Charleston, South Carolina

[cranstonjdc]

Are there any good dive spots in this area or within 2 or 3 hours?

 

[imukdiver]

There are alot of places for you to dive around Charleston. What kind of diving are you looking for ?

 

[cranstonjdc]

Im very new to diving. Acualy the only dives ive done are my certification dives. So i really dont have much xp. But looking for some places to learn. Im interested in wreck diving. But anything that is good for a beginer. Right now im just trying to get some dives.

 

[imukdiver]

You have a couple of really good options. First stop by and see the folks at Charleston scuba. It's a great dive shop that has treated me well in the past. A good starter wreck that they go to is the ' Charleston 60' . Its a man-made wreck but its 60 feet to the sand and a really nice dive. Another option is to head north up to Murrels inlet. Express water sports has a fantastic operation there. In fact I have a trip chartered with them in june. Anyway, there are some really nice wrecks in their area as well. I recommend the ' St. Cathan'. The spelling might be wrong on that. It's again around 60-65 feet and a beautiful natural wreck. It's usually polluted with fish as also.

 

[imukdiver]

Sorry it's not the 'st. cathan' thats at about 105 feet. I meant the 'city of Richmond'. Sorry if there was any confusion.

 

[dlwalke]

The other dive option is the Cooper River. When diving in Charleston area, I have sometimes booked an ocean trip on Saturday and a Cooper River trip on Sunday, since I have only had about a 50% go rate for ocean dives in the Southeast (based on a small number of outings though) due to sea conditions. As the Cooper is a river, there are things you do not need to worry about that you would on an ocean trip. But...and its a big but...the Cooper River fossil dives are in black water where you literally lose all light once you are down 10 ft or so and even with a serious light, will not be able to see your outstretched hand at depth. They are certainly not for everyone. The dives will consist of what feels like parachuting to the bottom (which you cannot see and so you just descend until you hit it), and then getting horizontal, facing into the current most of the time, putting the light up to your head and your face about 8 inches from the bottom so you can look for sharks teeth...all the while with the mostly irrational concern that you might come across an alligator. Some really take to it, others abhor it.

 

[SelkieDVM]

I loved diving the Cooper. However, I would not recommend it for a diver just past certification. Get separate experience in low viz and currents before attempting to combine the two. Also, learn to deploy an SMB as there can be a lot of bass boats. Still highly recommended it with a little experience though.