North Carolina Diving

[PoloGreen94]

Planning on taking my first trip to North Carolina in a few weeks.

I'm planning to do a quick one day, two dive, charter. I'm hoping to get to two of the wrecks assuming we have good weather.

Requesting any feedback regarding a few items:

1. I've heard horror stories about the boat ride out. I don't know if these are exaggerations or legitimate. I've ridden on boats in 5-6 foot seas heading out to dive sites and wasn't phased at all. Should I anticipate 10 foot seas or something? Or should I be fine?

2. Are the wrecks difficult to dive, such as the Papoose, U-352, etc...? I'm an Advanced Open Water diver with nearly 50 dives logged, including dives on the Spiegel Grove and Duane. I'm not looking to penetrate, just do a simple dive to look around at the wreck and hopefully see some sharks.

Thanks in advance.

 

[tomfcrist]

It's not the size of the waves...it's the wave period that makes things sporty. That being said, 5ft seas is the upper limit for many operators in NC.

As far as the dives themselves, they can be very unpredictable in terms of vis and current. The vis and current can change dramatically in a relatively short time, and generally range from 0 to 1.5kts. Anything over 2kts is generally a no go...the captain will likely find another wreck to dive.
The U boat is cool the first few times you dive it, but generally boring after that. Papoose is very cool but deep unless you want to stay up on the relief with the Sharks. Honestly all the wrecks out there are pretty cool and fun to dive. Even the damn Indra can be a phenomenal dive at times.

 

[3D diver]

Vaguely related question: are the charters requiring any additional training/certifications these days?

I dove there years ago, right after being certified, and had friends show me the ropes. Generally took a Dramamine and slept through the boat ride out. The only real issue I ever had was clearing my ears---the wrecks are deep & balky ears can slow your descent a lot.

The boat rides were usually fine, but once I was on a boat that had the engine conk out---water in the diesel fuel---just as a squall hit & we had to be towed back in by the Coast Guard in pretty high seas. That was quite a ride!

It occurs to me, I might not be allowed on a charter today if they are requiring wreck, deep, or technical certifications.

 

[tomfcrist]

Most require an advanced cert for anything offshore. OW divers are limited to inshore. If you are going on a tech trip, they will likely require a card that says you are certified to at least the depth of the dive...ie: deco procedures <150, extended range<180, trimix <200 etc.

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

One day could be a hit and miss. I was scheduled to dive on Aug 1 and Aug 2 and we got blown out on the first day. Next day was awesome.

 

[stuartv]

In the last 3 weeks, I've been out with Discovery Diving 2 days and Olympus Diving 3 days. One day, one dive got blown out, so 9 dives. I had a couple of repeats, so I think I hit 7 different wrecks, including the U-352, the Spar, and the Aeolus, so several dives well past 100'.

I presented my OW (not AOW - didn't have the Advanced card in hand yet, the first weekend I went) card and my Nitrox card at both places and was not asked for anything more.

It did seem to be the case that 5' seas or so was about the limit. That's what we dived in several dives and I was told that if it were any rougher we would not have been allowed in.

The worst part of the boat rides, on 2 of the 3 boats I went on, was the diesel fumes. One day, the fumes from the generator made me sick during the SI. The fumes made several other people sick, too. That was on the Outrageous V, from Discovery, and the Midnight Express, from Olympus. I only went out on the Olympus (the boat) one day, so maybe I was just lucky that day, but I didn't catch any diesel fumes on that boat.

 

[Randy g]

NC is always a crap shoot. Hatteras is about 50% success booking to dives (6 yrs running) and MHC is a little better percentage because the inlet is much easier to navigate. The wrecks you are wanting to do are both awesome. The subs are all a one shot dive for me. The Papoose kicks some seriously fun butt. We scooter dive it and I really enjoy it because of its size and structure. I've seen sea horses on the hull and killed lionfish by the dozens. Its a great wreck.

This time of year the Sandies are gathering and birthing on some of the wrecks.

Diving NC= Have your act togather and know how to shoot a bag and deal with current. The 2-3 hr boat rides are the norm, get used to it and take your meds. Nautilus life lines (radios) are used by a lot of us. Better safe than sorry, we've never had to use it but it's a big, big ocean 20 miles offshore and have seen enough accidents to gear up for the unexpected.

 

[jmb122mp]

I just had my first NC diving experience last weekend. My dive experience/history sounds similar but different to yours. I'm Advanced and Nitrox certified and did my 54th-57th ocean dives with Olympus Dive Center. Prior to last weekend I had been to 99 ft and had done a couple of wreck dives. There were rumors that they may want/check dive logs. I showed my cert cards and was good to go.

What others have said above jive with my experience. We were on the Midnight Express and did the following dives

Saturday Dive 1 : U-352
-- good visibility. I dove to 104 ft. Great 1st experience with the U-352. Easy to see the wreck and navigate.
Saturday Dive 2 : W.E. Hutton
-- bad visibility... maybe 15 ft tops. One diver described it as a glorified quarry dive and this was accurate. See "hit or miss" comments above. This was a miss... it happens.
-- difficult to navigate due to the visibility so we kept the wreck line within site or didn't stray to far from it.
-- my max depth in the 60's
Sunday Dive 1 : Caribsea
-- decent visibility. Easily 20-30 sand tiger sharks. Great dive.
-- my max depth about 86 ft
Sunday Dive 2 : Indra
-- decent visibility. Very easy/enjoyable dive.
-- max depth in the 60's but I could have gone deeper.
-- easy wreck to navigate

Things I'll remember for next year when I definitely go back :
-- I've never gotten sea sick before this trip. I did this trip. As said above, it's not the size of the swells but the period as well as getting into an area where you can smell the diesel fumes. I was fine Day 1 first dive. Started to get uncomfortable between dives and after Day 1 dive 2 I got too much diesel fumes and that was it. Day 2 prior to dive 1 I was uncomfortable. Seas were calm after the Day 2 dive 1 and I was fine. Dramamine will be on my pack list next year.
-- Have a buddy plan for low viz navigation and have a plan in case you get separated.

Cheers,

Jim

 

[stuartv]

I just had my first NC diving experience last weekend. My dive experience/history sounds similar but different to yours. I'm Advanced and Nitrox certified and did my 54th-57th ocean dives with Olympus Dive Center. Prior to last weekend I had been to 99 ft and had done a couple of wreck dives. There were rumors that they may want/check dive logs. I showed my cert cards and was good to go.

What others have said above jive with my experience. We were on the Midnight Express and did the following dives

Saturday Dive 1 : U-352
-- good visibility. I dove to 104 ft. Great 1st experience with the U-352. Easy to see the wreck and navigate.
Saturday Dive 2 : W.E. Hutton
-- bad visibility... maybe 15 ft tops. One diver described it as a glorified quarry dive and this was accurate. See "hit or miss" comments above. This was a miss... it happens.
-- difficult to navigate due to the visibility so we kept the wreck line within site or didn't stray to far from it.
-- my max depth in the 60's
Sunday Dive 1 : Caribsea
-- decent visibility. Easily 20-30 sand tiger sharks. Great dive.
-- my max depth about 86 ft
Sunday Dive 2 : Indra
-- decent visibility. Very easy/enjoyable dive.
-- max depth in the 60's but I could have gone deeper.
-- easy wreck to navigate

Things I'll remember for next year when I definitely go back :
-- I've never gotten sea sick before this trip. I did this trip. As said above, it's not the size of the swells but the period as well as getting into an area where you can smell the diesel fumes. I was fine Day 1 first dive. Started to get uncomfortable between dives and after Day 1 dive 2 I got too much diesel fumes and that was it. Day 2 prior to dive 1 I was uncomfortable. Seas were calm after the Day 2 dive 1 and I was fine. Dramamine will be on my pack list next year.
-- Have a buddy plan for low viz navigation and have a plan in case you get separated.

Cheers,

Jim

Hey! We were on the boat together (both days)! I was with Terry's group (from Columbia Scuba).

 

[fuggler]

When I dove with Discovery Diving out of Beaufort in April, we got on a smaller boat and 2 out of 5 of us threw up. 5 ft seas, I think... Definitely take Dramamine to be safe and try not to eat a huge breakfast before going out. That shop did not require an AOW. We dove the Caribsea which had a TON of tiger sharks around it.