Morehead CityCrystal Coast, NC

Visibility is an estimate — wind, rain, tide & water alerts.

Getting in

Boat access only

Depth

90 to 120 ft

Who it suits

Experienced water people only

Snorkeling

Not a shore snorkel; reached by boat

Best conditions

Summer into early fall brings the warmest water, near 75 to 80 F, and the clearest visibility, over 100 ft in late summer. Winter water drops into the 50s and 60s F with lower visibility.

Getting through the gate

Boat charter only. Full-day trips run two dives on the offshore wrecks, and the main charter asks for 25 logged dives and prior deeper-ocean experience.

Protection

Several of the wrecks, like the Aeolus and the Spar, were sunk on purpose as artificial reefs, part of a North Carolina program that has placed more than 70 vessels statewide. The USS Monitor, a separate Civil War wreck elsewhere off the coast, is protected inside NOAA's Monitor National Marine Sanctuary; that status covers the Monitor alone.

Watch for

Deep wrecks at 90 to 120 ft, past recreational limits for many divers; the main charter recommends nitrox, Open-Atlantic wrecks reached only by boat, well offshore from care, Currents vary day to day and decide which wreck the boat can reach; some sites sit in Gulf Stream water, Sand tiger sharks live on the wrecks year round; operators describe them as docile and do not feed or chum

Checked 2026-07-22. Sources: NC Division of Marine Fisheries: artificial reef program, NOAA Monitor National Marine Sanctuary: shipwrecks, Olympus Dive Center, Morehead City (dive operator).