MSPDiver
Contributor
Buddy and i hit olympus for another year of NC wreck diving. Bobby, Gavin, and Bud took good care of us. Stayed at the Bask hotel for the first time. It was nice, close too. We had a two bed room with a kicthenette. Basic room, clean and breakfast and wifi included. Online rate is cheaper then olympus rate.
First day was at 352 followed by stearn of the Aelous. 352 had 40 to ft vis. You had to push the bait fish out of the way. Serious thermocline 10 to 15 ft of bottom. Not much big life. Lots of metal and bait fish. Second dive on Aelous was in the shark lounge. Vis down was blue until thermocline, then lights out. 30 ft max. At depth. 3 to 4 sand tigers put on the usual show. Seas about 2 to 4. Sunny day
Second day:
Started out towards the papoose but rerouted to Spar due to reports of bad vis at Papoose. Seas about 2 to 4. Some overcast, wind not to bad. Not a typical Spar dive. No sharks vis was terrible at depth. Maybe 25 ft at most. Bottom temp 77. Surface 84. On to the Aeolus bow. Same story hear no sharks, vis 20 ft of bottom a blustery 20 ft max. Nothing out of the ordinary, dive wise.
Day 3:
Last day we did the Aeolus stern again. Vis much the same. Maybe 25 ft at depth. Thermocline noticeable both in temp and visually. Once we got in lounge, 4 to 5 shark did there thing. Ran the starboard hallway to gather 4 teeth. Swam forward and turned the corner to see the mother of the sharks in the lounge. 8 to 10 foot sand tiger crusing. Came back around to complete the circle and was only diver left in the lounge. Couple of sharks and me with 1 min left to deco.
Second dive on the Indra. Quickly becoming my favorite wreck here. Lots of relief, easy to navigate and lots of stuff to see. Vis good on top and then lights out. Upweling all week. Vis at the sand was maybe 5 ft. Saw 2 sand tigers in the hold. Pretty cool when its just you and yhe shark and you cant see them until they are on top of you. Couple of stingrays in the sand of the port side anchor chain. Bait balls evident but you could not get the full appreciation due to limited 15 ft vis. Hangline beautiful blue water 5p vis with life and barracuda.
Did a pm single tank on the midnight express. First time on this boat. Clean but def smaller then olympus. Crew was friendly. We had john and travis with buck as the capt.
Dive: went back to indra. Vis about the same. Two stingrays circling the gun turret at the bow. Sand tiger still in the hold. Highlight for me was the toadfish at the stern, inside by the sinks. Hangline was intersting. Good vis there, probably 30 to 40 ft blue water. Nice down shot of stern with baitballs. Rebreather dive got bumped by barracuda several times.
Back to the dock at 8 with a 7 hr drive ahead of us.
For those who have not been to Olympus, it is well organized operation. The shop is big and full or artifacts from the wrecks. Boats are bug and well organized. Bobby has done his dad proud and continues to improve on the Olympus name. Fills are fast and easy. The only down side to the whole trip was the poor vis, but hell we werent blown out so you cant get to down.
Highlights, Gavin and Bud (mates on olympus) they are like the odd couple. Always good to see the sand tigers. Couple of teeth for the kids and great topside conditions.
First day was at 352 followed by stearn of the Aelous. 352 had 40 to ft vis. You had to push the bait fish out of the way. Serious thermocline 10 to 15 ft of bottom. Not much big life. Lots of metal and bait fish. Second dive on Aelous was in the shark lounge. Vis down was blue until thermocline, then lights out. 30 ft max. At depth. 3 to 4 sand tigers put on the usual show. Seas about 2 to 4. Sunny day
Second day:
Started out towards the papoose but rerouted to Spar due to reports of bad vis at Papoose. Seas about 2 to 4. Some overcast, wind not to bad. Not a typical Spar dive. No sharks vis was terrible at depth. Maybe 25 ft at most. Bottom temp 77. Surface 84. On to the Aeolus bow. Same story hear no sharks, vis 20 ft of bottom a blustery 20 ft max. Nothing out of the ordinary, dive wise.
Day 3:
Last day we did the Aeolus stern again. Vis much the same. Maybe 25 ft at depth. Thermocline noticeable both in temp and visually. Once we got in lounge, 4 to 5 shark did there thing. Ran the starboard hallway to gather 4 teeth. Swam forward and turned the corner to see the mother of the sharks in the lounge. 8 to 10 foot sand tiger crusing. Came back around to complete the circle and was only diver left in the lounge. Couple of sharks and me with 1 min left to deco.
Second dive on the Indra. Quickly becoming my favorite wreck here. Lots of relief, easy to navigate and lots of stuff to see. Vis good on top and then lights out. Upweling all week. Vis at the sand was maybe 5 ft. Saw 2 sand tigers in the hold. Pretty cool when its just you and yhe shark and you cant see them until they are on top of you. Couple of stingrays in the sand of the port side anchor chain. Bait balls evident but you could not get the full appreciation due to limited 15 ft vis. Hangline beautiful blue water 5p vis with life and barracuda.
Did a pm single tank on the midnight express. First time on this boat. Clean but def smaller then olympus. Crew was friendly. We had john and travis with buck as the capt.
Dive: went back to indra. Vis about the same. Two stingrays circling the gun turret at the bow. Sand tiger still in the hold. Highlight for me was the toadfish at the stern, inside by the sinks. Hangline was intersting. Good vis there, probably 30 to 40 ft blue water. Nice down shot of stern with baitballs. Rebreather dive got bumped by barracuda several times.
Back to the dock at 8 with a 7 hr drive ahead of us.
For those who have not been to Olympus, it is well organized operation. The shop is big and full or artifacts from the wrecks. Boats are bug and well organized. Bobby has done his dad proud and continues to improve on the Olympus name. Fills are fast and easy. The only down side to the whole trip was the poor vis, but hell we werent blown out so you cant get to down.
Highlights, Gavin and Bud (mates on olympus) they are like the odd couple. Always good to see the sand tigers. Couple of teeth for the kids and great topside conditions.
