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Dive Review of Outer Banks Diving/Whalehead in
The Continental USA/North Carolina

Outer Banks Diving/Whalehead, Jul, 2011,

by Howard Kaiser, MO, US (Sr. Reviewer Sr. Reviewer 11 reports with 10 Helpful votes). Report 6155.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations N/A Food N/A
Service and Attitude 2 stars Environmental Sensitivity 3 stars
Dive Operation 1 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 1 stars
Beginners 1 stars
Advanced 2 stars
Comments The Good: Avery and Johnny were competent and safety conscious.
The Rest: boat was seriously overcrowded, requiring gearing up in shifts and then waiting in extreme heat to get in the water. Reported viz of 50 ft more like 20 ft with particulates in water making it seem like less. Thermocline at 40 ft as advertised- very cold for us warm water divers. I cannot imagine the situation had there been current or high seas..Getting dive partners together was difficult once underwater due to the chaos of getting in the water. The relative experience level of the divers was fairly high and even that did not prevent several divers from aborting the dives.
I was shocked , since I was paying for four divers, that weights and tanks were a separate charge. Not including (high) cost of rental gear, the dives cost far more than the best sites in Caymans and Belize as a result of the extra 8.00 for weights and 20.00 for tanks. How do you go diving without tanks? Anyway, I know this is standard in Florida as well, but it seems like they should reassess those charges. I was particularly miffed that we had to haul our TANKS back to the dive shop from the boat! What are we tipping these people for? The tip jar came out just as we hit the dock and I'm still trying to figure out why I tipped them ( I did, of course) The chaos to return rental gear was the worst part of the trip . Huge piles of equipment with great difficulty determining which gear was rental and personal etc. Mixups caused a delay afterwards and only my taking personal inventory (once we thought we were packed and done) saved me from leaving my wetsuit hanging amongst the rental gear. We've dived NC before with worst conditions and with better results, albeit further south of Nag's Head. This might be a better dive using one's own equipment and later in the season to avoid crowds. And I'd certainly plan for 2 days diving to maximize the trips since it was definitely not worth doing for a single day dive trip. Total cost for two tanks for 4 divers including some rental gear ( we brought our own regs and computers plus fins, masks etc) came to over 1100 dollars with tip. Enough said.

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 501-1000 dives
Where else diving Caymans, Bahamas, BVI, Cabo, Hawaii, Cozumel, Belize , FL Keys
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny Seas calm
Water Temp 76-62°F / 24-17°C Wetsuit Thickness 7
Water Visibility - Ft/ - M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks 1 or Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles 1 or Whales None
Corals N/A Tropical Fish 1 stars
Small Critters N/A Large Fish N/A
Large Pelagics 1 stars

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

Subject Matter N/A Boat Facilities N/A
Overall rating for UWP's N/A Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments [None]
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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