What you need to know about diving on the Outer Banks.

What we call the Outer Banks is situated on the coast of NC from Corolla to Ocracoke.  Morehead City and Wilmington, NC are also sometimes referred to as The Outer Banks.  Keep in mind that we are 4 - 5 hours north of Morehead City, NC.  The Outer Banks is considered a world-class destination for wreck diving.  The wrecks are what attracts the sea life.  Without the shipwrecks, you would be seeing mostly sand.  However, the conditions that caused the wrecks in the first place also make the diving a bit more advanced than reef diving.  Currents, waves, surge, wind and depth are all factors you will need to consider before booking a dive. 

Why so few dives shops? 
We are routinely asked why there are so few dives shops here and why are they only open for diving a couple months of the year.  This is mostly because of our weather and tourism.  Our boats need to access the ocean through inlets which are shallow.  During the fall months and through the late spring,  water conditions are often too rough to allow the boats out the inlets.  Even if they got out the inlets, the currents under the water could be too treacherous to dive safely.  In addition, we don't have as many tourists who want to dive during the off season (Sept. - May).  Fuel is expensive and in order to make ends meet, most boats have a minimum number of divers they need to pay for fuel and expenses.   If you have a group of divers, most boats will take you to whatever spot you want to dive.  If it's just you and a friend, you will need to plan your dives during the main summer months of June - August when there are enough other divers to run the boats.  We've included some things to consider before booking your dive trip.

Depth: 
Most of the popular wrecks on the Outer Banks lie in the 80 - 120 foot range.  There are deeper wrecks but not many shallower wrecks.  North of Oregon Inlet if you want to dive shallower than 80 feet you can choose from a shore dive at 20 ft. or a boat trip to the Advance.  The Advance has its upper railing at @50 feet and the deck around 80ft.  South of Oregon Inlet the only shallow dive is from a boat to Mr. JC or on the shoals.  Mr. JC has a bottom depth of @68 feet.  The shoals are @30 - 40 feet but it must be very calm to dive there.  These locations are perfect for completing the open water portion of your dive instruction.

Advanced Level: 
Most diving on the Outer Banks is considered Advanced.  This is because of the depths of most dive sites as well as the currents and conditions.  Even the shore dives take a bit more advanced techniques.  While our shore dives are all led by a NAUI instructor, boat dives are not.  All boat dives on the Outer Banks have divemasters on board but they do not dive with you unless you arrange it ahead of time.  There is usually a charge for this depending on the dive site and how many people they need to dive with.  Our shore dives are all led by an instructor who can give you some advice on wreck diving, setting up your gear, checking out your skills and will dive with you for no extra charge.

Conditions: 
The first thing most people ask if "What is the visibility like?"  We never know.  The visibility depends on where you dive, what direction the wind is blowing, water temperature and if there are any offshore storms which might cause issues with visibility.  Diving off Oregon Inlet is considered diving in "green water" while diving off Hatteras is considered "blue water".  Hatteras is by far the best place to dive for consistently good vis.  Visibility off Hatteras is usually 80 - 100 feet in the summer months on the 80 - 100 foot dives.  It can be 80 ft or 30 ft on the deeper wrecks depending on the currents.  Remember, we never really know until we get out there and dive.  The shore dives can be either crystal clear or less than 1 foot.  Look for a light breeze (below 8 mph) from the NE for best conditions, or any light breeze. It changes with the tides with a falling tide the best for really clear water. I've seen it go from 5 ft vis to crystal clear and warm up 8 degrees in 10 minutes.

Boat trips: 
There are several boats in the area that offer trips to the offshore wrecks.  They either leave from Wanchese, which is situated on southern end of Roanoke Island or in the village of Hatteras, which is situated on the Southern end of Hatteras Island.  Why these two places?  Around here, the boats must be docked on the sound side since this is protected from wind and waves.  The boats have to access the ocean and this is only possible through two inlets.  On Hatteras, they enter the ocean through Hatteras Inlet.  From Wanchese, they enter the ocean through Oregon Inlet.  A boat trip will take you most of the day.  They usually require you to meet at 6:30am and return between 3:00 - 4:00 pm.  The reason for this is the long run from the dock to the wreck site which can run from 1 - 2 hours or longer depending on the dive site.  If you don't like long boat rides a good question to ask before signing up would be "how long a run is it to the dive site?" 

The Captain of the boat gets to make the call as to which wreck you dive on.  They base this on several factors.  One, is the level of experience of the divers.  If you are a technical diver but most of the other divers are beginners than most likely, the Captain will pick a shallow dive site.  However, if you are a beginner, and they are planning on going to a dive site that is 120 feet then you may not be allowed on the boat.  If you bring a group to charter the whole boat, than you can choose the site you wish (and your training allows) as long as the conditions allow.  This is done for your safety.

Shore Diving:
There are very few shore dives on the Outer Banks.  You can always put on gear and swim out to look at the sand and maybe collect sand dollars (Frisco pier area) but to see most sea life you will need to be on a wreck.  There are many, many wrecks located off the beach, but unfortunately, most of them are covered with sand.   North of Oregon Inlet there are just a couple that are consistently diveable; the Huron, the Tug, the Triangle Wrecks (Carl Gerhardt and Kyzickes) and the Winks wreck.  South of Oregon Inlet there is only one, the Oriental.

Shore dives require that you must be in average to good physical SWIMMING shape.  Running two miles a day won't help you much with swimming out the 100 - 200 yards needed to reach these wrecks.