Hilton Head artifact/fossil diving

[magnu001]

I'm from upstate South Carolina, going to be on Hilton Head tonight till Thursday. I'd like to do some fossil or artifact diving but don't know the area. If anyone local wants to get in the water and knows a good spot, or knows of someone who does charters, let me know. I've been diving the Cooper for a couple of years now, so am experienced with dark, swift water with lots of critters in it.

E-mail at magnu001@charter.net or give me a call at 256-497-3518. I'm not sure if I'll have internet access once I get there.

-Zack Magnusson

 

[sporket]

I don't know of one (upstate also) but let us know if you find anything.

 

[Sharkyvvvv]

Hello Zack,

I will be in the hilton head area the end of June and am looking for the same information. Please pass on what you come to find, i.e dive operations/charters as I am looking to dive /hunt for fossils too. Good luck to you!

 

[magnu001]

As far as I could tell, there are no dive operators on the island. If you want to do a charter, and they're apparently only for offshore diving, you'll have to go up to Beaufort or down to Savannah.

The only person I ever heard anything back from told me that fossil/artifact sites in the area were "closely guarded secrets". So I had no luck on the matter and without a boat of my own (down there) and no one to go with me, I opted out of trying it alone.

Still had a great time though.

 

[dbergman]

An aquaintance of mine Vito Bertucci aka (MEGALODON MAN) used to dive these areas, beaufort / georgia. It took Vito about 20 years of work to get an entire set of teeth for the gargantuan Miocene shark Carcharadon megalodon. He was featured in National Geographic. His close friend, Capt. Bob told me that Vito died trying to bring up "the motherload" while diving in the Ogeechee River near the Intercoastal Waterway in Bryan county, Ga. Many of his fossils were found here in Beaufort near the Morgan River. I have deep water property near there. Back to Vito, his wife sold most of his collection on ebay after he passed. I used to run into her at the post office shipping off boxes all over the world. I have seen his giant jaw display in his garage. It was massive. I was told years ago he had it up for auction at Christy's but when the bids got to 1 million, he refused to sell. At any rate, he was a unusual character but a nice guy and unfortunately, he made a poor judgement error when diving alone in those waters.

 

[dbergman]

Back to the question of Diving here, my son does charter fishing and has a dive platform on the boat. The boat was purchased from a diver in Fort Myers who has dived all over the world looking for treasures etc. Just in case any one is interested, diving Beaufort. I also have a deep water acre lot with a dock on Saint Helena Island, about 5 minutes to the ICW for sale. My last lot left for sale. I will include a link if anyone is interested. SC Deep water front & boat slip, dock ICW beach island real estate acre property by Amazing-Grace

 

[naui 15694]

Good info but one point of clarification. Local Divers had been diving in the spot of Vito's last dive for years. In fact Vito and another diver came across some of the local divers diving there which is how he found the spot. The vis is very bad and currents are very strong but Vito was used to that. The thought is that a medical issue may have caused his death but they will never know for sure. Just very sad.

I only mention it because the conditions are bad there and it is a spot that was dove heavily for years. There is not much left there. I would not want people thinking there was a motherlode of fossils down there and risking the conditions in the Ogeechee for no reason.

In the late '90's early 00's there was a diveshop on Hilton Head that took divers out for fossils. They closed up shop in I think 2002. I own rental condo on HH and that area is more than ripe for a diveshop if anyone is looking for a business opportunity. Thousands of tourists every year w/ big bucks.

I know of only one spot that you could get a few Makos or small Megs diving from the beach. Otherwise you need a boat to get to the better spots.

An aquaintance of mine Vito Bertucci aka (MEGALODON MAN) used to dive these areas, beaufort / georgia. It took Vito about 20 years of work to get an entire set of teeth for the gargantuan Miocene shark Carcharadon megalodon. He was featured in National Geographic. His close friend, Capt. Bob told me that Vito died trying to bring up "the motherload" while diving in the Ogeechee River near the Intercoastal Waterway in Bryan county, Ga. Many of his fossils were found here in Beaufort near the Morgan River. I have deep water property near there. Back to Vito, his wife sold most of his collection on ebay after he passed. I used to run into her at the post office shipping off boxes all over the world. I have seen his giant jaw display in his garage. It was massive. I was told years ago he had it up for auction at Christy's but when the bids got to 1 million, he refused to sell. At any rate, he was a unusual character but a nice guy and unfortunately, he made a poor judgement error when diving alone in those waters.

 

[Sharkyvvvv]

Hello All,

I had previously asked if anyone had any information about diving in the Hilton Head area, I received many replies and want to thank everyone who responded. Ultimately I did not dive on the vacation The nearest location was in nearby Georgia but given I wanted to dive during the week, I would have to charter the entire boat - too pricey or go to Charleston; a two hour drive. Given the water clarity I think I made the right choice. Thanks again to all those who replied!