Where to go for first open water diving?

[Pseudocyber]

Should the planets align, and my wife and I finish our certification - where should we go for our first real diving - in the ocean? We're in North Carolina - I'm thinking Caribean or Bahamas. I'd like to go somewhere nice, memorable, great diving, but not break the bank. Also, good beginner diving - so I guess not deep or difficult.

Thanks everyone.

 

[mikeguerrero]

Well,

I guess the cold water coastal Kelp forest of Monterey California is out....

 

[Sue_W_AZ]

We just got back from Freeport, Bahamas. Got great airfare through USAir (via Charlotte). Stayed at Ocean Reef Yacht Club - $113 a night through hotels.com. Had a kitchenette for eating in, and meals at the on site restaurant were pretty reasonable. Grand Bahama Scuba is right on site so we didn't rent a car.

Freeport has good conditions and good diversity of underwater life. It's not in my top three, but we had some very nice diving and I considered it a really good value. Would definitely go back!

 

[TSandM]

We did some wonderful diving in the British Virgin Islands. A lot of it was fairly shallow (30 - 40 feet) and there was little to no current and excellent visibility. The color and variety of sponges, corals, gorgonians and other invertebrates was fabulous, and there were good numbers of reef fish as well.

I can't recommend a dive op, because we dove off a chartered boat, but I know there are several.

 

[Doc Intrepid]

Should the planets align, and my wife and I finish our certification - where should we go for our first real diving - in the ocean? We're in North Carolina - I'm thinking Caribean or Bahamas. I'd like to go somewhere nice, memorable, great diving, but not break the bank. Also, good beginner diving - so I guess not deep or difficult.

Thanks everyone.

Diving on the wrecks that lie out in the Gulf Stream off the cost of North Carolina must be experienced to be believed. On a good day you will encounter clear warm ocean with tremendous visibility, dropping down an anchor line through clouds of amberjack or grouper, encounters with large seaturtles, rays, sand tiger sharks, lionfish, onto wrecks with tremendous historical significance. You can dive a tanker that was torpedoed during World War II and see the holes blasted in her hull that killed her, and the next day you can dive on the submarine that sank her - which was itself hunted down and killed. Respect the fact that crewmembers from both sides are still aboard some of these vessels. Exiting the wreck you may find yourself face to face with a toothy and alarming (but harmless) sand tiger shark, a creature that may be 8' to 9' long swimming within 5'-6' from you, or you may swim through a cloud of baitfish so dense they obscure the wreck, they part before you like an opening curtain and close behind you like you were never there.

You can find many places in the world to dive that offer warm clear water. You can find many places that offer large critters. And you can find many places that offer real wrecks, sunk in battle or storms, not 'artificial reefs' carefully prepared for divers to examine. But of all the places I've been in the world, North Carolina is one of the very few places that offers all three - warm clear ocean, large amounts of large critters, and truly historical wrecks that you can read about the night before you dive on them.

On a good day, (and some aren't, weather-wise,) the coast of North Carolina (off Morehead City and Beaufort) offers truly world-class diving.

Each of these charter operators has calendars listed on their websites:

Atlantis Charters - Diving and Fishing Adventures in North Carolina

Diver Down Scuba Diving Charters - Captain Bobby Cox

Olympus Dive Center - Maps, Directions, Air travel

Discovery Diving Co., Inc. - North Carolina Wreck Diving in the Graveyard of the Atlantic

For accommodations in the Morehead City/Beaufort area (call ahead for reservations, far in advance. The season gets crowded early.)

Bunkhouse @ Discovery Diving (a less-expensive option) --

414 Orange Street
Beaufort, NC 8516
(252)728-2265

I like this hotel, its diver-friendly --

Best Western Buccaneer Inn
2806 Arendell Street
Morehead City, NC 28557
(252) 726-3115
Best Western International Hotels - HOME

We've also gone in a larger group and rented a house here --

Beaumont Realty address:

325 Front Street
PO Box 659
Beaufort, NC 28516-0659
Phone (252) 728-5462

Re: property located at:

1503 Front St.
Baiteland

(If you're really hearty, there is also a campground - but its somewhat tougher to go this route with multiple days of diving...no where to recharge lights, cameras, etc. )

Best of luck, and before you make plans to jet off to other destination dive spots farther away from home (and more expensive), I recommend you at least consider the truly excellent diving right on your own doorstep.

Regards,

Doc

 

[riguerin]

The FL Keys has lots of nice shallow beginner sites. Not necessarily world class diving, but certainly memorable, non the less. The cost is relatively inexpensive ... you might even be able to drive.

 

[halocline]

Bonaire, Roatan, and Cozumel are all very popular and reasonable destinations for new divers. Of the three, I'd probably recommend starting with Cozumel as long as you go with a dive op that will cater to new divers; there are many that will do this. Cozumel dives tend to be a little deeper than the other two, but there is lots of great diving there at 40-50 feet. There are some more challenging sites with current issues, but the better dive ops at Cozumel are VERY experienced at taking new divers to appropriate spots.

Roatan dives tend to be a little shallower than Coz, and there are far fewer currents to contend with. The only drawback for new divers is that the DM style tends to be a little more "hands off" than in Cozumel. You could easily specify that you wanted more direct supervision and be accommodated by a good dive op.

Bonaire has a reputation as the easiest diving of the three, but typically the shore dives are not guided. I'm sure you could hire a DM, though. I have not been there, but everyone raves about it and it's very commonly recommended as a destination for new divers. (and old ones!)

 

[spacemanspiff1974]

The BVI is nice, but I would suggest Cozumel. Just my opinion...Although you can't go wrong with either.

 

[Jrock1062]

I am a newer diver and my first dives were in Key Largo. I dove the Benwood wreck and French reef they were a great starting point, you will feel very at ease with clear warm water with almost no current

 

[driftwood]

The first places I would visit are your local dive shops. Generally, they will not take people on group trips where the diving is not worth the price and you have a built in support network to help you. Dive shops make their money from training/rentals, gear sales and travel. Good service and repeat business are the keys to their success.

Do NOT go to Bonaire! You will end up comparing every other dive to your dives there! The reefs are in great shape, most of the really neat stuff is above 60', and navigation is simple. The problem is that getting there from NC is a pain. Delta out of Atlanta is expensive, American uses the San Juan hub making it a very long travel day, and the Continental flights from Newark and Houston are both red eyes. Ask the people at Bonaire Talk - The place to discuss everything and anything about Bonaire! for your best options. That being said, Bonaire earns its reputation for world class diving.