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Outer Banks Diving - North Carolina |
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America's Undiscovered Wreck Diving Treasure On North Carolina's Outer Banks…
The waters off Cape Hatteras have claimed mariners and their ships since they first visited the coast of North Carolina in the sixteenth century. From the time that Sir Walter Raleigh's flagship, Tiger, ran aground on the hidden shoals of the Carolina Outer Banks in 1585, there have been over one thousand documented sinkings and strandings along this treacherous coastline. The sunken ships from these four centuries of maritime history make the Outer Banks the greatest location for wreck diving outside of Truk or Scappa Flow.
Many of the wrecks that lie off Hatteras were stranded on the hard sand of Diamond Shoals; others met their end from German torpedoes during WW II. The storms that beat against the shore in the winter and late fall drove many a sailing ship into the dangerous shallow waters of the cape, and then pounded them mercilessly. Now many of them lie in the warm Gulf Stream waters that average 78-85 degrees in the summer months and that boast incomparable visibility. Once you've dived these wrecks you'll never stop coming back.
A Few of the shipwrecks visited by Outer Banks Diving…
Name & History
| Depth
| | | | British Splendour
| (~100')
| City of Atlanta
| (~90')
| Dixie Arrow
| (~90')
| F.W. Abrams
| (~90')
| Hesperides
| (~40')
| Isle of Iona
| (~25')
| Kassandra Louloudis
| (~70')
| Cathrine Monahan
| (~100')
| Keshena
| (~90')
| Nevada
| (~74 ')
| Northeastern
| (~40')
| Australia
| (~110')
| Empire_Gem
| (~140')
| Liberator
| (~120’)
| U-701
| (~115')
| E.M. Clark
| (~240')
| Lancing
| (~168')
| Manuela
| (~165')
| Malchase
| (~205')
| Tarpon
| (~140')
| Proteus
| (~125')
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The Captain
Captain John "Johnny" Pieno is a licensed Master Captain, NAUI divemaster, commercial diver, and experienced treasure hunter - as well as being an avid (and successful) spear and sport fisherman. He is well aquainted with diving, and the needs of divers. Before moving to N.C, Johnny was partner in a Virginia Beach dive shop, and a commercial diver active with a special interest in working with wreck salvage operations. He has a developed knack as an artifact hunter and readily offers tips to beginning "diggers." He has operated sport diving charter boats from Virginia Beach to St. Thomas, USVI. 
His year-round home, in the village of Hatteras, is filled with wreck diving artifacts - a collection which, though somewhat less organized, will easily rival that of the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, which recently opened in Hatteras Village. Johnny's comprehensive knowledge of the maritime history and lore surrounding the "Graveyard of the Atlantic" will round out your dive experience.
Contact us today for accommodation options and top-side activities and attractions to create your own unique North Carolina diving experience.
Photographs courtesy of Outer Banks Diving.
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