New to NC diving

[netwayne]

I am fairly new to diving in NC and so far it's been limited to some quarries. Is there diving off the coast that doesn't require long boat rides to have some nice dives? I was pretty spoiled with relatively short boat rides down in South Florida. This question is prompted by my lack of a sea stomach so I guess part II of my question would be......are there mid summer days off the coast of NC where you can have a less bumpy ride?

Thanks!

 

[Big John]

Occasionally off the NC coast you get the rare confluence of events which bring about perfect weather for a dive trip. Most of the time however people are booking 3 days with the hope the weather will be good enough for the boat to go out twice. While flat seas are are a dreamed of occurrence they do happen every once in a while. The good news is there are several inshore dives off the coast that don't require the 1-2 hour boat ride to reach. Many of the dive ops will run an afternoon charter to the inshore wrecks. If you ask at your LDS there are a few shore dives (Radio Island, etc) you can hit to avoid the boat ride entirely, but these can be hit or miss. You will probably want to go with someone who knows these dives your first couple of times. Good luck and welcome to NC Diving.

 

[netwayne]

Hey, thanks for the feedback. I'll look at some of those "inshore" locations first. Can you still get some decent marine life on those locations as well? Eventually, I'd like to see some of those sand tigers that are always talked about.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Inshore waters off NC are much more likley to be colder (60's rather than 70's) with less viz and less tropical fish. In short, they are more likely to suck in comparision to the world class wrecks that can be found further off shore where on a good day you'll have 70 something water and 100' viz with lots of tropical fish and sand tigers.

I have seen a couple days with millpond conditions and I have puked my guts out in 8' seas where getting back aboard with doubles takes a decent degree of timing.

I have developed a preference for Triptone as opposed to Bonine and I prefer to charter with Bobby Cox on the Diver Down over most other NC boats. Bobby does a good job of selecting wrecks that have high probabilities of good viz in a direction that give a decent ride in the particular wind and swell conditions that day. In my experience a ride farther offshore into the swells is a whole lot more enjoyable than a short ride to an inshore wreck with the swells coming from port or starboard with much more rolling as a result.

 

[jamiep3]

The good news is, once you are in the water, your stomach will usually feel better. It is very hitor miss, but the Pappose (Hutton), Spar, U-352, and manyy others are worth a little discomfort.

 

[netwayne]

Inshore waters off NC are much more likley to be colder (60's rather than 70's) with less viz and less tropical fish. In short, they are more likely to suck in comparision to the world class wrecks that can be found further off shore where on a good day you'll have 70 something water and 100' viz with lots of tropical fish and sand tigers.

I have seen a couple days with millpond conditions and I have puked my guts out in 8' seas where getting back aboard with doubles takes a decent degree of timing.

I have developed a preference for Triptone as opposed to Bonine and I prefer to charter with Bobby Cox on the Diver Down over most other NC boats. Bobby does a good job of selecting wrecks that have high probabilities of good viz in a direction that give a decent ride in the particular wind and swell conditions that day. In my experience a ride farther offshore into the swells is a whole lot more enjoyable than a short ride to an inshore wreck with the swells coming from port or starboard with much more rolling as a result.

DA,

Thanks for the good info. Makes sense that the better stuff and viz is off shore. I'll keep the dive op in mind when planning a trip so thanks for that. Yeah, I haven't found the right combination yet for dealing with the stomach issues. Dramamine and Bonine haven't really helped that much. Last time out on a boat I used the Scopolamine patch put on the night before diving and it did help but not totally cure it. Still puked but much less severe. Seas were only maybe 2-4. I will probably try the triptone as well. I did hear of one other med (made in England or Canada I think) that is not FDA approved but have heard good things about. Can't think of the name off hand.

Don't want to turn this in a seasickness thread as I have already posted about those issues.

Thanks again for the NC offshore specific info.

 

[diveonthefive]

If you are looking for a group to go with, Gypsy in Raleigh usually runs a trip to the coast once a month during the season.

 

[netwayne]

If you are looking for a group to go with, Gypsy in Raleigh usually runs a trip to the coast once a month during the season.

Good to know. Thanks Man!

 

[netwayne]

The good news is, once you are in the water, your stomach will usually feel better. It is very hitor miss, but the Pappose (Hutton), Spar, U-352, and manyy others are worth a little discomfort.

Oh yeah, very aware of that benefit. Problem is you have to surface eventually. I've yet to find that boat captain who will drop me some spare bottles and drag my butt back to the dock at depth.

 

[SPEARIT]

Scopolamaine is available in pill form(prescription) that seem to work very well.