Scuba Diving Myrtle Beach: Scuba Diving Prices + Best Dives
If you are planning your trip to Myrtle Beach as a staycation, you may be wondering about the scuba diving in Myrtle Beach. You maybe asking what the Myrtle Beach scuba diving is like, what you might see on the dives and who to book your scuba diving trips with.
You can scuba dive Myrtle Beach with two companies including Coastal Scuba in North Myrtle Beach and Express Watersports in South Myrtle Beach. Myrtle Beach scuba diving includes diving on wrecks and artificial reefs with depths from 9-43 metres (30-140 ft) for beginners to advanced divers.
The best way to do more diving is to book yourself on a scuba diving liveaboard. You can check the latest and best deals on liveaboards using the following window:
Diving in North Myrtle Beach
The best way to scuba dive North Myrtle Beach is to book a dive trip with Coastal Scuba. From North Myrtle Beach you can dive on a number of dive sites, which include a number of World War II wrecks and artificial reefs.
Is there good diving in Myrtle Beach?
There are some excellent dives in Myrtle Beach, which includes a number of wrecks and artificial reefs. The better wrecks and reefs are further offshore to get better visibility and sea life, plus the chance to see sharks when you’re diving.
Included below is a table of the scuba diving Myrtle Beach dive sites.
Scuba Diving Myrtle Beach Dive Sites Table
Notes to the scuba diving sites of Myrtle Beach:
1. Dive Buddy Reviews can be found at: http://www.divebuddy.com/
2. Trip Advisor Reviews can be found at: https://www.tripadvisor.com/
3. The above table of dive sites off Myrtle Beach, South Carolina are sorted by depth and diver certification and experience. The depth is sorted by the max depth of the dive site.
4. For the best scuba diving in Myrtle Beach, sort the table by your own preference by selecting the arrows next to the column of choice.
The USS Vermilion wreck dive site
The USS Vermilion is a superb wreck dive for advanced divers, which was a 143 metre (470 ft) WWII troop ship that was sunk to create an artificial reef. The visibility is excellent and is between 15-30 metres (50-100ft), where you’ll see an amazing amount of sea life and an almost intact wreck to explore and penetrate.
A brief view at the USS Vermilion 25 years after it has turned into an artificial wreck.
The Sherman dive site
The Sherman dive site is 10km (6m) from Myrtle Beach and an ideal dive site for beginner divers, as it lies 16-17 metres (52-55 ft) below the surface. The Sherman (or Princess Royal) was a US Navy ship that was used for running blockades and was sank in 1874 and is home to large shoals of fish.
Originally a 200 ft. blockade-runner, this 145 year old post-Civil War wreck lies in 52 feet of water about 6 miles from Little River Inlet.
Pinnacle reef South Carolina
The Pinnacle Reef dive site is a 30 metre (100ft) barge sunk to create an artificial reef, which is 16km (10m) from Myrtle Beach and an ideal dive site for beginner divers. The reef lies 14-19 metres (45-63 ft) below the surface and is home to barracuda, spadefish and large shoals of fish.
Low vis. day at Pinnacle Reef in Myrtle Beach, SC on July 24, 2016.
Myrtle Beach Charleston tug dive site
Myrtle Beach’s Charleston tug dive site is an ideal dive site for novice divers, as the site is between 9-19 metres (30-62ft) deep. The Charleston was a World War II tugboat that was sunk during the war and is home to barracudas, Spanish mackerel, spade fish, black sea bass and gobies.
This artificial reef lies in 62 feet of water just off the coast of North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The 130 foot tug is sitting upright with the top at about 30 feet and bottoms out at 62 feet. This dive consistently produces the best inshore dive visibility available.
Locations of artificial reefs and wrecks in Myrtle Beach
The following map gives the locations of the artificial reef and wreck dive sites in Myrtle Beach. This map of the reefs and wrecks of South Carolina can be found here, which links to the locations of each of these dive sites.
Shark cage diving Myrtle Beach
There is no shark cage diving at Myrtle Beach despite the fact there are many sharks around, which include the three big sharks. You can still dive Myrtle Beach and see sharks, but you’ll have to be content diving without a cage protecting you, which is actually fine.
If you want to learn more about what the common sharks are at Myrtle Beach, please have a read of this article about the 9 most common sharks at Myrtle Beach, which includes great white sharks.
Shark cage diving Charleston SC
There is no shark cage diving from Charleston SC, which is about 160km (100 miles) south of Myrtle Beach and home to some great diving. Charleston is on an expanse of estuary with merging Ashley and Cooper rivers, which is likely to be home to bull sharks.
Great white shark cage diving South Carolina
Whilst South Carolina and Myrtle Beach have great white sharks, there is no great white shark cage diving from South Carolina. The only chance to dive with great white sharks in South Carolina and Myrtle Beach would be if you are lucky enough to spot one on a dive (see video below).
If you would like to find the best places to cage dive with great white sharks, this article “Where Is The Best Place To Cage Dive With Sharks“, lists 6 of the best places in the world to dive with great white. Or you can cage dive with great white sharks from San Diego too.
The following video of a dive to the south west of the Frying Pan Tower from Southport, which is just 100km (63 miles) north of Myrtle Beach. This dive site is dived from North Myrtle Beach by Coastal Scuba, and in this video the divers are visited by a great white shark.
Footage shot by Anthony Antolak and Erin Burge. Yes, it’s a white shark. It’s not a porbeagle or a mako.
Is there shark diving in Myrtle Beach?
There are two options to dive with sharks at Myrtle Beach, which include going offshore on a dive boat to see them in their natural environment, or you visit Ripley’s Aquarium and dive with the sharks in their large tank for 30 minutes.
But the dive with sharks experience at Ripley’s Aquarium in Myrtle Beach is not operating at present, so you are currently left with the first alternative, which is to go shark diving offshore from Myrtle Beach instead. This is the better option in my opinion, as you can’t beat the experience of diving with sharks in their natural environment.
This is a video of a dive on The Hebe wreck, which kills two birds with one stone, you get to dive on a World War II wreck and dive with sharks too. The sharks seen on this dive are sand tiger sharks (or ragged tooth sharks).
A dive on the shipwreck of the Hebe, a WWII era freighter sunk approximately 40 miles off the Myrtle Beach Coast. Video includes sandtiger sharks and artifact recovery.
You may be wondering if Myrtle Beach is also good for snorkeling whilst you visiting South Carolina, please take a read of this article about is there good snorkeling in Myrtle beach, which explains why Myrtle Beach isn’t good for snorkeling.
I hope you enjoyed this page about scuba diving myrtle beach
If you have more questions either about snorkelling or scuba diving (or specifically about scuba diving myrtle beach), please comment below with your questions.
Please share your experiences, plus dive sites, resorts and liveaboards you recommend. Share the time of year of your trip together with what you saw, the visibility, currents and dive operator, as this will help others who read this page.
There will also be many more pages and articles about scuba and scuba diving safety tips (and on snorkelling too) for you to read and learn about this fabulous sport.
Have fun and be safe!
