatures. I did enjoy the dives more off NC, but that was primarily because of all the Sand Tigers. I wasn't quite as happy about the Bulls, but they were behaving as well.

 

[diversteve]

There's no decent diving off Hilton Head. It's too shallow, flat and sandy so not much to see. The only diveop closed up some years ago if that tells you anything. You have to drive to Savannah to get on a boat.

 

[BettyRubble]

Looks like Moorehead is the clear winner. Thanks everyone! I get my AOW in a couple of weeks and then I'll head down and see what havic I can wreak.

 

[herman]

Betty, if I remember correctly you are a fairly new diver. I highly suggest you consider some of the inshore wrecks before heading off shore. The offshore wrecks are a long way off shore, in deep water and sea conditions are often rough. A 2 or 3 hr boat ride in 6 ft seas to a wreck in 115 ft of water is not uncommon. There are some nice closer in wrecks in the Morehead area that would be a much better choice for your first few NC dives. A few Caribbean or Fla dive boats do not prepair you for a NC offshore dive.

 

[Walter]

Excellent point.