Wreck Diving

[asiders9]

Hi,
I'm interested in wreck diving and was wondering if there is any special gear needed to do this? I don't currently own my own equipment but I am looking into buying my own when my dive shop sells all of their rental gear. I think I would like to take the wreck diving course and then visit North Carolina during spring break because I could go there for pretty cheap and they're supposed to have some of the best wrecks in the states. I was also wondering if you guys could fill me in with any information about wreck diving in general?

Thanks

Adam

 

[ageddiver]

This is way too much info to get from a message board. I recommend you buy the book Complete Wreck Diving by Keatts and Skerry to get an overview. Then take classes that'll help you learn to use the equipment properly and teach you the basic practices to keep safe, and then you go learn in the field. Your classes should expose you to people who can hook you up with others that are doing it and they'll help you get better.
Wreck diving is great fun - have a blast.

 

[David P]

depends what wrecks... maybe yes special gear and training, maybe no... How deep, how long, are you planning on penetrating, are just a few of the questions you need to ask. If it is anything other than a shallow swim around, then yes you need special gear and training. Start with doubles, drysuit, can light, training (none of which is cheap) Im sure many others will chime in now....

 

[asiders9]

I was thinking of penetrating the wrecks and I don't really know about depths. I've never really thought about that but I suspect most wrecks are deep so a deep diving certification would probably be in order as well.

 

[Jimmer]

Well first thing on your list would be proper training. Wreck penetration is obviously a potentially dangerous situation, so be sure to get the training to run lines, handle blackout blind exits etc. Also deep diving certification as far as recreational diving goes will likely be underkill. Even being able to do a 120 foot dive, doesn't leave you with the time to do much of a penetration dive. Recreational deep diving is a good stepping stone, but look a little further towards decompression procedures/Advanced Nitrox. That way even if you are only looking to do dives in the recreational limits, 120 foot for example, you would have the training and ability to stay there for a much longer period of time and make the penetration dive more comprehensive.

 

[fire_diver]

I was thinking of penetrating the wrecks and I don't really know about depths. I've never really thought about that but I suspect most wrecks are deep so a deep diving certification would probably be in order as well.

You're not ready yet.

Shallow wrecks are typically just rubble piles because they get pummeled by surge and storms.

At this point you MIGHT be ready for a REC deep (70-100) wreck. But you won't have a lot of time to spend on the wreck, and should not even consider penetration yet.

Your first step should be a nitrox course. This would let you visit these shallower wrecks for a longer amount of time. Next step should be adv nitrox and deco. Once comfortable with these new skills you will need a set of doubles and a couple deco bottle, and probably 4 new regs (maybe 3 depending on what you use now), and a serious primary dive light, a drysuit, some reels/spools and a couple lift bags. NOW you will be ready to start learning to dive in overhead environments. (care to calculate costs yet?)

Of course then you will want to start visiting the deeper, better preserved wrecks so you will need normoxic trimix followed by hypoxic trimix classes, probably another 2 or 3 sets of BIG doubles and some 80's for stage tanks.

Hopefully all that hasn't discouraged you. I love wreck diving, but I'm on this same road. Taking Adv nitrox and deco right now. This is a long, slow road if you can't dive every weekend and have a bottomless wallet. Look around for a good instructor in your area for your tech classes. Plan on travelling to get an instructor. You could probably find a good in NC if you could get started out there.

FD

I'd love to get out to visit some wrecks on the east coast or the Great Lakes, but right now I couldn't do much on them. I don't even have a drysuit yet, so cold, deep, long deco isn't in my near future.