Dive Review of
Capt J.T. Barker in
The Continental USA/North Carolina

Bon Aire, Cozumel, St Lucia, Costa Rica, Jamaca, Bahama, Bermuda, Caymen,
Mexica Riviera, Hondoras, Virgin Islands, Belize, Eluthera, St. Thomas  all
in the past 5 years

Dive Conditions

No limits were expressed on time of dive or depth but since the wrecks did
not exceed 130fsw to the sand, you could not exceed recreational depths. 
If you needed to do a deco stop then you did so.  

I have a video and light set up.  They would hold and hand my set up to me
once I was in the water in the manner I requested and take it from me
before exiting the water.  There isn't any camera table or bucket large
enough for the camera to soak in between dives.  I used a cooler bucket to
store my set up and they do have fresh water hoses to rinse the equipment
off.  

Overall Rating

North Carolina- Hatteras Village at end of Outer Banks.  We dove for the
first time with www.capt-jt.com during the 4th of July 2006.  We liked it
so much we came back 2 more times in August, despite the required 9 hour
drive to get there from mid New Jersey. For those of us in the North that
miss Caribbean diving this is as close as your going to get without making
a airplane flight. The reason we liked it so much is the Gulf Stream makes
it to Hatteras so during the high season the water temps are around 80
degrees, The wild life is prolific with tropicals you typically see in
Florida along with a lot of Norhtern cold water fish including many sharks,
and the boat service was the best I've had.

Typical trip is a max of 6 divers on a 45' boat with 2 mates in addition to
the capt. J.T. Barker.  Price is $125 for a 2 tank dive, $10 for air,
leaving around 7:30am and getting back to the dock between 3-4 p.m. JT
would consult us on where we would like to dive while finding out from
other boats what kind of conditions we could expect at different wreck
sites.  Depending on the wreck it was a 2 hour + trip to the wreck. The
mate would tie us into the wreck, we'd hit the water and during the 2 hour
surface interval the mate would cook us hot dogs and chips or you could
bring your own food for the grill.  They provide a cooler for you to bring
other snacks, drinks, etc.  We would then decide on another wreck location
and head back in. Some people would spear fish while on wreck.  

The boat is 45' and completely refurbished this year.  You are able to
sleep on the boat if you desire.  We stayed at the Breakwater Inn which was
2 miles away which had a new section facing the bay where we stayed. The
rooms had small kitchen set ups. entry to the water was back roll or giant
stride, then 15' down a line to the granny line going to the anchor line
and then to the wreck.  There is a 6 rung open end ladder with abrasive
coating for easy exit with your fins on or hand gear to the mate and climb
up. Suiting up is roomy as there's only 3 people on each bench, back to
back, facing the boat rail, During the trip to the wreck you could stay in
the A/C cabin with the captain and watch dvd's of other dives on a flat
screen or just talk.  On the return trip they would make popcorn for us. 
The personnel took very good care of our needs and was the main reason for
our return trips.

The diving conditions were varied from day to day. Out of the 18 dives we
made during July and August, you could have 30' to 100' viz, water temps
stayed around 80 degrees, with current from minimal to screaming.  Most of
the dives had minimal to slight current with viz around 60'+ and smooth
seas.

Wild life was prolific. Thousands of bait fish, Schools of Atlantic Spade,
Sting rays, many oyster toad fish, to many fish to really appreciate.
Dozens of sharks, mostly Sand Tiger in the 5' to 8' range. In all our dives
we only saw one Bull shark and 2 nurse sharks. Dolphins were seen on 1/4 of
our dive trips cicling the boat. There are tropicals but not in huge
amounts, You can see Angels, Triggers, Hogs, and others typical to a
Caribbean reef along with Lion Fish that are not endemic to our Ocean. 

They do not have a DM doing a dive with you. JT will let you dive on your
own profile so bottom time, depth is your choice. You should be comfortable
in dive planing and open ocean diving but if this is your first time and
you'd like a dm with you, the option is open to discussion. On a good day,
you would think your diving in the Caribbean.

If your looking for warm water diving without the airfare and a great dive
operation I would stronly recomend www.capt-jt.com



                          

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