Advice for week-long dive trip to the Carolinas

[sffrenchman]

Hi everyone:

I started looking into organizing a week long dive trip to the Carolinas for my dive club. I have never been there and would appreciate help with selecting an operator.
We would want to dive 5 days in a row, at least 2 dives a day and possibly more. Availability of Nitrox would be a great thing to have. Affordable accommodations close by the harbor would be also a nice thing to have. We are experienced divers, some of us with technical training.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Christophe

[gconner]

Lots of options and depending on what part of the Carolinas you looking at you may have better options than other areas.

Morehead City, NC is a great location and put you right in the middle of some serious wreck diving. I've dove with several of the operators in the area and prefer Olympus Dive Center. Morehead City has been rated one of the top 10 dive locations in the world by Scuba Diving Magazine for the last 10 years running because of the wrecks and big animals (sharks). Other options are Cape Hatteras for some great diving in slightly cooler water than you'll find to the south and Wilmington has some great diving as well.

Further south in South Carolina you can stay in Myrtle Beach and dive out of Murrels Inlet with Scuba Express. Great group of people with some really good dive sites. Plus the Myrtle Beach area has lots of places to stay, places to eat, and things to do when you are not diving.

Hope this helps get you starred and good luck.

[rlynch]

you could do 2 days in morehead, then up to cape hatteras for 2 days - and get 1 day of shore diving or just a transit day. or 4 days off of either would work as well.
Olympus Dive Center (http://www.olympusdiving.com/) morehead and Capt JT's Wreck Diving Site - Diving Hatteras NC and Virginia Beach VA (http://capt-jt.com/) in hatteras

JT's boat has a diver elevator as well.

[katepnatl]

Depending on how large your group is, you may want to look into some of the operators that run the 6-packs in Morehead City - you will have more control over where you go, your profiles, etc. Tortuga Charters is one I've gone out with several times that has always been very accommodating.

Due to the depth of the majority of the offshore wrecks, most of the shops bank 30% (and the independent operators that don't make their own usually have agreements with a supplier) so Nitrox shouldn't be a problem. If the tech divers in your group want to deco on richer mixes, they should definitely make arrangements ahead of time.

I love NC wreck diving... but a few things to be aware of (in MHC anyway). Be prepared for long boat rides, 2-3 hours to the offshore wrecks. Understand that it's not unheard of to get blown out even in the summer- backup plans are your friend. Finally, some people are surprised by the currents and wave action in NC. I cut my teeth in NC so I don't find this troublesome, but I've heard people complain. The flip side is - SHARKS, wwII-era wrecks, more sharks, more wrecks - I don't know, just plain ole' great diving!

[sffrenchman]

Thanks all for the advice. We will be a small group so a six pack would work for us. We dive in northern California so we are used to cold, surgy conditions.

[Tortuga James]

Kate is spot on (and always a pleasure to have aboard) about the long boat rides and blowout days. On the days we run, it is a full day experience with time to do little else ashore but rinse gear and get dinner. So on the days we are stuck in port (and it will happen) are the days to explore all the cool landlubber stuff the Crystal Coast has to offer.

She is also right on the money when she tells you the diving is "World Class". BIG animals in warm clear water. Check out my season recap for some great reports, pictures and videos. 2011 Season Recap!! | tortugacharters.net (http://tortugacharters.net/content/?p=1574)

[herbdb]

Try to schedule some three tank trips to maximize your diving. We used Discovery Diving Co.- NC's Diving Headquarters - Discovery Diving Co. (http://www.discoverydiving.com/) last summer. They have very affordable dorm type accomodations.

This is some outstanding diving. You will love it.

[Afishianado]

Did you get out to NC yet? what did you end up doing?

~Chris

[sffrenchman]

Did you get out to NC yet? what did you end up doing?

~Chris

Not yet.....Thinking about 2013

[robint]

Olumpus Diving has a bunkhouse for divers, also. $30 per diver per night if you are booked with them. It is walking distance to dive shop and boats, restaurants, etc. Olympus also does Tech charters. My husband and I dove with them a couple of years ago for 2 days and really liked the setup. WE are considering going back this summer and inviting all his tech diving buddies as the diving there is perfect for them.
As was mentioned, 30% nitrox is the norm, you have to request any other mix and pay extra. They also have all types of tanks and have doubles bands if you want to do that.
Olympus Dive Center (http://www.olympusdiving.com)