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Originally Posted by CamaroChick
This is great info!! I go down to Avon almost every year with the fam, and every year I consider going diving there. I've talked to folks in both the Kitty Hawk and Hatteras dive shops, and between what they've told me and what I've read here, I know this kind of diving is not for me. Sadly its just too cold and rough for little me 
BTW, I hear you can do a shore dive to a wreck off the beach in Kitty Hawk, although I have no idea how you can get into the water with all of those crazy waves and rips! |
I did the Kyzickes at Kill Devil Hills. It's the closest I ever came to drowning. And that during the entry in 4 feet of water, max. I didn't know jack about beach diving at the time. Once I finally made it out to the wreck, I was so winded and stressed that I just held on to the bouoy and rested. During the dive on the wreck my integrated weights fell out of one pocket and I had to flare and pop back to the surface. No more integrated weights for me. It was interesting to experience the surge during the dive. It makes you realize that you are no more than a fly in the soup of the ocean. If this dive had been filmed, it definitely could have been on America's funniest videos.
If you ever do any of these beach dives, make sure to go with someone who knows what they are doing. If you don't, it would be worth every penny to pay a local DM.
When I went, my buddy was an Advanced Nitrox Instructor with a gazillion dives, but no beach dives. He did make it into the water and through the dive without an event, but he got rolled on the way back in and had to crawl out on his hands and knees with his double 80s on his back. It looked like a big shiny turtle coming on shore.
We were going to dive the Gerhardt for the second dive, but both decided we'd had enough.
