Shore diving in the Outer Banks

[truckie216]

Greetings

My wife and I recently finished our OW course and will be traveling to the Outer Banks (Kill Devil Hills) in July. I know about the triangle wrecks, which are right next to our beach house, and the huron, but are there any other good diving sites that don't need a boat? The big issue is my wife doesn't like the idea of going offshore right now (which i'm hoping to slow get her through!). Is there anywhere on the sound side that would be good? or even something close to shore. I'm essentally looking for dives under 60', where we don't have to worry about fighting current once we get through the surf! Just looking to gain some experience while on vacation.

Thanks!

Doug

 

[OBXDIVEGUY]

The only other decent shore dive is a couple hundred yards south of the Huron. There is a tug there, but it was covered up a few years ago. It may be back now. Forget diving the sound. It is too shallow and you won't be able to see anything. There's the Oriental (Boiler wreck) south of Oregon Inlet, but it'd be a bit of a swim and there is usually tough currents.

NC is world famous for it's offshore wrecks. When you're both up for the ride, it'll be well worth it!

 

[mow2000]

I would avoid shore diving until you have a bit more experience. More than likely you'll encounter exceptionally poor visibility (down to about a foot), wave action upon entering the water and uncomfortable surge while diving. It's very difficult to maintain contact with a buddy with poor visibility and the surge will mess with your bouancy control. You probably won't get deeper than 10 or 15 feet.

If you were further south I'd recommend the Alexander Ramsey. It's near Wilmington, boat dive, near shore, 50 feet to the bottom but about 20 or 30' to the top of the ship, warmer water than the Nags Head area. This was my first open water dive.

One bit of advice: if there is ANY doubt about the weather then do not do it. It doesn't matter if they'll take you out or not. It doesn't matter if it's an "inshore" wreck or not. Look for light winds and low seas. As a novice diver you really don't want to contend with anything but calm seas - especially if you want your buddy to dive with you again in the future.

 

[mow2000]

I just re-read your post. I've never heard of any diving sound-side. Here again you'll discover very poor visibility, shallow water near the shore and almost nothing to look at on the bottom but muck.

 

[OBXDIVEGUY]

There is some shore diving in the sound. There are some great archeological sites around Roanoke Island, but they're not worth doing unless you're researching them. If you do the shore dives, check out Aqua Adventures Scuba. They can help you out a ton, and they give you a real good history of each of the wrecks.

 

[highlandfarmwv]

Get over the off-shore boogies and go to Hatteras for Gulf Stream diving---warm, clear, tropical fish, etc. As good as it gets!!!

 

[Spearo]

You may be able to find "a good day" in July for that shore dive but you need to learn how to read the surf as it changes from day to day. Low vis. is the norm when you're divin the surf in the Outer Banks but there is a nice little wreck about 8-9 NM called the Advance you may want to check out at the dive shop in Nags Head with lots of metal close to the surface.

 

[rogerdeyoung]

I'm going down to Ocracoke in the am. Any dive charters out of there?

 

[CaptJT]

I'm going down to Ocracoke in the am. Any dive charters out of there?

none just hatteras, have one spot for Sunday and monday if interested.