This is my first post on Scubaboard and I think I will cross post since I am a little giddy. I'll leave my story as short as possible. First off I am a newbie with 8 dives under my belt in Jamaica in April of this year where I got my Open Water cert at a resort. Great place to get certified under 85 degree water temp and 80 foot visibility. The sea was pretty but there *no* creatures and even very few fish. We only saw a lot of fish when the Divemaster took some bread down with us during one of the dives.
I was talking to my brother-in-law who lives in North Carolina and he said they had a place for us to stay with them at Atlantic Beach when we visited them on 4th of July wekend. Just for a yuck I said "Is there any diving there???". He said there were a lot of signs around but he didn't know. I did a search on the Internet and little did I know that the Beaufort/Morehead City on the NC coast was some of the best wreck diving in the US. I made reservations with Discovery Diving for 2 dives and the lady on the phone said these are *advanced* dives and do I feel comfortable with dives to 100+ feet. I said "Sure".
We headed out on the boat to go to the Atlas and the Caribsea wrecks. At over 2 hrs the ride was a killer. I felt sick the whole trip going out there. A tropical storm had just rolled through and the seas were rough. I was hanging on for dear life. We get suited for the first dive down to the Atlas and supposedly sharks are common around these wrecks. I get in the water try to go down the line and I struggle because I didn't have enough weight on. (I forgot and rented a 7mil shorty and in Jamaica I was using a 3mil). I finally get about 30 feet down and look
over and see a huge barracuda right next to me. A few more feet down a look to my left and 5 sharks are swimming together. Wooohooo. After messing with my weights this dive was only a little over 30 minutes. My breathing probably wasn't the best also. ;-)))
The second dive to the Caribsea was even better. Proper weight. I got down to about 40 feet and looked over and a shark swam by that must have been 6 feet. Granted these are Sand Tiger Sharks (gentle sharks) but still.... I saw some great Parrotfish on this dive also.
We headed back to shore and I threw up 2x on the way back. I didn't think the dives were particularly tough but the rough seas and trying to get of the water when the dive is complete when the boat is pitching so strong. You have to time your exit perfect or you will get whipped. Another thing about NC (this year anyway according to other divers on the trip) the water was pretty chilly for July. I talked to some of the other divers that were at 110 feet and the temp was 67 degrees. The max vis at about 80 feet down where I was was about 40 feet. No Jamaica vis but still great.
What an eye opening experience. I live in Central IL and I now am *spoiled* by going to Jamaica and NC for my first 2 dive sites.
Go wreck diving in NC if you have a chance. AWESOME
I was talking to my brother-in-law who lives in North Carolina and he said they had a place for us to stay with them at Atlantic Beach when we visited them on 4th of July wekend. Just for a yuck I said "Is there any diving there???". He said there were a lot of signs around but he didn't know. I did a search on the Internet and little did I know that the Beaufort/Morehead City on the NC coast was some of the best wreck diving in the US. I made reservations with Discovery Diving for 2 dives and the lady on the phone said these are *advanced* dives and do I feel comfortable with dives to 100+ feet. I said "Sure".
We headed out on the boat to go to the Atlas and the Caribsea wrecks. At over 2 hrs the ride was a killer. I felt sick the whole trip going out there. A tropical storm had just rolled through and the seas were rough. I was hanging on for dear life. We get suited for the first dive down to the Atlas and supposedly sharks are common around these wrecks. I get in the water try to go down the line and I struggle because I didn't have enough weight on. (I forgot and rented a 7mil shorty and in Jamaica I was using a 3mil). I finally get about 30 feet down and look
over and see a huge barracuda right next to me. A few more feet down a look to my left and 5 sharks are swimming together. Wooohooo. After messing with my weights this dive was only a little over 30 minutes. My breathing probably wasn't the best also. ;-)))
The second dive to the Caribsea was even better. Proper weight. I got down to about 40 feet and looked over and a shark swam by that must have been 6 feet. Granted these are Sand Tiger Sharks (gentle sharks) but still.... I saw some great Parrotfish on this dive also.
We headed back to shore and I threw up 2x on the way back. I didn't think the dives were particularly tough but the rough seas and trying to get of the water when the dive is complete when the boat is pitching so strong. You have to time your exit perfect or you will get whipped. Another thing about NC (this year anyway according to other divers on the trip) the water was pretty chilly for July. I talked to some of the other divers that were at 110 feet and the temp was 67 degrees. The max vis at about 80 feet down where I was was about 40 feet. No Jamaica vis but still great.
What an eye opening experience. I live in Central IL and I now am *spoiled* by going to Jamaica and NC for my first 2 dive sites.
Go wreck diving in NC if you have a chance. AWESOME
