Dive Review of Atlantic Beach Diving/None in
The Continental USA/Morehead City, North Carolina

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Atlantic Beach Diving/None, Aug, 2008, by Jon Armiger, MD, USA ( Reviewer 4 reports). Report 4291.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	This was second trip to Morehead and first in 10 years. This diving is not for the beginner. AOW plus nitrox is a must if you want to get the most out of your dives. Depths are deep. 100 plus on every dive. All was done approx. 25-30 miles out. It is a 2-1/2 hrs boat ride each way. Atlantic Beach diving is a solo boat operation. The boat, Mutiny, is owned by three people. The boat is kept at the Olympus Dive Center in downtown Morehead. Boat leaves early, 6AM. First two dives were on the Papoose. This is a classic wreck in the area and during my last visit was known for Sand Tiger shark encounters. Some bad spearfishing incidents have scared them away. We did see two huge stingrays and a ton of lionfish. Of course the barracuda here are big and plentiful. Vis was a little disapointing maybe 50 feet. Papoose has some good swimthroughs. Very good coral growth. Third dive was on the famous U boat. This was an awesome dive. Great vis 70+ft. You could see the tower from the bow. Bait fish were everywhere. The U boat was sunk by a Coast Guard depth charge. IT is cool swimming with all that history. Wreck itself had alot of growth. We saw an octupus and spotted eel. Lot of baracuda. U-boat depth is approx. 115ft. Fourth Dive was on the Spar. This is part of the artficial reef program. It was a coast guard vessel, and now is home to the Sand Tiger. Vis on this dive was very disapointing, maybe 30 feet. Started the dive in the sand making our way around the ship. There was a pretty good current on the port side. We then came up onto the deck and noticed a cargo hold. I motioned to my buddy asking where all the sharks were. I swam over to the hold and was about to look in and meet a sand tiger face to face. With in 5 minutes there were five sharks circling the hold. Vis cut down on pic opurtunities so I took video. After ten minutes we started around the substructure. Lots of fish and little growth. It almost looks like a ghost ship. We came back to the cargo hold and dropped into the ship. We started back into a room, I stopped here my 2 buddies went through the room up the stairs, and out a side exit. During the safety stops there was a school of over 50 baracuda. Giant, some maybe 5 ft long. Very cool how they poistion themselves into the current and don't move. All in all a good wreck, espically for shark seeing. Some people on the dive found shark teeth. People on the boat used everything from LP 112 steel 30%nitrox to rebreathers. This is big boy diving. Seas can get rough and depth and current can be issues. This is a very good place to see large palegics. Ten years ago I saw a lone Manta Ray as I was going up the line. Sharks plus history make this a special place.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Florida Keys, Lauderdale, Mexico, Bahamas
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas	calm, no currents
Water Temp	78-80°F / 26-27°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	40-70 Ft/ 12-21 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Let the captain know how long you will be down.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	None	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Camera bucket, DM gave directions on bucket during briefing. Cabin area of boat was large and allowed for plenty of dry space to work on camera.

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Dive Review of Atlantic Beach Diving/None in The Continental USA/Morehead City, North Carolina

Atlantic Beach Diving/None, Aug, 2008,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Atlantic Beach Diving/None in
The Continental USA/Morehead City, North Carolina