North Carolina Shark Tooth Fossil Diving

[rawls]

SPEARIT is correct in his description of what things are like with regard to NC wreck diving...or megladon hunting trips. He is also correct about run times. You are expected to stay within the dive time limits the captain sets. It, conditions permitting, gives everyone a two tank dive. It is also Atlantic "Ocean" diving and you are expected to have the experience necessary to do these types of dives which can be very challenging at times, especially when there is a substantial current and if there is a big swell which makes getting back on the boat very challenging. With the wrecks you may also have a significant surge if you are diving around the wrecks which can bang you up pretty badly if you are not careful. Visibility is and issue too. The sand is very light and suspends very easily, and can get you lost. On a wreck a compass will quite possibly be useless, so reference point navigation is a must....But....As Spart stated, there are days when you can stick your face in the water at the surface and see the wreck...or divers...100 feet down on the offshore dives.
As far as the sharks teeth excursions, I tried to get out in May but the conditions were bad...as has been alot of days this Summer...Which has hit boat captains pretty hard. As Spart also stated...It is what puts food on the table for them. They do the absolute best they can to get you out on a dive and should be commended for their efforts and not chastized.

 

[bgi]

Sure, he puts you on the fossils. Sure, the surge can bang you up. Any ocean diver should know that. "They do the absolute best they can to get you out on a dive and should be commended for their efforts and not chastised." Doing their absolute best at getting divers on the fossils is just part of the job. Being safe should be even more important.

As an instructor, you should be among the last to discourage people from speaking up about unsafe operators. If you were on the boat with us 2 yrs ago, you would agree that he was being unnecessarily unsafe. If you're implying that I/we were in over our heads on that trip, that may have been true for one or two divers. But we all easily agreed that Tom was a pretty sorry excuse for a dive boat captain that weekend. And we all agreed that we would chose a different operator in the future: perhaps someone smart enough to rig a tag line on the boat when there's a current...

 

[rawls]

bgi...

Apologies for that comment. I could have conveyed my point without it. I do agree a float line is a nice thing to have with current but a diver should also be in a position to get back to a boat without one. I have been on several dives, on 6-packs especially, that did not have a float line deployed. One thing someone absolutely needs to be on an ocean dive is a strong swimmer. If one is not then they don't need to be out there in the first place. Not to say a line is not a good convenience. But...I obviously wasn't on the dive and make no assumptions whatsoever that you or anyone on that dive were not up to it. Again I do apologize for that comment.

 

[bgi]

Hi, Rawls,
Thanks for your comments and apology. I do agree that you should be ready and be a strong swimmer on an ocean dive. However, stuff happens and people get caught up in changing conditions, bad decisions, etc. If someone gets injured or has a problem, a tag line will make things a lot easier to organize assistance.

In retrospect, if Tom hadn't been such a jerk, we probably would have been less concerned about the safety issues. It's a shame that we had a bad captain. But we did have a good weekend. I came home with about 40 teeth and a lot of whale ear and rib bones.

cheers

 

[chadd7881]

What does this have to do with North Carolina Shark Tooth Fossil Diving? if you have a problem with someone take it to the whine and cheese section seriously i thought i was gonna get information about fossil diving and i get to read about one person who wasn't happy with his experience while 100 others love the place...i dont care take that to the right section... so as the first statement ask

Has anyone gone out off NC for Megs? My friend and I want to plan a trip out there... thanks.

 

[down007diver]

I went out with Cape Fear Dive Center out of Carolina Beach last year and their boat is amazing. I don't think Aquatic Safaris is running Meg trips this year. I would give Cape Fear a go.

 

[fireflock]

I went out with Cape Fear Dive Center out of Carolina Beach last year and their boat is amazing. I don't think Aquatic Safaris is running Meg trips this year. I would give Cape Fear a go.

I'm curious. Where did you hear this?

NC ledges have some serious teeth that will give other tooth diving regions a run for their money. I'm not big on teeth myself, but it's fun to think about the sharks those teeth used to belong to.

 

[diveonthefive]

Aquatic Safaris is running Meg trips this year. If you check their website for charters, the ones listed as "Fossil Ledge" are the tooth trips. I have a group trip scheduled for May 16. We are driving down in the morning since it is a relative short drive from Beaufort, NC.

Looking for teeth out of Wilmington gives you more visibility than the Cooper, but both are fun dives. Ocean diving lets you dive with a buddy if that is what you want to do, but diving the Cooper is basically solo diving. When you dive on the ledges, you will need a reel so you can find your way back to the anchor. Moving away from the anchor, the ledge has no descerning features so it will all look alike.

 

[iztok]

BTW another little piece of information about charter Captains, when someone is too interested in exact locations, we tend to vary courses and speeds. Amazing how much it will throw a "Dead Reckoning" plot off by just changing course by 5deg for 5 min.

This is an exercise in futility as far as I am concerned. It takes me less then a minute to figure out exactly where we are no matter how often you change the course and speed.

Not that I care to share the info but I like to log every location in my log book properly.

 

[SparticleBrane]

This is an exercise in futility as far as I am concerned. It takes me less then a minute to figure out exactly where we are no matter how often you change the course and speed.

Not that I care to share the info but I like to log every location in my log book properly.

I am under the impression that GPS systems aren't allowed on trips like this.