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Diving in Cape Hatteras, NC |
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How We Dive: Dive Primer - how to dive Hatteras Diving Safety and Your Diving Skills
The Dive Sites:
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The powerful Gulf Stream pushes warm and clear waters from the south, where they collide with the waters of the Labrador Current that move down from the North. Both bodies of water contribute to the diversity and abundance of marine life and many marine species have either their most southern or northern terminus here at the Diamond Shoals. We dive with a wide variety of sea life; Giant Manta Rays, Sharks, Sea Turtles, Dolphins and a wide variety of tropical species.
We provide a detailed pre-dive briefing (but do not generally offer in-water dive mastering) and we will do whatever we can to ensure a great day of diving for you. However, we expect you to know what you are doing out there! Although the waters off Hatteras are very often tropical (warm and clear) the sea conditions vary daily. What You Need It is highly preferable that you provide all of your own SCUBA gear. The open Atlantic is not the best time to become familiar with a new or rented set of gear, however, we have top quality ScubaPro equipment available if needed and all of our regulators come with dive computers. A wetsuit is highly recommended, even though the water is very warm in the summer months a long dive can get you chilled and protection from hydroids and abrasions is a must. All divers must have BCD, working regulator with pressure gauge, depth/timing devices as well as a safety signaling device and dive computers are highly recommended. If you need any equipment, it is available with previous arrangements being required. Air refills are available from DiveHatteras if you are diving with us, Nitrox is available as well. This is certainly not a complete list of the equipment you may need during a wreck diving excursion, but meant to get you thinking and planning for your trip. Please
visit this page for procedures on the diving.
This is open ocean wreck diving - take an advanced class or a shipwreck/ocean diving class if your skills aren’t quite there yet. |
The area of the Atlantic Ocean off
Cape Hatteras, NC, provides a unique environment for the Scuba Diver to
experience. Hatteras Island, long and slender, projects into the
Atlantic further East than any other place along our coastline. Just
offshore of the point where the island turns back towards the West are the
fabled Diamond Shoals (visible in the NASA photo shown to the right) and
home to many of the shipwrecks we dive.
All
this sea life congregates on what is really the main attraction to Sport
Divers, the Shipwrecks off Hatteras. Due to innumerable Hurricanes,
two world wars and navigational blunders, ships have gone to the bottom
off Hatteras. The
shipwrecks we dive span the centuries providing the backdrop for
exceptional underwater photography, spear fishing, or just cruising among
the underwater ruins. 
We
typically do two dives a day, the first usually being the deepest. Our
decision on where to dive depends on what shipwrecks the divers want
to dive, limited only by weather & sea conditions and the
overall skill level of the divers on-board. We are safety minded: we
always carry all the required safety gear (life rafts, vests, etc.) and of
course we carry oxygen (we are DAN O2 trained), first-aid gear, and are
trained in CPR, as well as dive rescue. We strongly encourage you to
obtain