North Carolina versus Virginia Beach

[Mrs.Prages]

Hi there,

My husband and I are new to diving and are planning to make our first after certification dive. We got PADI OW certs in the Carribean and we were hooked. We are looking at diving for the 4th of July and would like to know if anyone has any preferences between Virginia Beach diving and Wilmington NC diving. These are the 2 choices that we have for now. If anyone has any other not so expensive ideas for East Coasterly diving we would love the input.

 

[chrpai]

That depends, do you like:

a) cold, green water with 20' viz

or

b) warm, blue water with 80' viz

 

[Mrs.Prages]

We are kind of wimpy yet!

 

[O-ring]

I dive a lot in both and I agree with chrpai. Neither is as easy as anything you will find in the Caribbean, but VA Beach is nastier than NC.

What type of diving do you like so far? Wrecks, reefs, little fish and coral dwellers, big fish??

 

[Mrs.Prages]

From the little bit of diving I have done, it seems that the reefs just fascinate me. I love the sounds and sights and all the little things that you could so easily miss.

The BIG fish make me just a little nervous, but I'm working on it. I have booked with aquatic safaris in Wilmington NC, but if anyone has a better place in NC I would love to know about it.

I have spent my whole life waiting to get certified and now that I am I just want to do it all the time and get better at it.

 

[O-ring]

You will have fun. I was out with Aquatic Safaris last year and they are a good bunch of guys. Get ready for a possibly bumpy boat ride though. Where are you guys going? Do you know which sites yet?

Not much chance of you seeing a lot of little reefy type things up here, but hopefully you will enjoy the diving off our coast as much as you do the Caribbean. Personally, I get bored to tears in the Caribbean and can't wait to get back to the good ole' Graveyard of the Atlantic!

 

[chrpai]

I have to admit that although I've done some midatlantic wreck diving off of Deleware I've never made it down to NC. But from what I gather you'll find *relatively* warm water that offshore can get up into the 80s in the late summer/fall. The currents are ripping (well that warm water has to come from somewhere) and it keeps the viz nice and clean. But you'll have to be comfortable with your skills, streamlined and relatively healthy to be ok. Its also my understanding that you'll see alot more big predator type fishes rather then the pretty little reef fishies. Oh and the life is usually hanging out on some wreck.

Am I close? I really need to make a trip out there this year. Unfortunatly I have a little baby and only enough money/free time to keep going to the quarry.

 

[O-ring]

Water can get up to the 80s, viz can be 100'+, sometimes problematic currents. The big stuff and the wrecks are definitely the big draws to NC... Think massive barracuda everywhere, sharks, rays, turtles...ok, I have to stop...I am pissing myself off again (gotten blown out of Hatteras, NC twice already this season).

Anyway, yeah, the diving is absolutely amazing. The other points are pretty much spot on too...we have batted these around on this board before.

1) Most stuff is deep (relatively) in that anything offshore is going to be around 100'+.

2) The boat rides are long - offshore around 2 hours or so.

3) The conditions can be rough - big seas, bucking ladders, 4-5 hours roundtrip on a boat makes some people throw the hell up.

But come on, this is what diving is all about!

The only major drag is that because the conditions are sketchy you end up getting blown out a lot .

 

[chrpai]

Bring on the waves. I've done 3 trips on BlackBeards. One of them was in late september. Front after front came in from the west and by the time we set sail ( well motor really ) we were getting about 8 knots across the gulf stream in 8-10' chop. Sideways rain all the way to bimini.

I didn't throw up that night. But the next day we were at a GPS known as "park it" .. lee ward side of Gun Cay I think. The breakers from the west were so stronger they were washing over the cay. Well we sat there long enough for my meds to wear off. I was down below in the main salon when the capt decided to make a break for Alice Town.

Between sitting down there, just eating, the deisel fumes from the engines and the chop of open water I broke rule #1.

No not that rule #1......

I chucked below deck.

Ugh it was like dominos.

 

[Mrs.Prages]

I really appreciate all of the information. I was feeling a little better about the trip, until the last little bits of information.

The hubby and I are in relatively good shape, and we have paid the extra cash to have a personal dive leader so that we can work on our skills and still have someone to kind of check us out and make sure we are cool.

Living in WV we don't get to see that much big water so that will be new for us, but we love a challenge and I think we will make it fun. I was a white water raft guide, before I grew up and had to get a real job, so we both like adventure.

Thanks again for the info. This board has been great for that. The technique tips I've picked up, I can't wait to try.

Anxious to try something new in NC.