US South - Best Diving

1. Morehead City, North Carolina What's your pleasure? Face-to-face encounters with sharks? Wreck diving in the graveyard of the Atlantic? Fresh lobster dinner? Superb visibility? All this and more led readers of Rodale's Scuba Diving magazine to anoint Morehead City the top diving destination in North America. Nuf said. For more information, call 800-992-1258.

2. Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge, Florida Mellow is the word for snorkelers visiting this little piece of paradise to cozy up to the area's ultramellow "seacows," otherwise known as manatees. The 72-degree water, kept clear by a strong outflow from a nearby spring, creates the perfect environment for a getaway that's more spiritual than physical. For more information, call the refuge at 352-563-2088.

3. The Florida Keys Why quibble about which part of the Keys? Snorkelers and divers flock here for wrecks, lobster, aquatic life, coral formations, and the statue in John Pennycamp Coral Reef State Park known as "Christ of the Abyss." Upon surfacing, certain divers are rumored to consume margaritas and fresh seafood. Imagine that. For more information, call Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary at 305-743-2437.

4. Lake Ouachita, Arkansas This manmade lake, created in 1955, is a surprise find for divers. With 48,000 acres of clean water loaded with crappie, bream, rainbow trout, and ocean stripers, this is a first-rate freshwater dive experience. For more information, call 501-767-9367.

5. Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary, Georgia Spearfishers and friends of endangered species will find common water on Gray's Reef, 17.5 miles from the coastal island of Sapelo. Game fish include grouper and snapper, but of greater interest are the calving grounds of northern right whales (midwinter) and the year-round presence of loggerhead turtles, which are being tracked in a satellite survey. For more information, call 912-598-2345.