mrytle beach diving

[C_canada]

We're heading to Myrtle Beach in Feb (to run a marathon on the 17th!), but we were hoping to also do a couple of dives afterwards....can we do 7mm wetsuits or do we need drysuit at that time of the year? Having done certification in Canada and our cert dives were in air temp of 8 Celcius/water temp about 15 Celcius, I guess you can call us 'thick skinned'!

I'm just new to the board and quite new to diving so any advice is appreciated!

 

[dcs917]

I would highly recommend Capt. Tuck. The Dolphin is "The fastest Dive Boat in the World", and they have a great & comfortable set up. My son and dive with him a few years ago, and stayed on the boat overnight and had super dives.

Dive safe!

 

[oceanscubaguy]

Hello All,

I dive on the South end with Scuba Express in Murrells inlet. They are 10 miles south of Myrtle beach area. The are selling their current 40 ft and are getting a brand new 46 Newton dive boat for 2007. Anyone who has dove on one of those boats knows its the best dive boat on the market. Check out their website www.expresswatersports.com . Tuck and dolphin dive charters are no longer in buisness. Tuck i hear is driving a casino boat and the dive boat is in NC tied to a dock and for sale. Its a shame the boat was huge but quite expensive to run.

 

[LindaBluedolphin]

I have confirmed Dolphin Charters is no more, it is a very sad day.

 

[Irregulator]

Do not dive with Coastal Scuba. I went with them once and any considerate dive shop would have cancelled the dive for the day after we got underway due to the EXTREMELY rough water. 9 out of 12 divers got sick and 2 experienced crew members also got sick but they went on with it anyway to get the buck I guess. I won't go with them again. I have been to Mexico several times and they will not even let the boats out of the harbor if its even close to as bad as it was when we went with Coastal.

 

[fireflock]

What you write about isn't uncommon off the Carolina coast. A lot of divers will just expect to feed the fish and then get on with having a fantastic dive. It's not what some divers expect, but it's not unusual for the area. If you proceed with the trip, divers get upset because of the conditions. If you cancel the trip, other divers get upset because they can't dive.

I'm not trying to defend Coastal scuba. I wasn't there that day so I don't know what conditions were like. I'm just pointing out that boat rides in that area are sometimes a little bumpy. It does not mean that the diving is bad. Don't forget your seasick meds.......and hang on for the ladder ride

 

[Irregulator]

I have been off the coast before and I know that is rough at times and to be expected but that day in question was completely outrageous. My dad has been diving off the coast and many other places with 40 years experience and he even said that was one of the worst he has seen. That was his first time in 40 years getting seasick. It was fairly dangerous in my opinion.

 

[fireflock]

It sounds like you guys know the drill then. I'm sorry you guys had a bad trip (and I guess a bunch of other divers did to).

 

[Irregulator]

Any recommendations on a good dive center to use in NC for shipwrecks?

 

[fireflock]

Any recommendations on a good dive center to use in NC for shipwrecks?

We're very lucky that almost all of the major dive ops in NC are good. It probably sounds like I'm trying not to piss anyone off, but I really think it's true. There are small differences, but I don't hesitate to dive with any of them. I usually pick based on availability and which sites they plan to visit that day.

For the Wilmington region, Aquatic Safaris runs 2 boats and CapeFearDivers runs 1.

In the Morehead/Beaufort area, Olympus Diving (2 boats) and Discovery Diving (3 boats) are the biggies.

Let me know if you're into something special like spearfishing or tech diving. There are some other smaller ops that specialize.

I would not hesitate to send a friend to any of those places.

http://scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=99945

Hope that helps -

Rich