Looking for advice from Morehead area divers

[Sinbad the Diver]

Looks like I'll be in Emerald Isle the end of August with the fam. I am pretty sure I can get away for at least 1 trip and hopefully 2. I am taking my deep class this weekend and after this I'll have rougly 20 dives experience. Wrecks are calling me, but I want to do things that are well within my experience level so I can relax and enjoy.

So I'd love to hear recomendations for dives to make and ops to use in that part of the world. Any and all opinions would be greatly appreciated. Don't get many chances to dive away from the quary, want to get the most out of it:D

[fireflock]

Here's the strategy I (and probably others) would recommend.

For your first trip, book a charter to the INDRA, which is a little closer, shallower, and gives a nice introduction to the boat, the lines, and the diving off NC (along with some cool stuff to see). These are usually afternoon charters on weekend days, so you can spend the morning doing something with the family.

Then, book a full day charter and pick some kind of specialty class that you want to do along the way towards AOW (Nitrox is great if you don't have it already). The key here is that you should get to dive with your instructor as a buddy - a real plus for your first offshore dives.

If you have a choice, schedule the dives for early in the week. Then you can reschedule for later in the week if weather cancels the dive trip.

Olympus Dive Center (http://www.olympusdiving.com) (who probably has an ad on the top of this page) and Discovery Diving Co., Inc. - North Carolina Wreck Diving in the Graveyard of the Atlantic (http://www.discoverydiving.com) are the two major dive ops in the region. They both do a nice job, IMO, and it's easy to find good reviews about both.

Have a great trip-

Rich

[RAD Diver]

That is excellent advice Rich.
We did our 1st NC dives on the Indra & did our Nitrox dives on her as well, back when you needed to do dives for that cert.
We used Discovery, & never regretted it.

[Sinbad the Diver]

Great advice, thanks.

I just finished my SDI deep, computer, night and nav classes over the last couple weeks and I fully agree with the concept of taking advantage of classes to dive with instructors. I'm trying to get Nitrox in before I go but the next time my LDS has a Nitrox class is the morning after I arrive in the OBX. I've gotta see if I can find someone else with a more compatible schedule.

Thanks again and happy diving.

[JayJudge]

You also could try Atlantic Beach and Morehead City , North Carolina Wreck Diving and Dive Charters to the NC Shipwrecks (http://www.atlanticbeachdiving.com/) Captain Al can run the Nitrox course, no problem. We try mainly to go offshore, though, to the 100 fsw range (better vis). What part of NOVA? I am over by Hagerstown, MD, always looking for dive buddies.
-J

[Sinbad the Diver]

I'm in Vienna JayJudge. I don't get lots of opportunities because of work and kids but if we can make schedules work I'd be glad to dive with you.

[GrlEEEgrl]

I dove the Indra with about 20 dives under my belt and it was a perfect first wreck dive for my experience level (also my first boat and ocean dive). Perfect place to get yourself comfortable. We also did the wreck specialty while we were out on her - perfect training ground - just remember that the penetration on this wreck is hardly a "real penetration". Great for practice, but more of a swim through than a penetration. I will not feel comfortable in a penetration anymore advanced for quite a while.

[charlie123]

hello Sinbad I live in Morehead City N.C. We try to make a dives a week weather permitting you are more than welcome to dive with us .We usually dive these dive spots Radio Island / AR 315/AR320 / INDRA . Feel free to drop me a email cstyron3@ec.rr.com

[JayJudge]

The great thing about the Indra is the lack of depth, meaning you can stay all day. Do yourself a favor though, get your hands on at least steel 100s. 120s are even better. I sorta remember my first wreck dives- over excited, suckin gas like no tommorrow, and man were they awesome. Now, just be warned the Indra's vis is nowhere near as good as the offshore wrecks.
-J

[Diveral]

Rich and Jay offer sound advice. the Indra is a very good beginners wreck up there.

AL

[coney]

Here's the strategy I (and probably others) would recommend.

For your first trip, book a charter to the INDRA, which is a little closer, shallower, and gives a nice introduction to the boat, the lines, and the diving off NC (along with some cool stuff to see). These are usually afternoon charters on weekend days, so you can spend the morning doing something with the family.

Then, book a full day charter and pick some kind of specialty class that you want to do along the way towards AOW (Nitrox is great if you don't have it already). The key here is that you should get to dive with your instructor as a buddy - a real plus for your first offshore dives.

If you have a choice, schedule the dives for early in the week. Then you can reschedule for later in the week if weather cancels the dive trip.

Olympus Dive Center (http://www.olympusdiving.com) (who probably has an ad on the top of this page) and Discovery Diving Co., Inc. - North Carolina Wreck Diving in the Graveyard of the Atlantic (http://www.discoverydiving.com) are the two major dive ops in the region. They both do a nice job, IMO, and it's easy to find good reviews about both.

Have a great trip-

Rich
let's not forget Diver Down with captain Bobby Cox, just had a great experience diver wwith him for 3 days

[JayJudge]

Glad you had a safe trip with Cox. For some of us it is impossible to forget him.
Not to hijack the thread, but RAD- wanna do some Morehead dives Oct 10-12? Been awhile since we've seen you. Thats also open to anyone else, we are not a shop, just divers mainly from the eastern panhandle of WV that go diving, splitting the cost savings (unlike shops).
-J

[EMT Scuba]

Hi Sinbad,

I too live in Vienna! why can't we have wreck diving with warm water in NC???:confused:

Around this time last year I took the wreck course and the open water dives with Discovery. Great spot to do so, esp as all others have indicated the Indra.

In fact,,,, I'm leaving Fri morning and will do a night dive on the Indra.

As someone else said, the 'penetration' dive is more like just a swimthrough, in fact most of the dives I've done in NC (Morehead, Beaufort, Outbanks) have not been penetratable.

Just came back from St Lawrence (Canada) and there were a few you could go in.


Personally, I prefer Discovery Diving to Olympus. Only because I believe in preservation of shipwrecks not the looting of anything that you can take.

Hope you have a fun time!! Let us know what you did... and what you thought of swimming with the sharks

[Sinbad the Diver]

EMT I'm not sure I get your question about warm water. I'm looking to do a few trips to other quaries in the next month or so, PM me if your interested or are looking for a buddy for a local trip.

Anyway, the bad news is I'm not going to be able to make this trip....unfortunately I had kids before I got into SCUBA and until the little one gets old enough that I can use him as an excuse to dive (but honey I need to spend some quality time with the boy) their schedules end up getting in the way of everything.