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Aquatic Safaris
6800-1A Wrightsville Ave. Wrightsville Beach, NC
(910)392-4386
Email Aquatic Safaris
Aquatics Web Page<----click here
Aquatic Safaris has 2 custom dive boats. One is 30 ft, and the other (new for 2006) is 43ft. Aquatic Safaris I & II. The boats are spacious enough to be comfortable, and handle rough seas very well. I went out to the Cassimir on the Aquatic Safaris II(30 footer), seas were 4,5,+ it was real rough. We made it to the Cassimir though, and I had a great dive! I saw 2 spotted eagle rays on my ascent, and I got them on tape with my video camera. There are head facilities on board, which is good if you are a female. The crew was friendly and helpful. The boat was wide enough that people aren't bumping into one another while getting geared up. The Aquatics boats also have hang bars below the boat to facilitate comfortable safety stops. The new boat looks like it will have ample room, and with the large turbo diesels, she should really haul the mail for a big boat. Aquatics may now have the fastest or one of the fastest big boats on the NC Coast. The aluminum work on the ladders is still being done at this time, but I have been on this boat , and it certainly looks like this new boat will be awesome. The last time I went out with Aquatic Safaris, we were able to park right next to the boat, to carry gear. Aquatic Safaris is a dive shop/charter operation. They can assist in your equipment needs including nitrox/air/and rental gear they got those big tanks I talked about earlier). Tell them you found out about it from Tom Tilmon's web page!!!!!!!!!! Hook a fellow up.
Cape Fear Divers
Captain Jim Conner
48 ft. Newton "Hawksbill"
Wilmington/Carolina Beach, NC
(910)458-7390
Email--->Capt. Conner
Cape Fear Divers------>-Cape Fear Divers Web Page
I have been diving with Cape Fear Divers several times now. I found the boat to be very comfortable. There was plenty of room to move around, plenty of elbow room to gear up. You sit facing forward with your gear in front of you, so that you can work on it. The crew was nice and fun to be around. Capt. Jim Conner was very helpful, and eager to dive, which was refreshing to see. Purifoy was the only other owner of a dive op that I have seen still stoked to jump in and dive....Conner was too. There are coolers, a marine head, and just for fun, you can lounge on the top deck in a lounge chair and enjoy the ride. The boat is not lightning fast, however, the ride out is all part of the adventure. I fell asleep on the ride out, and we had pretty good seas going that day....but you just didn't notice the seas as much with the size of this boat. Cape Fear Divers is a pretty new outfit to the area, and in 2005 they got their start. If their operations continue to expand, which they are rumored to be, they will help the dive industry in Wilmington rival what is available in Morehead/Beaufort.
Spearit Charters
Captain Tom Collins
29 ft. Sea Hawk "Spirit"
Wilmington/Topsail Beach, NC
(910)455-1116
Spearit Charters------>-Spearit's Web Page
I was slated to go out with Capt. Collins in 2005, but the weather got me the day I had off. Well, the next day the weather cleared, and I had to go to work, but my buddy went out with them to a secret "fossil hole". My buddy brought back over 14 pounds of megaladon teeth, big ones too. Capt. Collins specializes in spearfishing and lobstering, in addition to being the solitary holder of the secret fossil numbers. Other outfits have fossil ledge numbers, but none are as productive as Spearit's. Capt. Collins is very personable, and the boat is very fast! Diving on Spearit would be more a kin to diving on a private boat. You can get offshore and back home real fast. Capt. Collins also says that he would be open to some light technical excursions as long as everyone on the boat was able willing to dive those profiles (all chartered members would have to be technical) I hope to hit Captain Collins fossil hole this year sometime, but probably on a weekday, because his weekends are usually booked well in advance.
Scuba South Dive Company
Captain Wayne Strickland
40 Ft. Ocean Tender "ScubaSouth"
Southport, NC (just south of Wilmington in Brunswick County...where the Cape Fear flows into the ocean at)
No Phone Number on Site
Scuba South Web Page---------->Scuba South's Webpage
I haven't been diving with Capt. Strickland yet, although every year, I say I am going to....but it is kind of out of my way with the other charter companies that are here in Wilmington. I definitely want to meet Capt. Strickland though, because he is kind of a diving legend in the area. He is the founding father of the Southport Maritime Museum, which he started after finding so many artifacts on the shipwreck City of Houston. Capt. Strickland mainly runs dives to the southern side of Frying Pan Shoals, so he does visit wrecks that rarely have any divers on them. Captain Strickland, if you ever come across my webpage, email me....we need to talk.
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Gill, Normannia, Papoose, U-352, Schurz, Esso Nashville, Cassimir, Cassimer, Hyde, Markham, Playa, Stone, Pocohontas, City of Houston, Lobster Wreck, Ed's Lobster Wreck, Eds Lobster Wreck, Rosin Wreck, Raritan, USS Peterhoff, General Beauregard, blockade runners, steamers, u-boats, u-boat vicitms, u-boat victims in NC, NC, Wilmington, Cape Fear, Carolina Beach, Holden Beach, Topsail Beach, Topsail Island, Masonboro Island, Southport, Oak Island, Bald Head Island, Wrightsville Beach, Wilmington, Cape Fear River, Leland, Brunswick County, New Hanover County.Shipwrecks, shipwrecks, wrecks, wreck diving, shipwreck diving, technical diving, trimix, trimix diving, nitrox, nitrox diving, DIR, shark diving, sharks, sharks and shipwrecks, sharks on shipwrecks, John D. Gill, Normannia, Papoose, U-352, Schurz, Esso Nashville, Cassimir, Cassimer, Hyde, Markham, Playa, Stone, Pocohontas, City of Houston, Lobster Wreck, Ed's Lobster Wreck, Eds Lobster Wreck, Rosin Wreck, Raritan, USS Peterhoff, General Beauregard, blockade runners, steamers, u-boats, u-boat vicitms, u-boat victims in NC, NC, Wilmington, Cape Fear, Carolina Beach, Holden Beach, Topsail Beach, Topsail Island, Masonboro Island, Southport, Oak Island, Bald Head Island, Wrightsville Beach, Wilmington, Cape Fear River, Leland, Brunswick County, New Hanover County.Shipwrecks, shipwrecks, wrecks, wreck diving, shipwreck diving, technical diving, trimix, trimix diving, nitrox, nitrox diving, DIR, shark diving, sharks, sharks and shipwrecks, sharks on shipwrecks, John D. Gill, Normannia, Papoose, U-352, Schurz, Esso Nashville, Cassimir, Cassimer, Hyde, Markham, Playa, Stone, Pocohontas, City of Houston, Lobster Wreck, Ed's Lobster Wreck, Eds Lobster Wreck, Rosin Wreck, Raritan, USS Peterhoff, General Beauregard, blockade runners, steamers, u-boats, u-boat vicitms, u-boat victims in NC, NC, Wilmington, Cape Fear, Carolina Beach, Holden Beach, Topsail Beach, Topsail Island, Masonboro Island, Southport, Oak Island, Bald Head Island, Wrightsville Beach, Wilmington, Cape Fear River, Leland, Brunswick County, New Hanover County.Shipwrecks, shipwrecks, wrecks, wreck diving, shipwreck diving, technical diving, trimix, trimix diving, nitrox, nitrox diving, DIR, shark diving, sharks, sharks and shipwrecks, sharks on shipwrecks, John D. Gill, Normannia, Papoose, U-352, Schurz, Esso Nashville, Cassimir, Cassimer, Hyde, Markham, Playa, Stone, Pocohontas, City of Houston, Lobster Wreck, Ed's Lobster Wreck, Eds Lobster Wreck, Rosin Wreck, Raritan, USS Peterhoff, General Beauregard, blockade runners, steamers, u-boats, u-boat vicitms, u-boat ,spiegel grove, USS Tarpon, Tarpon, USS Monitor, Merrimack, CSS Virginia, Civil War, scuba, SCUBA, scuba, scuba, scuba, scuba, scuba, diving, scuba diving, scba, dvng, dvng, diving, scuba dving, scuba diving, wreck diving, shipwrecks, Graveyard of the Atlantic, shark week, sandtiger sharks, sand tiger sharks, tom's dive page, tom tilmon,
The diving in Southeastern North Carolina is similar to Caribbean diving. The gulf stream kisses our coast and delivers warm temps, tropical fish, spiny Caribbean lobster, grouper, flounder, spotted eagle rays, sharks, and anything else you would enjoy seeing. I have seen flying fish popping out of the water everywhere on the way out to dive sites. I have seen dolphin having their fun with the boat wake and bow waves. The water temps in the summer here are usually in the 80's, and the temperature doesn't go far below 60 offshore in the winter. The big difference between diving in the Caribbean and diving in North Carolina is the depth. Most of the best dive sites around here are offshore(15-50 miles). The best diving in southeastern North Carolina usually begins at 80 ft. deep and improves with depth. The farther offshore you go, the deeper the water gets and the better the visibility. Also, the farther offshore you go, you get closer to the gulf stream. When you get close to or into the Gulf Stream, vis goes off the scale, and so does the diversity of life. When you get offshore, you will be on sites seldom visited by others. I am sure I have been on several ledges around here that no man has ever laid eyes on. But you have to go deep. This means longer boat rides (which if you are prone to seasickness can seem like forever). Don't forget your bonine or Dramamine if you get seasick. With the sites being offshore, and the longer charter rides, you also need to bring a bag lunch. On the good charters, you usually eat your lunch or lose it) on your first surface interval.
If all you have done is shallow (25-40 fsw) Caribbean diving, and you only dive occasionally (haven't been in years)......you need more training and experience before diving here. The charters here in Wilmington should scrutinize your log book looking at your experience level on deep open ocean dives, and diving on wrecks. Diving the Cape Fear region isn't like diving on a reef 20 feet deep in the Bahamas in the technical scope of things. Current, surge, poor vis and rough surface conditions can be present here, and you have to be ready to deal with that. You must also have a thorough working knowledge of the No Decompression Tables/Decompression Tables and experience diving these depths.
Because of the deeper sites down here it will benefit your bottom times and surface intervals to dive with Nitrox. If you want to get as much benefit as you can out of Nitrox, you will probably need bigger tanks. I use doubles. If you only have an 80, you can still dive here, I will just be on the bottom longer than you. If you can find somewhere to rent bigger tanks (aluminum 100s or Steel 100s-120s), and get Nitrox certified..... do it before you come down here. Don't worry about your nitrox fills either, we have Nitrox in Wilmington. OK.....so I am a little longwinded here. Now, if you want, scroll down to see who you need to call do dive this area.
Thanks for Visiting! fpsndiver
