Thanks Olympus Dive Center!

[gumbo717]

Just wanted to say thanks to the staff and crew at Olympus Dive Center. Our group was down last weekend, June 13 & 14, onboard the Midnight Express and we had four beautiful dives. We planned on doing the Friday night dive on the Spar but conditions did not permit. As far as Saturday and Sunday's dives; one word - AWESOME. I have been going down to NC for the past four years and this is my first full weekend out with the gang from Olympus and from the experience I/we will be back for more. Great staff, very professional, dive boats well equipped and great to dive from. 2 dives on the Spar Saturday and made two dives on Sunday on the U-352 and the Aeolus.

Thanks again!

Special Thanks to Fred, Capt Mike, and Capt Bobby!

John T

 

[solarc]

Gumbo717,

I went with this same boat this past weekend. The U352 and aeolus were both great dives, but the professionalism of the dive operation at the dock was VERY VERY POOR!! Once, out to sea and at the dive locations everything was handled exceptional! Maybe I am just spoiled from diving in the caribbean. We were asked to be at dock a 6am and no one was there to tell us where to go to sign in. We stopped a employee after he passed us twice and asked, he said store opened at 6:30! Not 6am. small item but just let me know up front. I got nitrox chips but was not told where to redeem them. Once we returned from the dive the capt stops 100 yards from dock and fills up with fuel for the late afternoon trip with all of us onboard. This is not only a hazard, but a huge liability for the company. Then to top it off, we arive at the dock and are informed to remove the tanks from the boat while the crew went off and hung out talking!! I have a boat that we go diving on and I expect to load and unload my tanks, but when I pay for a charter I expect service! Anyway the dive sites where great and the company was great while out diving!!

 

[Diveral]

Welcome to NC, it's for big boys and girls. This is not catered diving. You want that go to the Carribean. I find that for most US dive destinations catered diving is the exception not the norm. Normally the boats are loaded up and leave before the dive shop officially opens up. Although itr would be nice if someone was around to point the newcomers in the right direction.

Boats burn lots of fuel to go offshore in NC and usually they do one trip a day. Not multiple trips like they do in tropical locations with closer dive sites. Fueling the boat on the way back is a normal activity in NC. You'll also find that along the Gulf Coast.

 

[jamiep3]

Gumbo717,

I went with this same boat this past weekend. The U352 and aeolus were both great dives, but the professionalism of the dive operation at the dock was VERY VERY POOR!! Once, out to sea and at the dive locations everything was handled exceptional! Maybe I am just spoiled from diving in the caribbean. We were asked to be at dock a 6am and no one was there to tell us where to go to sign in. We stopped a employee after he passed us twice and asked, he said store opened at 6:30! Not 6am. small item but just let me know up front. I got nitrox chips but was not told where to redeem them. Once we returned from the dive the capt stops 100 yards from dock and fills up with fuel for the late afternoon trip with all of us onboard. This is not only a hazard, but a huge liability for the company. Then to top it off, we arive at the dock and are informed to remove the tanks from the boat while the crew went off and hung out talking!! I have a boat that we go diving on and I expect to load and unload my tanks, but when I pay for a charter I expect service! Anyway the dive sites where great and the company was great while out diving!!

I've been diving with Olympus for three seasons now and have always been very happy with the service. I expect to load my own gear (actually prefer to handle all my gear myself and I bring my own tanks), I will say that since they get a lot of return business, they do tend to assume that the divers know their way around. I'm sure if you had told whoever was at the counter you where a first timer they would have pointed out where to go.

As observed above, this is not resort diving, but I've never had a great wreck dive from a resort either. Of course next time you know your way around.

 

[fireflock]

I've said before that a lot of the bad experiences people have diving NC come from mismatched expectations. Part of that can be a lack of communication from the dive center, and part of it is a lack of research from the diver. Some people get really bent out of shape about it; you don't sound like one of those people.

A boat ride, a briefing, and an enjoy your dive has been the standard level of service in NC for quite a while. There are some smaller ops that will provide whatever level of service you ask for (full service or leave me alone service....just tell them up front what you want), if you make it to NC again and are looking for something different.

The fuel thing annoys me sometimes too (Olympus isn't the only one who does this). I understand the hassle of having to go back and fuel after everything is unloaded, but you can't escape the fact that making life easier for the crew makes all of the customers wait around when they really want to get their gear cleaned up and catch a shower.

 

[Firediver32]

The fuel issue with customers on board is a violation of coast guard regulations I believe.....

 

[robint]

Gumbo717,

I went with this same boat this past weekend. The U352 and aeolus were both great dives, but the professionalism of the dive operation at the dock was VERY VERY POOR!! Once, out to sea and at the dive locations everything was handled exceptional! Maybe I am just spoiled from diving in the caribbean. We were asked to be at dock a 6am and no one was there to tell us where to go to sign in. We stopped a employee after he passed us twice and asked, he said store opened at 6:30! Not 6am. small item but just let me know up front. I got nitrox chips but was not told where to redeem them. Once we returned from the dive the capt stops 100 yards from dock and fills up with fuel for the late afternoon trip with all of us onboard. This is not only a hazard, but a huge liability for the company. Then to top it off, we arive at the dock and are informed to remove the tanks from the boat while the crew went off and hung out talking!! I have a boat that we go diving on and I expect to load and unload my tanks, but when I pay for a charter I expect service! Anyway the dive sites where great and the company was great while out diving!!

I think you are going to find that diving almost anywhere, outside of resorts in Carib, is going to be different than you expect. We dive regularly in Calif and no one carries your gear for you, ever. You are expected to bring it onboard, set it up yourself, dress yourself, dive, and then off-load it all yourself. Also, no DM in water unless you pay for it extra. The DMs fill tanks and help you back up the ladder when you return from dives, that's about it. And that is with 30-45 divers onboard, depending on the boat. It just isn't the "dive services" you get in resort diving.