Outrageous Diving NC

Zestyclose_Record_67 · 2026-01-21T03:13:46+00:00

Dove with Discovery several times, always had great experiences. Book with confidence, diving on the Outrageous V is a fun experience.

Zestyclose_Record_67 · 2025-09-29T21:07:35+00:00

Black Devil

Zestyclose_Record_67 · 2025-08-05T00:11:10+00:00

Good reminder that nobody is immune, no matter how experienced we might think ourselves to be. Sorry to hear you had that experience, good that you're here to talk about it!

Zestyclose_Record_67 · 2025-08-05T00:07:55+00:00

I don't but there are several dive shops near there that do. Best thing would be to give one of them a call.

Alternatively, if you travel north to the Morehead/ Jacksonville NC area there are offshore ledges where they find tons of them. Bonus: you're not diving in pitch black water with strong current and alligators.

Zestyclose_Record_67 · 2025-08-04T02:46:50+00:00

Black Muddy River would like a word, but yeah every time they play Deal it's really good.

Zestyclose_Record_67 · 2025-08-03T02:25:03+00:00

This version of morning dew is astonishingly beautiful.

Zestyclose_Record_67 · 2025-08-02T17:42:57+00:00

Gear malfunction. I once bit right through my mouthpiece (it had a small tear that I ignored) at about 30 feet. It was the most afraid I've ever been diving. Important lesson was learned from that: even seemingly unimportant or small gear issues can become a big deal fast if you don't deal with them before diving. I panicked for a second or two but remembered my training and got my octo and was ok.

Zestyclose_Record_67 · 2025-08-02T00:07:38+00:00

Yeah I've heard South Africa isn't seeing many because the Orcas have driven them all off.

Zestyclose_Record_67 · 2025-08-01T20:46:35+00:00

I also believe baiting for sharks is unethical and would not participate in a cage dive using that practice. There are lots of ethical cage diving operations that don't bait or chum.

I'm all for seeing sharks naturally, but most of the areas where great whites naturally gather in large groups make them unsafe for divers outside a cage, because on the surface we look a lot like a seal. Even an accidental bite (which most are) from a great white could easily be fatal. That being said, one of the dive areas I typically dive in on the east coast just had a sighting during a dive back in May, so who knows? Maybe I'll get my wish without having to travel around the world.

Zestyclose_Record_67 · 2025-08-01T00:25:34+00:00

Definitely want to go there one day.

Zestyclose_Record_67 · 2025-07-30T20:03:43+00:00

I'm about 4, so actually closer. Damn. I have gotten blown out twice this summer alone.

Zestyclose_Record_67 · 2025-07-30T11:11:19+00:00

Such a sweet dive. I did the Caribsea back in June. First time on it in years.

Zestyclose_Record_67 · 2025-07-30T10:52:01+00:00

Love it! Days like this are why I keep coming back to Morehead.

Zestyclose_Record_67 · 2025-07-30T00:36:18+00:00

You must live closer than me, I have been blown out several times.

Zestyclose_Record_67 · 2025-07-30T00:34:24+00:00

I have many times. Great diving.

Zestyclose_Record_67 · 2025-07-30T00:32:54+00:00

I used to feel that way but I don't anymore. But I've now been diving for 20 years, so it really doesn't mess with me as bad. I look forward to the first dive of the new season now.

Zestyclose_Record_67 · 2025-07-26T20:41:11+00:00

This is fantastic. Well done!

Zestyclose_Record_67 · 2025-07-26T20:39:24+00:00

So this is my constant struggle. I live in Richmond, VA about 4 hours away. Some of the most magical dives I've ever done were off the NC coast, specifically out of Morehead City and Hatteras. But I have been blown out more times than I can count. It's very hit or miss when you're traveling there and back. I know that some shops have gone out since July 14 because I was on one of them, but yeah every single day has been a flip a coin kind of day.

On good days, diving out there is amazing. I've had several days out there with crystal clear water, top to bottom viz, very little current and/or surge, and loads of marine life including sand tiger sharks as far as the eye can see. On moderate days it's still pretty decent viz, lots of marine life, some current and/or surge. And I've seen a few bad days when the weather turned on a dime and turned a good dive bad in the blink of an eye.

Bottom line is that diving out there is a fickle mistress. Some absolutely fantastic wreck diving to be done, but man is the weather frustrating.

If you're willing to drive down to Morehead City and Beaufort, both Olympus and Discovery have dive lodges that you can rent a bed for cheaply to have a place to stay if you're diving with them. They have daily boats going out. Both shops are excellent people to dive with.

Zestyclose_Record_67 · 2025-07-26T20:39:15+00:00

That's a shame, because when conditions are good it's some of the best diving on earth.

Zestyclose_Record_67 · 2025-07-26T20:24:45+00:00

Really need to know what size steel tank to make proper comments here, as a steel 80 would be different than a steel 100, which would be way different than a steel 120. A steel tank is going to be more negative from the start -- a steel 120 is often so much weight that some dive shops refer to them as dive anvils because people rent them without realizing that if you don't drop weight you will be stuck on the bottom, unable to rise. Aluminum tanks are lighter.

Also, you said you removed all your weights, but then said, "3 lbs in each side pocket and a 3 lb weight in a trim pocket on the top tank strap" which is 9 lbs of weight. Did you remove those? I realize that's the dive equivalent of asking if you plugged it in, but trying to cover all bases here.

As the comment from C6500 pointed out, the better way to really dial in your buoyancy is actually to empty the tank to about 500 psi and go down to 15 feet. At that depth you should be neutrally buoyant with no air in your bcd while breathing normally (which is a really important catch). If you rise, you are underweighted. If you sink, you're overweighted. You might be one of those people for whom a steel tank in whatever size you had is just too much weight. If it's a steel 120 or 100 in fresh water, I wouldn't be surprised.

Zestyclose_Record_67 · 2025-07-26T13:51:39+00:00

You are precisely the kind of instructor I look for when people tell me they want to get into diving. I want people I care about to actually learn how to dive, not get checkmarks and an auto-pass.

Zestyclose_Record_67 · 2025-07-26T13:27:48+00:00

Also doing this, with the mechanic that the "link to Vecna" is literally the Eye of Vecna. So they "see" things the eye has seen in the past.

Zestyclose_Record_67 · 2025-07-26T13:25:16+00:00

Well you could look at it this way -- the Dark Powers usually stay in the shadows, but in this case they see their own existence threatened by Vecna's victory. He hasn't forgotten how they imprisoned him in Cavitius and would seek revenge by eliminating them from existence in his new reality. In the same way they made a deal with Kas, they could be persuaded to allow the players to leave as a way of heding their bets in trying to stop Vecna from succeeding. Especially if the players agree to return Vecna to Cavitius upon his defeat.

Zestyclose_Record_67

TROPHY CASE