Help me plan my 1st NC trip!

[fuggler]

Hi all. I'm spending my birthday weekend along the coast of North Carolina in mid-April. I've never been there and I'm hoping to get some tips. I'm a northern california diver so I'm used to "hit or miss" conditions and bad visibility. I've also been around the Philippines, Indonesia, and Galapagos, so I've got some experience with deep diving and currents. Love, love, love wrecks. I just got a drysuit but I'll only have 2 weekends to test it in the ocean, so I'll probably dive with my 7mm. My questions:

1. What are the top 3 wrecks/sites to dive along the coast? (The sites that locals brag about)
2. Which area should have better conditions in mid-April? I understand weather is unpredictable, but where should I take my chances?
3. If I only have 2 days to dive, should I focus on one area (like stay in Morehead City or somewhere in the Outer Banks) or should I split up those days?

I look forward to your input so I can start working on my itinerary.

Thank you all,
Elaine

 

[drrich2]

Did you see my old thread getting help planning for a Morehead trip?

Here's a partial copy & paste from an old post by Tortuga James:

“Too many variables to predict on any given future day (and that goes for next week as well as next year).

But here are some common patterns.

March.... forget about it. Windiest month of the year.

April... Starting to get nice but water is still in the high 60's. Cold fronts still dominate the weather patterns. Usually one every 7-10 days. As the front approaches the wind howls SW for 24-36 hours the as it crosses the wind goes NW then NE for another 24-36 hours. Following the NE blow the wind shifts south and we have some nice days before the next one.

May- Cold fronts are coming with less frequency, but the same pattern exists but with longer stretches of warm nice days. Water temps are in the low 70's.

June- Great month. Water has now reached mid 70's, days are long and the sun is bright. The cold fronts stop coming by the end of the month. Many long stretches of nice weather.

The original post covered the year, but if you're going to be in NC in mid-April, I figure that info. should be relevant.

Be mindful there's no advance guarantee you'll get to hit any specific wreck. What advantage were you considering might come from splitting up the 2 days?

Richard.

 

[herman]

I think I would stick to one location but if you are considering 2, I would suggest Morehead City and Wilmington (rather than the outer banks). I personally like the Wilmington area better for plan "B" if diving does not work out. I you have historical interest in ships, the battleship North Carolina is in Wilmington, if you can't dive a ship that day, you can still tour one.

 

[fuggler]

Thanks, Richard. I did read your old post which gave me some ideas for topside activities. I understand there are no guarantees for specific wrecks, but I wasn't sure how different the conditions would be in the Outer Banks and Morehead, that's why I asked if I should split up my days.

 

[drrich2]

I'm accustomed to reading people speak of diving either offshore or inshore wrecks, or basing themselves out of some of the cities - Hatteras, Morehead City & Wilmington, for example. The Outer Banks are that string of islands off shore. When you speak of considering focusing on the Outer Banks instead of Morehead City, is there a dive boat op. there that you think will give you a shorter trip to the wrecks?

Just curious as to your reasoning.

From what I read different dive boat op.s have different tolerances for going out in 'sporty' conditions. You're only going to have 2 dive days, in a time of year that's not optimal. How 'sporty' are you willing to tolerate? If you're game for rough conditions, finding out who's more willing to go out when it's rough might narrow things down a little.

Richard.

 

[fuggler]

When you speak of considering focusing on the Outer Banks instead of Morehead City, is there a dive boat op. there that you think will give you a shorter trip to the wrecks?

Just curious as to your reasoning.

From what I read different dive boat op.s have different tolerances for going out in 'sporty' conditions. You're only going to have 2 dive days, in a time of year that's not optimal. How 'sporty' are you willing to tolerate? If you're game for rough conditions, finding out who's more willing to go out when it's rough might narrow things down a little.

Richard.

Good point about sporty conditions. I will call up the dive shops tomorrow. I'm asking if we should focus on one area because Morehead City (where the two shops I'm considering, Discovery and Olympus are) is about 3 hours away from Nags Head (where OBX dive center is). I'm wondering if it's too ambitious to go to both in the 4.5 days we have. We're flying in and out of Raleigh which I'm factoring in the driving part, of course. After making a list of topside stuff I want to check out (Jockey’s ridge state park, Cape Hatteras and its lighthouse, Bodie Island lighthouse, and maybe Pea Island wildlife refuge), it sounds like I should stay somewhere closer. However, if that weekend isn't even diveable, I'm ok with also spending a night somewhere in Beaufort or Morehead City. The Maritime museum definitely interests me, as well as Fort Macon. The Battleship might be too far out of the way.

 

[Akyla]

Fuggler

You need to take a closer look at the map to figure out the topography. Though it looks close, the areas are separated by large coastal sounds with no direct road connections between them. Morehead is about five hours or more to drive from there to outer banks, Nags Head and Hatteras. Even if you take the cedar island ferry to Ocrakoke and then across to Hatteras island it still takes that much travel time (fun trip though). For a short duration trip you need to pick one or the other.

April has not yet started the tourist season on the outer banks and your opportunity for any mid week diving is not that good. Outer Banks diving in Nags Head has closed so your northern banks dive operator choice is Matt at Roanoke island outfitters going out of Oregon inlet. Further south in Hatteras it is myself or JT on under pressure. I do not plan on running until May, just due to scheduling issues. You would have to contact Jt to see if his boat will even be in Hatteras that early.

The land sites you mentioned as wanting to visit will be there with no crowds to contend with and it will be a nice trip down the banks, but the chances of diving not that great. I suggest if diving is the point of your trip, then go to Morehead or south where there are more operators.

The diving from Hatteras is worth the effort of getting here as we have the best the East Coast has to offer (but I might be a bit biased). Im sorry that my boat won't be ready to take you out in April this year.

 

[yardpro]

James (tortuga) is running a sweet deal mid April. he has a great operation... nice 6 pack....very accommodating....

weather has recently been crappy... so that may be the only issue.

 

[tomfcrist]

Outer Banks diving in Nags Head has closed so your northern banks dive operator choice is Matt at Roanoke island outfitters going out of Oregon inlet. Further south in Hatteras it is myself or JT on under pressure.

Will Matts boat meet the draft requirements for Oregon inlet? I heard they shut the inlet down for any vessel that drafts more than 2'.

 

[Akyla]

No Tom he probably draws more than 2. But that's all temporary bs anyway. The local guys have been going 6 or 8 piers down from the official channel pass for months. It's 20 plus deep there but you have to watch the overhead clearance. The CG is just doing what they have to to get the inlet dredged so boats go under the bridge where the piers are fender protected. Two dredges are on the way as I write this to clear it out again. Matt won't have any more than the normal issues navigating OI in season. Hatteras will be possible as well with just a longer run to wind out to the actual inlet.

Sequester took almost all the funding for shallow draft inlet maintenance so we are fighting a battle to get any clearance dredging. Even moving of the buoys when channel shifts doesn't happen like it used to.

Now we are really way off topic from the OP question!