OK, here's my two cents...I'm a Pacific Ocean diver who had the chance to jump into the Atlantic for the first time this summer. I dove two areas in North Carolina-Nags Head and Atlantic Beach.
Hags Head: (U-85,etc.) Dove with Outer Banks, good if you like not being "baby-sat" I enjoyed the freedom of diving how I wanted. Rustic but fun, they even roast weenies with saukraut (in honor of Oberleutnant Greger) between dives. I dove here with a Viking drysuit with sweatpants and long sleeve shirt, we hit thermoclines of 52F so I was toasty. Water very green. Seas around 3 ft.
Atlantic Beach: Dove in early July (over the 4th) with Diver Down, Capt. Bobby, through Fisherman's Inn. This was the highlight of my trip. Capt. Bob and crew were very efficient at getting our boat situated and underway each morning. Every dive was great, clear warm blue water (I changed over to a 5mm wetsuit) great wrecks, including U-352 and a "new" cutter. Once again, this was not babysit diving, we had the freedom to do our own profiles and it was great. I was alone and was paired up with someone I didn't know, but every diver on the boat was a good diver (with a last day show-up from California exception) and had no problems. Sometimes it was even the "same ocean" type buddy, but I'm cool with that since I solo dive often. Anyway, hope this helps with your decision making about diving NC-I'm going back!
Poogweese
Wrangell, Alaska
