Markham, Gill & Hyde Wreck Diving on May 26-27, 2018 Trip Report

[Dan]

I made a short trip to Wilmington, NC, during the Memorial Day weekend for family visit. This was my 2nd visit to the area. The 1st one was last year during Labor Day weekend, see link here:
https://www.scubaboard.com/community/threads/gill-hyde-wreck-diving-on-sep-3-4-2017-trip-report.550731/#post-8086375

I was happy diving with Aquatic Safaris Diver (ASD) last time. So, I booked the same 2-boat dives with ASD for Saturday (5/26/18) and Sunday (5/27/18). Both boat-diving trips were simply awesome with nice sunny 81F air temperatures & 72-75F water temperatures. Met @WinfieldNC & wife again on Saturday by shear coincidence.

On Saturday, I picked the Hyde / Markham trip with the smaller boat. It was full and packed with 20 divers (not much elbow room). The waves were about 2 feet. Didn’t see the resident sand-tiger sharks this time, but I was hoping to get a 2nd chance to see on them on Sunday. Here are some of the fish pictures I took on Saturday:

On Sunday, we got lucky to get to go with the bigger boat with 13 divers (more elbow room) to Gill & Hyde. Originally the charter was full a month before the trip and I was on waiting list. Then a week before the trip, there was some cancellations & I got a spot.

It was cool to see those amber jacks hunting on baitballs. This time, I think, the same sand-tiger shark resident of Hyde wreck showed up. So, it was a thrill to meet it again.

Here are some fish pictures I took on Sunday:

 

[Casey Smith]

Nice video of the sand tiger. The visibility doesn't look too bad either.

 

[WinfieldNC]

Hi @Dan_T , I'm glad you enjoyed your NC diving again. It's nice to see that a diver like yourself that has had the chance to dive so many places around the world can still appreciate NC diving. Once again the conditions were great when you were here, so keep coming back. I always like the Hyde because of the good chance of spotting a sand tiger or five but I really enjoyed the Markham this time too. Tiffany and I had not been to the Markham since 2016 and I forgot how large it was.

 

[azstinger11]

I love Aquatic Safaris! I think you booked the same trip I did last year (actually I just checked my dive log and that is correct). Those are both phenomenal wrecks. I agree though the small boat can be a bit of a cattle call, the larger boat is great. While I don't miss the longer boat trips that NC diving required, I do miss the wrecks.

 

[Dan]

Hi @Dan_T , I'm glad you enjoyed your NC diving again. It's nice to see that a diver like yourself that has had the chance to dive so many places around the world can still appreciate NC diving. Once again the conditions were great when you were here, so keep coming back. I always like the Hyde because of the good chance of spotting a sand tiger or five but I really enjoyed the Markham this time too. Tiffany and I had not been to the Markham since 2016 and I forgot how large it was.

Cool video! Tons of bail fish for the jacks to munch on. Glad you post it. Supplement the trip report, as I didn’t mention much about Markham.

 

[Dan]

Nice video of the sand tiger. The visibility doesn't look too bad either.

Thanks!

Welcome to Scubaboard, Casey!