Olympus dive trip Aug. 8,9, 10 review

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MSPDiver

Contributor
Messages
305
Reaction score
17
Location
Forest Hill, MD
# of dives
500 - 999
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.
 
Enjoyed your report, and share your high opinion of Olympus Dive Center. When I went back in Aug. 2015 (trip report), I scheduled 5 diving days due to the inherent unpredictability of conditions out in the Atlantic Ocean. Sorry to hear the viz. didn't cooperate well, but glad you got to enjoy the shark room in the Aeolus.

Were the barracuda near the hang lines big, like when I was there? You mentioned one bumping a rebreather diver; if it was the size of some I saw there last year, I would not want one bumping me!!!

To your report, I'd add plan to dive nitrox, since the offshore wrecks are quite deep & NDL is apt to limit your dive times, the common 'house mix' when I was there was EAN 30% I believe, and they had some steel 120 cf tanks (amongst other sizes), so you can get plenty of gas. Diving the 2 tanks with a guide is a cheap upcharge if you wish to do so, though the guide may be shared with a few others.

Richard.
 
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Thanks for the report MSP, heading down there next week. Like you, I've been really impressed with the crew at Olympus!
 
Thnx for posting
 
Thanks for the report. Weather permitting we will have our first dive with Olympus later this month after two previous failed attempts. We are planning on checking in the night before. I understand there is an area to warm up food but is there a cooler for drinks or is there room for us to bring a small soft sider cooler? And does the crew prefer divers to bring gear in bags or bins? Thanks.

@drrich2 also read your trip report. Very through.
 
Drrich2 you are spot on with nitrox. My bad i take that for a given. 30 is the blend 1.4 gives 121 as mod. Fills are super fast with their booster. I bring my own tanks. Steel 120. Makes me long for the florida set up of 80 alum. Lots of air but dam its heavy. I sling a 19 pony for back up both in NC and florida.

Soft side cooler for food is good to go. That is what we do. Also, they have large commercial size ice cooler on sundeck. Plenty of room for your food.

Dry table for camera gear is big however, i prefer my AO cooler for my rig. The rinse bin is not that big and is often the cause of camera floods.

I bring my gear on boat bag not a box. Typically you unload gear and stow under your seat. Gear stays on boat under seat. The bin gets locked at night. Never in 10 years have i had a problem with that situation.
 

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