Olympus Dive Center — Local services in Morehead City

Safety second may sound strange to folks who have been pumped full of “safety first” statements in the past. In a dangerous sport, like scuba diving, if safety was “first” we would never go out in the first place (pun intended). Everything is dangerous. Of course this is not the motto, nor policy at Olympus Dive Center. They strive to give you the best experience possible, keeping your safety in mind. Because just off the shores in North Carolina the waters have been nicknamed The Graveyard of the Atlantic.

For good reason it was named this because of the weather, colliding currents, etc. Over 5,000 wrecks off the coast and Olympus wants to show them all to you, but never join their fate. They want to take you to the best experience possible, keeping in mind how to safely get to the site and back. So if you are looking to book with them and desire some weather guarantee, you are better off asking the same of your hometown weatherman. If you really want a 100% positive shark show, head to your closest aquarium. Olympus wants to take you to the big cool wrecks way off shore to see and share your experience. But if there is heavy weather on the radar, they may have to take you to something closer to shore. Remember those wrecks are out there because of careless people.

The care FULL people at Olympus are hard at work right now working on making your trip as fantastic as it can be. That way you can return to your loved ones and tell them your amazing stories.

Returning safe from my trip, I would like to share with you my experiences and emphasize how Olympus is the type of dive shop you want to look for in booking your next trip. Four of us tech buddies put together this trip. We all knew that weather would be a huge factor. Which it was. Even two days before arrival our first paid for and booked day was cancelled.

When trips are cancelled that means the sea can be very bad for small vessels. Most of these wrecks, at least the good ones, are 3+ hours off shore. That means if you get into trouble you are in a deep mess. So no worries, my account was credited back to me. Thus I used the funds as a “discount” on a new camera lens. This is just the beginning of how well oiled of a machine the Olympus staff is. They have a nice large section of equipment and merchandise. Not a lot of tech gear, or CCR items. But I am sure if you called ahead for specifics they can assist you. I am a camera guy kind of diver, so I am very impressed when a shop has a wide selection of camera equipment to sell.

They have many items for the beginner and lots of various upgrade options available for those with more expensive set ups. Many of the staff are involved in photography, so if you are interested in starting this hobby out they can point you in the right direction.

There are many other little things they do that really set them apart and raise the bar for dive centers everywhere. If you want more information, I have a more lengthy review on scubaboard, https://scubaboard.com/community/threads/trip-report-olympus-dive-center.650577/

To summarize that report they have an amazingly comfortable and large vessel to take you to sea. With many features not found on typical scuba boats. Safety wise, and comfort. They have beanbags to relax in the sun, chocolates and other snacks. Hot water to rinse with, and a whole host more. The staff at Olympus is there to help you have the best trip possible. They have many of the items we are accustomed to in diving, but with nice additions that set the bar higher. I hope this review has been helpful and you will decide to visit them one day. If you do tell Bobby, John, Travis, Tim, Dottie, Katie, Claire or anyone else working there that...

Olympus Dive Center in Morehead City, NC has an excellent experience! This isn’t for everyone and has a few caveats. You must show up at the shop/pier by 6 am. Most of the dive sites are about a 2 hour transit. When paying for a full day you are only paying for a two tank dive. So time wise it breaks down roughly into 2 hour transit to the site. Dive wreck at 100+ feet. Nearly 2 hour surface interval. Dive that site again or move. 2 hour transit back. We were back to the pier about 2 pm. Caveats: 1: The weather is highly variable. I was booked for three days flew in and got canceled 2 out of 3 days in mid-July which is “prime season. Unfortunately Dive Centers don’t control the weather! 2: This isn’t a “ concierge “ service. You will have to carry your gear to the boat, carry your tanks to the boat and assemble your gear. Quite honestly I don’t really care for people messing with my gear. I had an o-ring on my DIN connection on my Poseidon Xstream Deep torn and leak air after someone else attached it to a tank. 3: There is No Guarantee that you will dive any given dive site. Lots of people want to do the U-352 for obvious reasons, but to me the experience with Sharks at Aeolus and Caribsea is hard to beat. 4: This isn’t for beginners! It’s diving 115 ft in the open ocean 30 miles off shore with current at depth. You need to be confident and Experienced! Have you ever been Experienced? Positives: The most incredible Sand Tiger Shark experience ever in my limited experience. One of the videographers took a photo and counted 64 Sand Tiger Sharks at the Caribsea in a single frame. At one point my dive buddy and I were cornered by 7-10 on the port side. I literally could have moved my hand 3 inches and touched the nose of a Sand Tiger right in front of me. The current was about a knot and a half. SE to Nw at site. Olympus uses weighted tag lines which are very helpful for ingress and egress. Surface temp was 88 f thermocline at 60 ft. Temp at depth was 74f. 3 mil wet suit kept me cozy. Some dove with no rash guard, but both got stung by small jellyfish. We did see a big group of barracuda hanging around the tag lines. Pro Tips: They have lodging available for $30/day barracks/bunk bed style a few blocks away. Also they have Aluminum 100’s, Steel 100’s and 120’s, if you don’t...

Olympus Dive Center is by far the best full service dive center. They have a great staff, top notch dive and training Center and state of the art dive boats that make the experience one truly to be remembered. I find it hard to try other places knowing that I will probably be disappointed since I now compare everywhere else to my time with Olympus Dive Center. I have been on Several dives with them over the years and being that they are part of the graveyard of the Atlantic I have been lucky to see some breathtaking wrecks off the North Carolina Coast. One of my Favorites is the Caribsea. The Wreck of the Caribsea is so spectacular in such a way that it leaves a lasting image with you. The bow structure is facing upward and most of the paneling has come away over the years leaving a skeletal structure that is teeming with sea life from schools of large spade fish, Cobia and Spotted eagle rays to name a few. It is also a great place to find Sand Tiger Sharks which have shown up there in droves. This is one of favorites parts to see when a few Sand Tigers just casually swim in and around the divers, some not even aware that the shark just swam right over them or just under them until they see the video or a picture someone took. The Caribsea also has a few large boilers that are quite impressive to see and swim through between the stacks of them. There are a lot of familiar things you will see on this wreck like a couple anchor windlasses, the awesome bow sticking up, and the engine area with the boilers and these really make this wreck quite impressive to me all the while realizing that this is a wreck that is part of our history during World War II. It was sunk in 1942 by a German U-Boat. This is just one of hundreds of wrecks that are off the coast of North Carolina and I can't wait to join Olympus again for...