Area named top for diving

Jannette Pippin -

The latest readers’ poll by Scuba Diving magazine ranks North Carolina as a top underwater destination along with North American hotspots like the Florida Keys.

Or, as diver David Osborne sees it: “They rank high with us.”

The magazine recently released its 18th annual Top 100 Readers’ Choice awards, which lists the world’s best destinations for SCUBA diving according to ratings by its readers.

North Carolina received top rankings as the best destination in North America for wreck diving and diving with big animals. It also placed second for diving value for the dollar.

Osborne, who works at Discovery Diving in Beaufort, said North Carolina consistently ranks high in the poll, and the dive center is often contacted by people interested in diving the area because of the recognition.

And from their personal experience, divers in the area say there is good reason for folks to come and explore the underwater world off North Carolina’s coast.

“It’s one of the best places in the world for wreck diving; it is called the Graveyard of the Atlantic,” said Gary Jenkins, owner of New River Dive Center in Jacksonville.

With an estimated 2,000 shipwrecks scattered along the sea floor off North Carolina’s coast, the Graveyard of the Atlantic is a display of relics from World War I, World War II and vessels from early maritime history.

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