North Carolina Wreck trip June 16-23, 2012

Come join Channel Islands Dive Adventures on a wreck/Meglodon shark teeth diving  vacation to North Carolina on June 16-23, Sat. /Sat.

North Carolina is known as “The Graveyard of the Atlantic” and gets its name from the estimated 2000 shipwrecks scattered along the North Carolina coastline. Many of these historic vessels are accessible to divers. Some of the most impressive wrecks are the World War II casualties – vessels fallen prey to Hitler’s U-boat fleet as they traversed the offshore waters such as tankers, cargo ships, British fishing trawlers, and even a German submarine (U-352). Among others, a World War I gunboat, a late 18th century schooner, and an early 20th century luxury liner exist in North Carolina’s unparalleled collection of dive-able history and many of these historic vessels are accessible to divers.

Most all of the diving is 80’-110’ deep, 25-35 miles offshore and in June the diving conditions should be like a nice dive at Catalina in the summer with 75° water temperature and visibility between 20′- 50’, almost like a tropical vacation except there are no palm trees, longer boat rides and you don’t have to leave the country.

Trip Details:

• When: June 16-23, 2012, Sat. /Sat. (**see itinerary below)
• Where: Morehead City & Carolina Beach, North Carolina-see map
• What:Wreck diving with Olympus Dive Center and Megladon shark teeth diving with Cape Fear Dive Center
• Cost: Diver-$1245.00, non-divers $475.00   (11 dives total) Please call for single supplements
• Deposit: Non-refundable deposit of $200.00 per person needed to hold spot. If you would like to pay deposit online-click here
• Payment due: Full balance due by March 30, 2012

Cancellations: No cancellations after March 30, 2012  and deposits are non-refundable

Download Trip Application Form to secure your spot on trip

Please email us at info@channelislandsdiveadventures.com or call 805 469-7288 to sign-up or if you have any questions.

Included in trip

• All lodging-4 nights at the Morehead City Quality Inn & 3 nights at the Microtel Inn in Carolina Beach
• All diving-3 days of diving on wrecks with Olympus Dive Center & 2 days of diving for Megladon shark teeth with Cape Fear Dive Center
• Group get together-before, during and after the trip

Not included in trip

• All air & ground transportation
• All meals and drinks
• Tanks, food, air or nitrox on boat trips
• Trip insurance-always recommended

*Nitrox certification is highly recommended for this trip

Trip itinerary

• Sat., June 16-Travel to Morehead City, check into the Quality Inn, check in with Olympus dive shop and get food supplies for boat trips
• Sun., June 17-2 tank wreck trip on the Olympus dive boat
• Mon., June 18-2 tank extended wreck trip on the Midnight Express dive boat (CIDA Charter)
• Tues., June 19- 2 tank wreck trip on the Midnight Express dive boat (CIDA Charter)
• Wed., June 20 -check out of hotel and travel to Carolina Beach, check into the Microtel Inn
• Thur., June 21 -3 tank dive with Cape Fear Dive Center, 2 Megladon shark teeth dives & 1 wreck dive
• Fri., June 22 -2 tank dive with Cape Fear Dive Center for Megladon shark teeth
• Sat., June 23-Travel back home

Accommodations

While in Morehead City we will be staying at the Quality Inn, 3100 Arendell St., Morehead City, NC, 28557, (252) 247-3434. The Quality Inn is recommended by Olympus dive center and only 2 miles away.

CIDA has 10 non-smoking rooms (5 king & 5 with 2 queens) reserved that are all beautifully appointed with refrigerators, microwaves, coffee makers, irons, ironing boards, hair dryers, cable television and free wireless high-speed Internet access in all rooms. There is a deluxe continental breakfast with scrambled eggs, sausage, waffles and much more that starts at 5:00am for divers and they also have a business center in the lobby, computer hook-ups and access to fax services if you need to take care of business while we are there.

While in Carolina Beach we will be staying at the Microtel Inn And Suites, 907 N. Lake Park Blvd, Carolina Beach, NC 28428 (910) 458-1300. The Microtel Inn is recommended by Cape Fear dive center and is only 1/4  mile away.

CIDA has 10 non-smoking rooms (all 2 queens) reserved. All are recently renovated with 27 ” TV’s, free Wi-Fi Internet access, clock radio’s along with coffee makers & hairdryers in some rooms. Start each day with free continental breakfast, served early for divers.

The Diving

Olympus Dive Center began in 1975 by Captain George Purifoy and is probably known as one of the best full service dive centers in North Carolina. George was a native of Morehead City and considered a pioneer in North Carolina wreck diving. He was credited with the discovery and identification of many of the wrecks they visit, most notably the U-352 and the USS Schurz.George passed away in 2008 and his son, Robert ‘Bobby’ Purifoy, now continues to run Olympus Dive Center.

They are well known for the many wrecks they have found over the years including the submarine U-352. They have 2 dive boats CIDA will be using, the Olympus (65’, 25 pass.) and the Midnight Express (48’,18 pass) that are fully outfitted to get you to the many wrecks sunk off the N.C. coast. Currently CIDA has 18 spots reserved on the Olympus for 1 day and the Midnight Express chartered for just the CIDA group for 2 days.

One thing you will find different about Olympus Dive Center boat trips along with most all of the other N. C. dive operations (and something we are not use to in California) is that there is not much included in a boat trip except for the ride out and back to the dive sites. Olympus dive center does supply weights & belts but no tanks, air, food or drinks (except water) are supplied on their boat trips.

Olympus Dive Center boat trips usually visit sites that are about 25 miles offshore and take about 2 hours to get to and their extended trips are further out taking about 3-3.5 hours to get to. All the trips are 2 tank dives boarding at 6:00am and departing at 7:00am with loading allowed the night before. The return time is about 3:00-4:00pm for the regular trips and about 5:00-5:30pm for the extended trips.

Extra’s needed for the dives

• Food & drinks, a box lunch (breakfast included) can be supplied for and additional $11.00. A very good suggestion is to shop before hand and bring it along with us. There are coolers, a microwave and toaster oven to use on the boat.
• Tanks filled with 30% nitrox are an additional $19.00 per dive (2 dives per trip). Olympus dive center banks 30% and highly recommends it along with their rental aluminum 100’s-80’s and 120’s (very limited supply) are also available.

Olympus Dive Center minimum safety equipment recommended is a surface marker buoy suitable for diving in the ocean. Neon yellow is best for their area.

Meglodon shark teeth diving

For the shark teeth dive trips CIDA will be using  Cape Fear Dive Center. Cape Fear has been doing shark dives for a long time now and are highly recommended.

Carcharodon Megalodon was a giant shark that lived between 2 million and 16 million years ago. Little is known for sure about these giant predators because all that remains of their existence are fossilized teeth. These giant shark teeth range in size from 3 inches long to 7 inches long. They are massive things that can be bigger than a man’s hand. To put this in perspective a large great white shark measures about 20 feet long and weighs a little over 2 tons. A tooth from a shark like this is about 1.5 inches long.

Cape Fear Dive Center is a full service dive center based out of Carolina Beach, N.C. that has 2 boats used for dive trips to many of the wrecks and diving for the Megladon shark teeth.

Currently CIDA has 16 spots reserved for both trips. Boarding time is 6:00am with the departure at 6:30am and back about 6:00pm. The dive site we will visit for the shark teeth trip is about  105’ and 35 miles off shore. Like Olympus dive center, the trips with Cape Fear dive center do not include much either besides the ride out and back. They do not supply weights & belts, tanks, air or food on their boat trips. They do provide soft drinks and water to drink and there are coolers to store the food you bring on board.

Extra’s needed for the dives

• Food & drinks. A very good suggestion is to shop before hand and bring it along with us. There are coolers, a microwave and toaster oven to use on the boat.
• Aluminum 100′s with 32% nitrox-$17.00 per dive
• Aluminum 80′s with 32% nitrox-$13.00 per dive
• Weights & belt-$7.00

Cape Fear Dive Center equipment required is a line reel and surface marker buoy

Ground transportation for trip

You will need a rental vehicle and if you need to share one with somebody, CIDA will do our best to help organize this. The main airport is the Raleigh/Durham airport which is about 3 hours away from Morehead City & Carolina Beach. During the middle of the week we will be traveling to Carolina Beach which is about 2 hours  south of Morehead City an about 3 hours back to the Raleigh/Durham airport. -see map