North Carolina is brimming with all sorts of fun adventures. From awesome tree-top activities to a spine-tingling mile-high swinging bridge and rapids made for the ultimate rafting experience, the Tar Heel State never disappoints when it comes to epic outdoor fun. And that continues even if the fun happens to be underwater, as is the case with Fantasy Lake Scuba Park. (Now called Fantasy Lake Adventure Park)

But most people don’t know we have an entire park dedicated to scuba diving.

Google Maps/Eric Barker

Google Maps/Chip Dodd Or that in less than 30 minutes from Raleigh, you can be suited up and in the drink exploring all sorts of fun underwater finds in the largest scuba park on the East Coast.

Fantasy Lake Scuba Park is a converted rock quarry with depths as much as 80 feet in places.

Google Maps/Jim Barbieri Until 1950, rocks from this busy quarry were shuffled all over the U.S., including to the Chesapeake Bay Tunnel project. Then, an overactive spring flooded the quarry, and it was closed for good.

Today, the 54-acre quarry is part of a 100-acre park dedicated to scuba.

Google Maps/Jim A

Layton Mikkalson/Google And the quarry is rich in underwater treasure. There are two planes, a rock crusher from the operational days of the quarry, a car, a bus — and maybe even an underwater basketball court.

Primitive campsites and hiking trails flank the banks of the scuba park quarry. For a nominal fee, divers can spend the night and get an early start the next morning.

Ricki Marie Sidorov/Google

Fantasy Lake is known for having super clear water, perfect for dive excursions.

Google Maps/Sue Montana There are four easy access entrances into the quarry, including dive platforms, a set of stairs, and a sandy beach with a sloping entry. The lake is the preferred training grounds for many local dive certification classes. However, no classes are offered by Fantasy Lake. Go on a scuba dive with Fantasy Lake Adventure Park in this video from The Traveler:

Whether you love the new name, Fantasy Lake Adventure Park or still call it the old standby, Fantasy Lake Scuba Park, it is located on Quarry Road in Rolesville, North Carolina. They’re open 365 days per year for daytime and night diving adventures. For a list of fees, and to print a release statement you’ll need to bring with you, visit its official website.

Google Maps/Eric Barker

Google Maps/Chip Dodd

Or that in less than 30 minutes from Raleigh, you can be suited up and in the drink exploring all sorts of fun underwater finds in the largest scuba park on the East Coast.

Google Maps/Jim Barbieri

Until 1950, rocks from this busy quarry were shuffled all over the U.S., including to the Chesapeake Bay Tunnel project. Then, an overactive spring flooded the quarry, and it was closed for good.

Google Maps/Jim A

Layton Mikkalson/Google

And the quarry is rich in underwater treasure. There are two planes, a rock crusher from the operational days of the quarry, a car, a bus — and maybe even an underwater basketball court.

Ricki Marie Sidorov/Google

Google Maps/Sue Montana

There are four easy access entrances into the quarry, including dive platforms, a set of stairs, and a sandy beach with a sloping entry. The lake is the preferred training grounds for many local dive certification classes. However, no classes are offered by Fantasy Lake. Go on a scuba dive with Fantasy Lake Adventure Park in this video from The Traveler:

For another scuba diving adventure in North Carolina check out the Blue Stone Dive Resort, another man-made lake created from an old quarry.

OnlyInYourState may earn compensation through affiliate links in this article.

Address: Fantasy Lake Adventure Park (Scuba Diving), 3601 Quarry Rd, Rolesville, NC 27571, USA

The OIYS Visitor Center

Best scuba diving in North Carolina February 15, 2023 Chris Muras Where can you go scuba diving in North Carolina? Besides Fantasy Lake North Carolina, the man-made diving lake made from an old quarry, there are a few other places to go scuba diving in the state. If you are interested in dive centers or some of the best places to dive on your own, you have plenty of options. Here is a list of places to go scuba diving in North Carolina:

Olympus Dive Center, Morehead City, NC: From training, gear, and some of the best guided diving trips you’ll find in NC, Olympus is a top-notch diving center. Discovery Diving Co Inc, Beaufort, NC: Explore the graveyard of the Atlantic with guided dives, get certified as an instructor, or simply learn to scuba dive on our own. Aquatic Safaris SCUBA Center, Wilmington, NC: Everything from gear repair to guided dives, scuba classes, and certifications. Explore shipwrecks off the shore of Wrightsville Beach.

  If you are looking for the best places to dive off the coast of North Carolina here are a few of the best places to find shipwrecks and aquatic life:

Nags Head: This beach town on the outer banks of NC offers some of the best dive spots around. They call this area the Graveyard of the Atlantic because of the number of submerged shipwrecks. The USS Huron is a popular underwater shipwreck to explore near Nags Head. Cape Hatteras: The Diamond Shoals off Cape Hatteras is another great spot to dive for shipwrecks lost at sea. It’s also a hot spot for diving with sand tiger sharks. Crystal Coast: The Crystal Coast in Morehead City is another top spot for exploring shipwrecks. From the famous U-352, the first German U-boat sunk in WWII, to the Russian Ashkhabad tanker built during WWI but sunk during WWII, or the 312-foot-long freighter, Normannia that sunk in 1924 after being damaged in a storm, there are dozens and dozens of shipwrecks to explore.

The OIYS Visitor Center

Best scuba diving in North Carolina

February 15, 2023

Chris Muras

Where can you go scuba diving in North Carolina? Besides Fantasy Lake North Carolina, the man-made diving lake made from an old quarry, there are a few other places to go scuba diving in the state. If you are interested in dive centers or some of the best places to dive on your own, you have plenty of options. Here is a list of places to go scuba diving in North Carolina:

Olympus Dive Center, Morehead City, NC: From training, gear, and some of the best guided diving trips you’ll find in NC, Olympus is a top-notch diving center. Discovery Diving Co Inc, Beaufort, NC: Explore the graveyard of the Atlantic with guided dives, get certified as an instructor, or simply learn to scuba dive on our own. Aquatic Safaris SCUBA Center, Wilmington, NC: Everything from gear repair to guided dives, scuba classes, and certifications. Explore shipwrecks off the shore of Wrightsville Beach.

  If you are looking for the best places to dive off the coast of North Carolina here are a few of the best places to find shipwrecks and aquatic life:

Nags Head: This beach town on the outer banks of NC offers some of the best dive spots around. They call this area the Graveyard of the Atlantic because of the number of submerged shipwrecks. The USS Huron is a popular underwater shipwreck to explore near Nags Head. Cape Hatteras: The Diamond Shoals off Cape Hatteras is another great spot to dive for shipwrecks lost at sea. It’s also a hot spot for diving with sand tiger sharks. Crystal Coast: The Crystal Coast in Morehead City is another top spot for exploring shipwrecks. From the famous U-352, the first German U-boat sunk in WWII, to the Russian Ashkhabad tanker built during WWI but sunk during WWII, or the 312-foot-long freighter, Normannia that sunk in 1924 after being damaged in a storm, there are dozens and dozens of shipwrecks to explore.

The OIYS Visitor Center

The OIYS Visitor Center

Besides Fantasy Lake North Carolina, the man-made diving lake made from an old quarry, there are a few other places to go scuba diving in the state. If you are interested in dive centers or some of the best places to dive on your own, you have plenty of options. Here is a list of places to go scuba diving in North Carolina:

  • Olympus Dive Center, Morehead City, NC: From training, gear, and some of the best guided diving trips you’ll find in NC, Olympus is a top-notch diving center.
  • Discovery Diving Co Inc, Beaufort, NC: Explore the graveyard of the Atlantic with guided dives, get certified as an instructor, or simply learn to scuba dive on our own.
  • Aquatic Safaris SCUBA Center, Wilmington, NC: Everything from gear repair to guided dives, scuba classes, and certifications. Explore shipwrecks off the shore of Wrightsville Beach.

 

If you are looking for the best places to dive off the coast of North Carolina here are a few of the best places to find shipwrecks and aquatic life:

  • Nags Head: This beach town on the outer banks of NC offers some of the best dive spots around. They call this area the Graveyard of the Atlantic because of the number of submerged shipwrecks. The USS Huron is a popular underwater shipwreck to explore near Nags Head.
  • Cape Hatteras: The Diamond Shoals off Cape Hatteras is another great spot to dive for shipwrecks lost at sea. It’s also a hot spot for diving with sand tiger sharks.
  • Crystal Coast: The Crystal Coast in Morehead City is another top spot for exploring shipwrecks. From the famous U-352, the first German U-boat sunk in WWII, to the Russian Ashkhabad tanker built during WWI but sunk during WWII, or the 312-foot-long freighter, Normannia that sunk in 1924 after being damaged in a storm, there are dozens and dozens of shipwrecks to explore.