Diving after a hurricane???

[richtpe]

Me and my buddy had a trip booked out of Morehead City, NC this weekend and were going to dive a bunch of the wrecks. We had scheduled dives Fri, Sat, and Sun and had to pre-pay the whole thing ($315 each). Tropical Storm Ernesto pretty much screwed those grand plans though. Called the dive op and they said they’re canceling Friday and would issue a refund for that day, but they’re planning to go out Saturday and Sunday (depending on conditions). They think it’ll be good diving. Best part is they’re telling me that if they do go out and we’re not there, we’re s-o-l on a refund. Not even a credit for another day (which is kind of ticking me off).

So here’s my question. Does anyone know what conditions (i.e. viz, currents, surface, etc.) usually are a day or two after a (strong) tropical storm has blown through? I’d rather eat the money for the dives (and bad-mouth said dive-op forever) than spend more on the 9+ hour drive each way and hotel, only to have a chance at two days of lousy diving.

 

[MB]

Things that you can probably depend on:
Poor viz
Stirred up sites
Changes to the contour

Things that you might see:
Altered fish behavior
New tears in the hull of a wreck or two
Newly exposed reef or ledges

As for surface conditions, uhhh... my personal preference is to wait a day or two after the storm.

And yes, I think I'd probably already be badmouthing the dive op. (Of course I wouldn't do that on this Board...)

 

[Beau Gust]

I'd be interested in hearing what you decide. We're planning dives on wrecks off the coast of Georgia for Sunday. I'm also wondering what the viz. will be like. Dove there in July on a couple of very calm days, and viz was 15 to 20 feet.

 

[fireflock]

If the boats do go out, you're probably not going to have stellar conditions. It sucks, but that's the way it is.

I have a pretty good guess as to who the operator you're using is, but their refund policy is clear, on thier website, they've always told it to me over the phone each time I've made reservations, and it's pretty standard for most operations in the area.

I don't really care for the policy, so I'm careful about making plans too far in advance when things like this can come up. I understand that divers who travel to NC don't always have that luxury.

In any case - I hope things work out for you. Hurricanes often shift things around so you might have the chance to find something interesting.

Rich

 

[realdiver7]

I have had to wait as long as 1 to 2 weeks for good viz after a tropical storm or hurricane. It's very hard to judge sometimes in NC, but the viz usually improves the farther away from shore you get. There is a lot of muddy runoff from the rain, especially during low tide, combined with the wind and waves stirring up the bottom. The runoff can last for days. I don't dive Morehead City much, but I'd be willing to bet things are stirred up.

By the way, I'm sitting here right now with what feels like a bulls-eye on my front door, just waiting for the eye of Ernesto to arrive in a couple of hours. The wind is loud and the rain is pouring. The neighborhood has been flooded since this afternoon.

Oh well, been through this dozens of times before...

 

[mtg]

haven't ever tried it, but isn't there such a thing as travel insurance? I know my credit card offers as much if I use it to make arrangements, not sure if theres a minimum. East coast, gulf coast end of summer = hurricane season, so... I hope that the rest of your dives get scrubbed, coz i think the vis'll suck. That said though I have dived it before and any dive is better than no dive. Its just frustrating money-wise

 

[richtpe]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. We're definitely going to bail on the trip and dive a local quarry instead (yay). It's not worth the drive out to have a chance at 2 days of bad diving. I personally don't see how the ocean will calm down enough in a day or two to even go out (and if they do go out, I'm not too sure I'd really want to be on the boat).

their refund policy is clear, on thier website, they've always told it to me over the phone each time I've made reservations, and it's pretty standard for most operations in the area...I don't really care for the policy...

Their refund policy is pretty clear and they definitely told me about it. For the curious:

Any cancellations made 30 days prior to the trip departure must be made in WRITING... Confirmed cancellations will receive a refund, less 10% for administrative processing fees. Cancellations made 29 days or less from the departure date are not eligible for a refund and there is no refund for no-show divers.

I can agree with this policy in general. If I oversleep and miss the boat, I lose my money. If I can't get away from work at the last minute and miss the trip, I lose my money. No problem. If making the trip involves my driving into an area under hurricane watch, maybe cut me some slack. I'd like a full refund for the whole trip. I want a refund for the day(s) they don't go out and a credit for the days they do go out. I think that's good business sense for them too. I'm definitely going to dive out there, and that'd bring me back to do business with them. Anyway, sorry for the rant...I'm just pissed.

haven't ever tried it, but isn't there such a thing as travel insurance? I know my credit card offers as much if I use it to make arrangements

I hadn't thought of that. I'll have to look into it depending on how the weekend turns out. Thanks for the suggestion.

By the way, I'm sitting here right now with what feels like a bulls-eye on my front door, just waiting for the eye of Ernesto to arrive in a couple of hours. The wind is loud and the rain is pouring. The neighborhood has been flooded since this afternoon.

Hope you and everyone else over there makes it through Ernesto all right. Looks right now that he's bearing down hard on Wilmington. Hope you don't lose power or have any serious damage.

 

[fireflock]

I can't blame you for not wanting to spend more good money traveling for some dives you are not looking forward to. For what it's worth, here is the marine forecast for the area. Topside seas calm down pretty quickly and from this, it looks like no problem getting out on the boat this weekend. Conditions at depth are still a crapshoot.

http://www.wunderground.com/MAR/AM/158.html

There is plenty of stuff to do in the area (including a newly remodeled aquarium with a U-352 replica) if you do decide to make the trip.

Rich

 

[dkktsunami]

I'd be interested in hearing what you decide. We're planning dives on wrecks off the coast of Georgia for Sunday. I'm also wondering what the viz. will be like. Dove there in July on a couple of very calm days, and viz was 15 to 20 feet.

I'm will be on that boat so I hope conditions are favorable. See you soon.

 

[dkktsunami]

Seas are already down to 2' - 3' but there is no way to predict viz.