FettSolo
Contributor
Why NC?
North Carolina has been on my list for a while. The combination of numerous wrecks and sand tiger sharks is irresistible, and I always like exploring more diving in the U.S. Coming from NH, warm-water diving is also a nice change!
Getting There
This was difficult. We were originally supposed to fly Southwest from Manchester, NH to Baltimore, then Baltimore to Raleigh. Less than a couple hours before our first flight, our second flight was cancelled. No notification from SW; I only found out because I happened to check the SW app and noticed our second flight had completely disappeared. I spent 90min on the phone with SW to figure out an alternate route, ultimately flying into Myrtle Beach instead of Raleigh. Both flights were delayed, so we ultimately arrived after 1am and had to book a cruddy Motel 6 last-minute for $180. After a couple hours sleep, we drove from Myrtle Beach to Atlantic Beach (where we were staying).
On the way back, we drove from Atlantic Beach to Raleigh and flew from there. Much smoother!
Dive Operator and Boat
I chose Olympus Dive Center due to positive reviews on SB and the desire to avoid a six-pack. While the latter obviously means less divers, it also means a rougher ride, and I did not think I would fare well.
Olympus expects you to do everything. While you can rent tanks from them, you have to analyze them yourself (they provide the equipment to do so) and take them on and off the boat. Frankly, at the overall cost of $209 for 2 dives ($155 for the dives + $34 to rent two AL 80 Nitrox tanks + $20 daily fuel surcharge), I think they could handle the tanks themselves. Every dive shop I have ever gone with has been happy to do so.
They have two boats, the Midnight Express and the Olympus. I spent one day on the former, two on the latter. The Midnight Express is a slightly smaller boat (I think it fits 16, while Olympus fits roughly 25). While the crew on both boats were always professional, I found the Olympus crew to be friendlier. The Midnight Express guys were nice when you spoke to them, but they did not initiate conversation and seemed to mostly stick to themselves. That may be irrelevant to some of you, and it did not affect my diving, but I am a firm believer that the dive operator needs to make their boat a welcoming environment so that new/inexperienced divers feel comfortable to speak up if an issue arises. The crew on the Olympus seemed more invested in creating and maintaining such an environment.
The boat rides were long: 90-120 minutes one-way. I needed to be at the dive center at 6am, and we usually returned around 2pm. The exception was the third day, when there was an issue with one of the boat engines and we had to slowly limp home, not arriving until about 4pm.
I should note that Olympus has a strict cancellation policy. Once it is less than 30 days before the date of your dive, there is no refund unless they cancel the dive. This ultimately meant I had to lose $155 on one day, which was frustrating.
While I had some complaints, they were minor and overall I was satisfied with Olympus Dive Center. If I returned to NC, I would dive with them again.
The Dives
First day was two dives on the Aeolus, a ship that was purposely sunk to be an artificial reef. Visually interesting structure. Loads of fish, but the sand tiger sharks were mostly absent - only saw one or two. This is normally supposed to be a good spot to see the sand tigers.
Second day was two dives on the Caribsea, a freighter torpedoed by a U-boat during WWII. The structure of this wreck is not in great shape, but plenty of fish and a couple sand tiger sharks and stingrays.
Third day was two dives on the Spar, a Coast Guard cutter that was purposely sunk to be an artificial reef. I thought this was the best of the three in terms of the actual wreck, as the Spar is in really good shape. I also saw the most sand tiger sharks here (half a dozen). I did have a nasty reverse squeeze at the end of the second dive; the worst one I have experienced in a decade.
I was originally scheduled for six days of diving. The fourth day I was refunded due to the Olympus not being able to go out (the aforementioned engine issue). The fifth day I was refunded due to weather cancellation (though I have not received the money yet). And the sixth day I had to cancel due to still feeling some latent squeeze issues - I spoke to DAN and they recommended not diving. If I did not have another dive trip in two weeks, I probably would have gone, but I did not want to risk it.
The water was warm; usually in the low 80s above the thermocline, and low 70s below. I wore a 3mm wetsuit with a Lavacore vest and shorts underneath. Most people wore 3mm, though it seemed like they felt cold below the thermocline (I was fine). The visibility was usually in the 30-40 foot range. Currents were present but mostly mild. These were all deep dives (75-100+ ft), so even with Nitrox my dives were usually around 45 minutes total.
Non-Diving Activities
We visited the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knolls, which had a nice range of exhibits and was well-designed. We spent a few hours in the nearby town of Beaufort, which had lots of historic homes and the excellent North Carolina Maritime Museum. The highlight was seeing some of the recovered artifacts from Blackbeard's ship. We also took a quick boat ride to the Rachel Carson Preserve, which was beautiful and home to some wild horses. We were fortunate enough to see them really close-up.
On the drive to Raleigh we also visited New Bern, which is 50min from Morehead City. This is a lovely town with great architecture (and the birthplace of Pepsi-Cola).
Bottom Line
I doubt I will ever return. Each dive day is at least 8 hours, which started to wear on me even after just a couple days. 8 hours and $209 is a lot of time and money for two dives, no matter what you end up seeing underwater. In addition, the fickle weather means it is hard to even guarantee diving. While I was only blown out by weather one day, the shop staff told me the previous two weeks had essentially no dive days. That's a tough value proposition when booking a dive vacation.
That all being said, I am really glad I finally was able to experience North Carolina diving. The wrecks were awesome dive sites with plenty of photographic opportunities, and I loved seeing sand tiger sharks swim right by me.
North Carolina has been on my list for a while. The combination of numerous wrecks and sand tiger sharks is irresistible, and I always like exploring more diving in the U.S. Coming from NH, warm-water diving is also a nice change!
Getting There
This was difficult. We were originally supposed to fly Southwest from Manchester, NH to Baltimore, then Baltimore to Raleigh. Less than a couple hours before our first flight, our second flight was cancelled. No notification from SW; I only found out because I happened to check the SW app and noticed our second flight had completely disappeared. I spent 90min on the phone with SW to figure out an alternate route, ultimately flying into Myrtle Beach instead of Raleigh. Both flights were delayed, so we ultimately arrived after 1am and had to book a cruddy Motel 6 last-minute for $180. After a couple hours sleep, we drove from Myrtle Beach to Atlantic Beach (where we were staying).
On the way back, we drove from Atlantic Beach to Raleigh and flew from there. Much smoother!
Dive Operator and Boat
I chose Olympus Dive Center due to positive reviews on SB and the desire to avoid a six-pack. While the latter obviously means less divers, it also means a rougher ride, and I did not think I would fare well.
Olympus expects you to do everything. While you can rent tanks from them, you have to analyze them yourself (they provide the equipment to do so) and take them on and off the boat. Frankly, at the overall cost of $209 for 2 dives ($155 for the dives + $34 to rent two AL 80 Nitrox tanks + $20 daily fuel surcharge), I think they could handle the tanks themselves. Every dive shop I have ever gone with has been happy to do so.
They have two boats, the Midnight Express and the Olympus. I spent one day on the former, two on the latter. The Midnight Express is a slightly smaller boat (I think it fits 16, while Olympus fits roughly 25). While the crew on both boats were always professional, I found the Olympus crew to be friendlier. The Midnight Express guys were nice when you spoke to them, but they did not initiate conversation and seemed to mostly stick to themselves. That may be irrelevant to some of you, and it did not affect my diving, but I am a firm believer that the dive operator needs to make their boat a welcoming environment so that new/inexperienced divers feel comfortable to speak up if an issue arises. The crew on the Olympus seemed more invested in creating and maintaining such an environment.
The boat rides were long: 90-120 minutes one-way. I needed to be at the dive center at 6am, and we usually returned around 2pm. The exception was the third day, when there was an issue with one of the boat engines and we had to slowly limp home, not arriving until about 4pm.
I should note that Olympus has a strict cancellation policy. Once it is less than 30 days before the date of your dive, there is no refund unless they cancel the dive. This ultimately meant I had to lose $155 on one day, which was frustrating.
While I had some complaints, they were minor and overall I was satisfied with Olympus Dive Center. If I returned to NC, I would dive with them again.
The Dives
First day was two dives on the Aeolus, a ship that was purposely sunk to be an artificial reef. Visually interesting structure. Loads of fish, but the sand tiger sharks were mostly absent - only saw one or two. This is normally supposed to be a good spot to see the sand tigers.
Second day was two dives on the Caribsea, a freighter torpedoed by a U-boat during WWII. The structure of this wreck is not in great shape, but plenty of fish and a couple sand tiger sharks and stingrays.
Third day was two dives on the Spar, a Coast Guard cutter that was purposely sunk to be an artificial reef. I thought this was the best of the three in terms of the actual wreck, as the Spar is in really good shape. I also saw the most sand tiger sharks here (half a dozen). I did have a nasty reverse squeeze at the end of the second dive; the worst one I have experienced in a decade.
I was originally scheduled for six days of diving. The fourth day I was refunded due to the Olympus not being able to go out (the aforementioned engine issue). The fifth day I was refunded due to weather cancellation (though I have not received the money yet). And the sixth day I had to cancel due to still feeling some latent squeeze issues - I spoke to DAN and they recommended not diving. If I did not have another dive trip in two weeks, I probably would have gone, but I did not want to risk it.
The water was warm; usually in the low 80s above the thermocline, and low 70s below. I wore a 3mm wetsuit with a Lavacore vest and shorts underneath. Most people wore 3mm, though it seemed like they felt cold below the thermocline (I was fine). The visibility was usually in the 30-40 foot range. Currents were present but mostly mild. These were all deep dives (75-100+ ft), so even with Nitrox my dives were usually around 45 minutes total.
Non-Diving Activities
We visited the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knolls, which had a nice range of exhibits and was well-designed. We spent a few hours in the nearby town of Beaufort, which had lots of historic homes and the excellent North Carolina Maritime Museum. The highlight was seeing some of the recovered artifacts from Blackbeard's ship. We also took a quick boat ride to the Rachel Carson Preserve, which was beautiful and home to some wild horses. We were fortunate enough to see them really close-up.
On the drive to Raleigh we also visited New Bern, which is 50min from Morehead City. This is a lovely town with great architecture (and the birthplace of Pepsi-Cola).
Bottom Line
I doubt I will ever return. Each dive day is at least 8 hours, which started to wear on me even after just a couple days. 8 hours and $209 is a lot of time and money for two dives, no matter what you end up seeing underwater. In addition, the fickle weather means it is hard to even guarantee diving. While I was only blown out by weather one day, the shop staff told me the previous two weeks had essentially no dive days. That's a tough value proposition when booking a dive vacation.
That all being said, I am really glad I finally was able to experience North Carolina diving. The wrecks were awesome dive sites with plenty of photographic opportunities, and I loved seeing sand tiger sharks swim right by me.