Who Has Dove The U-352 Off Of North Carolina Coast?

[Yoyoguy]

All,
Some buddies and I are contemplating diving on the U-352 which is located off the coast of North Carolina (US). I did some bit of research and it appears it will be 110ft dive in water temps between 70-80F depending if we go in June or July. Had a couple questions. What was your overall experience with the dive? Any dive charters anyone recommends? What skill level do you think you should be? What are the currents typically like and how about visibility? I am a PADI deep diver with 60 logged dives, 20 of which have been deep dives (between 75-130ft). All but one of my dives were in either rock Quarries or Fresh water lakes with either full 7mm suit/hood and gloves OR my drysuit. I have made boat dives, but never in the ocean. Some of the boat dives in lakes were with rough water (4ft-6ft waves...etc.) comparable to normal ocean conditions, or so I have heard. Just a note and how I view my skill level: I do think of myself as ahead of the curve (not to toot my own horn) but I am trying to be realistic in my assessment. I dive with a bp/w set-up with longhose. My buoyancy/trim is pretty spot on. I routinely practice hovering inches off the bottom while frog kicking...etc. Many of my dives have been practicing DIR/TECH diving type drills/techniques (that is where I see myself progressing). Any other thoughts or considerations? Thanks everyone.

 

[packrat12]

It is a great dive - a must do for the been there done that check. I have been diving the NC area once so take the info for what it is worth. I would recommend being comfortable going to 110'. AOW with Nitrox would be good. Maybe even renting larger tanks for a little more time. Other than that, there really is nothing special about the dive. It is a long ride out, 3hrs or so, gets cancelled every so often due to weather. Once there, they dive using a down line with a Carolina rig for safety stop (large bar at 15' that everyone can hang on to.) The boats are large and comfortable.

The wreck itself is interesting but probably only good for 1 - 2 dives before you have seen every inch of it. We wore 3mm wetsuits in beginning of September and were quite comfortable 76 deg or warmer. Vis was about 60' and no current when I went. My 13 year old daughter was fine on it with fewer dives that you have. The 2nd dive will probably be a nice prepared ship on the way back. We did the Spar. Expect to see lots of sand tiger sharks. We only saw 1 so we were disappointed there. The next day, the divers had a bunch of them show up. They are harmless but neat to see.

We used Discovery Diving which was a great operation for us. Olympus Dive Center also appears to be really good.

 

[tbone1004]

it's a beautiful wreck although penetration should not be attempted without extensive penetration experience

I highly recommend Atlantis Charters if you can get on the boat, but unlikely unless you dive mid-week. Discovery and Olympus are quite good.

Conditions are very variable that far out, so you have no idea what it is going to be like until you actually get there... I have seen it where you can see the wreck from the surface, and where you couldn't see the other end of it, same volatility with current and wildlife.

Certs are all up to the boat taking you out, but I wouldn't go out there on air because you won't have any time and will likely be narc'd

 

[Yoyoguy]

Thanks both of you. I should have mentioned that I do have my AOW (need to have this for Deep Diver cert) and Nitrox cert as well. We will definitely be diving nitrox. I need to really start tracking my air consumption rate but I know it is definitely NOT the greatest and will likely be a shorter dive for me. I will have to check my log book but I believe my last dive last summer had 15min of bottom time, (using 32 nitrox) (I remember seeing the 15 min time on my dive comp before my ascent). With the included safety stop, we ended the dive with about 600-700psi in our steel 100s. We know it will be a short dive but it is one of my buddies father's dream to see a WWII sub and he is starting to get a bit old for diving (at least to these depths).

 

[Lorenzoid]

I dived the U-352 exactly once, using Olympus Dive Center. Make sure you come down for more than just one or two days, because the weather can turn quickly, and they might cancel the dive. If you visit for at least three days at the right time of year, it's pretty likely that on one of those days you will dive the U-352.

When I did it, the conditions happened to be very good, and it was not a difficult dive other than the depth being 110 feet. Everyone descends down a line that is tied directly to the wreck, and ascends back the same way (absent some contingency like the current blowing you off the wreck, in which case you need to shoot an SMB so the boat can spot you and pick you up). In that sense, this kind of dive couldn't be easier. I rented a tank from Olympus, and if I recall correctly their standard rental tank is 100 cf. If I also recall, they filled it with a Nitrox "best mix" for the depth of the wrecks they visit. I felt quite narc'd, too, though since that time I think I have gotten a handle on my breathing and thus CO2 retention, so maybe I would be less affected if I were to do it again today. 100-110 feet is pretty much my personal limit these days.

Visiting a WWII sub is a sort of bucket list thing, and I'm glad I did it. I love WWII stuff in general. However, I can't say I loved this wreck the way some people say they do. Only the pressure hull is left, the rest having rusted away, so it barely resembles what we think of as a sub. There isn't a lot of marine life on it as with some wrecks (say, the sand tigers on the Spar). As others have said, it's a LONG ride out, and it can be choppy, even in summer. For me, the positives just barely outweighed the negatives. The experience made me think hard about whether wreck diving in general is for me. I think I'm more in the camp that prefers seeing marine life than rusty metal. But it's definitely worth seeing for yourself.

 

[Yoyoguy]

I dived the U-352 exactly once, using Olympus Dive Center. Make sure you come down for more than just one or two days, because the weather can turn quickly, and they might cancel the dive. If you visit for at least three days at the right time of year, it's pretty likely that on one of those days you will dive the U-352.

When I did it, the conditions happened to be very good, and it was not a difficult dive other than the depth being 110 feet. Everyone descends down a line that is tied directly to the wreck, and ascends back the same way (absent some contingency like the current blowing you off the wreck, in which case you need to shoot an SMB so the boat can spot you and pick you up). In that sense, this kind of dive couldn't be easier. I rented a tank from Olympus, and if I recall correctly their standard rental tank is 100 cf. If I also recall, they filled it with a Nitrox "best mix" for the depth of the wrecks they visit. I felt quite narc'd, too, though since that time I think I have gotten a handle on my breathing and thus CO2 retention, so maybe I would be less affected if I were to do it again today. 100-110 feet is pretty much my personal limit these days.

Visiting a WWII sub is a sort of bucket list thing, and I'm glad I did it. I love WWII stuff in general. However, I can't say I loved this wreck the way some people say they do. Only the pressure hull is left, the rest having rusted away, so it barely resembles what we think of as a sub. There isn't a lot of marine life on it as with some wrecks (say, the sand tigers on the Spar). As others have said, it's a LONG ride out, and it can be choppy, even in summer. For me, the positives just barely outweighed the negatives. The experience made me think hard about whether wreck diving in general is for me. I think I'm more in the camp that prefers seeing marine life than rusty metal. But it's definitely worth seeing for yourself.

Thank you for your honest input! As you, this is a bucket list thing for me and my friend's father. I honestly LOVE wreck diving. The one ocean dive I did was on a reef and had a decent amount of wild life but I do like wrecks better. That being said, I do agree with you that wrecks which look MORE like what they should as opposed to rusted metal is much more appealing and it is a little bit depressing that the hull is so badly rusted. The problem is other wrecks which better resemble a WWII sub are either too far away (or so my research has shown) making things too costly OR are deeper and require deco diving which none of us are certified for.

 

[tbone1004]

This is a good day on the U352

 

[DiverDownD3]

IIRC, Olympus standard blend is EAN 30. They opt away from EAN32 because of the depths of the wrecks they visit.

 

[bpevans]

Discovery Diving or Olympus are the ops to use. Your certifications and dive experience is sufficient for either dive op to take you out for a full day offshore.

Both ops bank EAN 30, as other said, the 30% is appropriate for the wrecks here.

7mm or a drysuit is likely overkill in late June.

Here's a photo from a solo dive on it in mid-August last year, decent/average summer time vis, dove with a 3mm hooded vest, thermo/lavacore shirt, plus board shorts and perfectly comfortable.

If you're a fan of smaller boats, less of a crowd, checkout Charter Tortuga | tortugacharters.net too, another great dive op in the area.

 

[arkheel]

I dive with Olympus quite a bit, and I really like their operation (great boats, friendly and knowledgeable staff). For a full day charter, Olympus has the following diver requirements (courtesy of their website).

• A minimum of 20 logged dives. Advanced Open Water Certification preferred. Experienced divers with Open Water Certification and required dives are accepted. At least 1 dive in the ocean to 70 feet or greater.
• At least 2 logged boat dives.
• At least 2 dives in the last 12 months. Minimum age for Full Day Charter is 15 years of age.

They also note on their website that for divers who are close to but do not meet all of their requirements to dive on the Full Day Charter, in some cases they will allow a diver to hire one of their divemaster dive guides and go on the full day charter.