NC vs SC

[RAD Diver]

There's not much difference in visibility and water temperatures. I did enjoy the dives more off NC, but that was primarily because of all the Sand Tigers. I wasn't quite as happy about the Bulls, but they were behaving as well.

Oh what a glorious time we 3 had that day.

And yes a newly printed AOW card will NOT prepare you for off the deep NC coast.
While it is definitely world class diving, it can also humble the hardiest of divers.
But you never know it could be lake flat with 80-100 ft of vis.

 

[BettyRubble]

Betty, if I remember correctly you are a fairly new diver. I highly suggest you consider some of the inshore wrecks before heading off shore. The offshore wrecks are a long way off shore, in deep water and sea conditions are often rough. A 2 or 3 hr boat ride in 6 ft seas to a wreck in 115 ft of water is not uncommon. There are some nice closer in wrecks in the Morehead area that would be a much better choice for your first few NC dives. A few Caribbean or Fla dive boats do not prepair you for a NC offshore dive.

Excellent point.

Oh what a glorious time we 3 had that day.

And yes a newly printed AOW card will NOT prepare you for off the deep NC coast.
While it is definitely world class diving, it can also humble the hardiest of divers.
But you never know it could be lake flat with 80-100 ft of vis.

Herman, Walter, & Rad - thank you! I appreciate the honest, direct feedback and will definitely follow the advice. I've been researching the various wrecks and had already concluded that the deep ones were not going to be on my agenda. And I am definitely not ready for 6 foot seas. I'll stick with the inshore ones - there are several there to enjoy.

I've had a couple of offers for some diving off the De/NJ coasts too and hope to add those to the agenda before heading south to NC sometime in Oct. I'm trying to stair step my way into this.

 

[Elysian]

The Hyde/Markham wrecks are great for OW level divers. They are off the Wilmington coast. Cape Fear Dive Center and Aquatic Safaris are both excellent ops that run regular charters there.

 

[Armymutt25A]

Plus one for the Hyde and Markham. Sandtigers abound there. There's very little current. The sand is about 80 feet, but most of the action is at 40ish.

 

[Walter]

Hyde & Markham can also get pretty rough.

 

[fairybasslet]

Pam, I'm going to have to disagree with some of the advice. First of all, diving offshore NJ is way harder than NC. The water is colder, vis is usually much worse, and I would never dive off of NJ without a pony which I don't have at this time.

The size of swells on the ride out or the length of the trip has absolutely nothing to do with diving experience. I have no idea why that should be a deciding factor.

I first dove NC with something like 50 dives. Yes, the water is deep, but so what? You don't have to dive to the bottom of the wrecks. There is plenty to see on top. I would recommend being Nitrox certified before diving to those depths, though.

Conditions on offshore wrecks can be fabulous if you're lucky. I've dove with 100 foot vis and water temps of around 80. You will not find that off NJ.

You just have to prepared for changing condition. One weekend Sat was warm sunny and flat. When we went out Sunday, it was choppy and cold.

 

[BettyRubble]

Thanks Ellen . . . I am considering adding the Nitrox cert to my AOW cert which I'm doing in a couple of weeks . . . I suspect the wave height has more to do with getting in/out of the water then the boat ride - at least that was my assumption when I read their notes.

We'll see how I do on a NJ dive or two and I can figure out how much of a wuss I really am!

 

[fairybasslet]

You can always tank your weights off before you climb the ladder if the seas are rough. Some boats have fin ladders which makes it really nice getting out. If not they usually have tag lines to hold onto if you have to take off your fins, or want to remove your weights or tanks. Sometime big swells are a blessing. You can step right on a top rung and then when the boat goes back up... you're on without having to climb.

Where are you thinking of diving in Jersey?

 

[RAD Diver]

Hyde & Markham can also get pretty rough.

Without a doubt, that day we were talking about had huge seas, the reason only 3 of us were diving is that the anchor line broke, leaving the rest of the crowd on the boat & us doing a live pick up.

I don't know if NJ diving is harder, yes colder & typically greener, but when I dove up there in March, we had flat seas, but that 37 degree water. Thank God for drysuits.

If you are not used to big seas or coming from a Florida based training used to 20 min rides to dive sites, 3 -4 hours on a boat (each way) being jostled can be tough.
That's why we say try a 2 hour (or less) ride 1st & if you are like me & the boat ride is something that adds to the fun then go for it.

 

[Walter]

That was a fun dive, but I must admit I wasn't very happy when we came back to where the anchor line should have been to find it missing. We'd been down over 20 minutes, had made one complete circuit of the wreck and hadn't seen another diver, I was wondering what the heck was up. After another circuit and seeing the Bull Sharks (the 14 Sand Tigers were fun) I was ready to know what had happened to the boat. I did have two awesome buddies on that dive!