When planning things to do in Atlantic Beach, NC, consider signing up to get your scuba certification at Olympus Dive Center in Morehead City during your vacation! This is an excellent chance for you and the family to step outside of your Atlantic Beach cottage rental and learn how to explore the ocean under the guidance of a highly trained professional diving instructor.
Once you have learned how to dive, you can head out onto the open water for a full-day trip or take a half or full-day shallow dive trip. Dive sites include some remarkable old shipwrecks and even the German U-boat U-352. Not only will you get to explore these wrecks for yourself, but you will learn their history. You can also sign up to scuba dive in areas where you will encounter all kinds of marine life, including – gulp! – sharks.
What is the Olympus Dive Center?
Whenever you’re looking for fun in Atlantic Beach, NC, think big – think Olympic! Olympus Dive Center is a family-owned and operated diving facility located right in the heart of North Carolina’s Crystal Coast. Founded in 1976 as a weekend charter business, Olympus Dive Center is now a full-service dive center that hosts year-round dive trips, with daily trips happening during the peak season of May through September.
Olympus is a SCUBAPRO Platinum Dealer with its own full-service repair facility staffed by experienced service technicians. This is a PADI 5 Star Training center, so you know that your instructors and divemasters are some of the best. Their dive boats are comfy and take divers to dozens of wrecks located along the North Carolina coast. You will get a hefty dose of maritime history from local maritime history museums and your instructors at Olympus Dive Center.
Directions from Your Atlantic Beach Rental
How are you supposed to get there from your Atlantic Beach pet-friendly rental? It is pretty simple. You will need to make your way to Fort Macon Road, then head north on the Atlantic Beach Causeway to take the Atlantic Beach Bridge over the water to Arendell Street, where you will go right. You will take a right onto S 8th Street and find Olympus Dive Center all the way at the end, right there on the water’s edge.
If you are not driving yourself, you can always call for a taxi or an Uber to get you there. This short, 3-mile drive only takes about seven minutes of your time and is worth it for some fun Atlantic Beach diving.
Scuba Certification Requirements
Want to become an open water diver? You will be put into a class with just three or four other people to get the most one-on-one experience possible with your instructor. If you want to enroll in a PADI Open Water Diver course or Junior Open Water Diver course, you must be age 10 or older. You will also need some moderate swimming skills and good physical health. You do not need to have any previous experience doing scuba.
Your instructor will teach you how to use the total diving system, and you will be supplied with all of your gear: a regulator, buoyancy control device, scuba tank, dive computer, and wetsuit. You will need to bring your personal equipment: fins, boots, gloves, a snorkel, and a mask Olympus does sell a student package that includes all of these items. You will want to have these items before your first day of class since you will need them to learn.
The academic structuring of these classes makes it possible to learn at your own pace. You can do the online academics portion through PADI eLearning or by reading through a traditional manual and completing each chapter review as you go. This ensures that you are familiar with the basic concepts of scuba diving. The classroom portion is usually conducted for two days, with the classwork in the morning and pool work in the afternoon.
Pool training happens once you’re proficient enough in assembling your scuba gear. Your academic learning gets put to the test in the pool using buoyancy control and the buddy system. You will learn to handle emergencies before heading out onto the open water.
As far as the open water training goes, you will complete four dives over two days to get your scuba certification. Dives are a combination of 2-3 dives at the freshwater training facility scuba park and one ocean dive off the company’s boat. Since PADI Open Water Diver certification is recognized worldwide, you will have unlimited options for scuba diving in the future.
The cost per person is $495. This includes all instruction materials, pool and certification fees, training equipment, and one shallow boat charter for up to two of your certification dives.
Scuba Opportunities
You can choose between a full-day dive trip, half-day shallow dive, shallow full-day dive, or an extended day dive trip just off the North Carolina coast. The full-day dive trip takes you to depths of 90-120 feet and lets you explore wrecks like the U-352, Schurz, Aeolus, Atlas, and Papoose. You will make it to one or two locations determined by the weather and sea conditions on the morning of the dive and your personal preference. The bottom times are restricted to the no-decompression limits. This is the most popular option and is offered every day from mid-May through October and most weekends in March, April, and November.
The half-day shallow dive trip takes you to depths of 50-70 feet and gives you one dive for up to 60 minutes or two 20-minute dives with a short surface interval. You can visit the Suloide, Titan, or Hutton on one of these dives. This option is available on weekends from Memorial Day through Labor Day.
Plan Your Vacation!
Are you ready to treat yourself to an unforgettable vacation? Start planning your dream vacation to Atlantic Beach with Cannon & Gruber today! View our Atlantic Beach vacation rentals, book your favorite, and prepare for an unforgettable getaway!
The shallow, full-day dive trip takes you to similar depths and wrecks but goes all day. This trip is best suited for new divers who want to make two dives in one charter trip.
The extended day dive trip is a two-tank trip past the full-day dive length. Bottom times and surface intervals are the same, but the boat leaves earlier and returns later. You will get to depths from 90-120 feet and can see less-visited sites like the Normania, Cassimir, and Naeco.
Scuba Rentals
Scubapro BCDs and regulators can be rented at the Olympus Dive Center Rental department. All rental regulators come with an alternate air source and gauge console. You can also rent 3mm or 5mm wetsuits and accessories, 80 and 100 cubic foot tanks, and Scubapro Nitrox dive computers. Weights are included with the cost of the charter.
Even GoPro or SeaLife cameras are available to rent for $30 each. Mind, you will need to bring your micro-SD card for use in these cameras or purchase one from the dive shop.
Your Atlantic Beach Vacation Rental
Be sure to stop by the North Carolina Aquarium before your dive to can learn all about the local marine life you’ll encounter. After your dive, enjoy some delightful outdoor dining before heading home to your Atlantic Beach oceanfront rental. Enjoy watching your favorite TV show or movie on a flatscreen TV before heading off to rest in your big, comfy bed. An Atlantic Beach cottage rental can be your home away from home and a great place to rejuvenate after a long day exploring local shipwrecks. Contact us today to get started!
