This review actually begins around Thanksgiving of 1998 - My annual Grand Cayman trip for Pirates Week had been hurricane Mitch'ed out. Desperate to get back to my 'diving place', I caught wind of this dive Expo, featuring treasures of the Andrea Doria, so I headed to Fort Washington to check it out.

Fighting droves of crowds, I made my way through to this small booth manned by two guys that one wouldn’t, on first sight say: “Hmmm, they look like divers to me…”. After an initial exchange of introductions, it was no time before I was being shown the “naked scuba in Bimini” photos. Another ‘lap’ of the Expo and I found myself back in the company of Jay and Dave, discussing the requirements of the PDIC Instructor program.

My one foreseeable problem in becoming an instructor, I said, is that I’m not a cold-@#%*#$!-water diver (…The first of many future emphatic ‘professions’ on the subject, might I add!!); My checkout dives were done in the “f@#&ing quarry” (Ref: ‘St. Maarten’ by Kurt Runco - Spring Newsletter, Paragraph 12, last sentence), but my first splash of warm, clear, 80-plus degree, almost-naked Caribbean water had me hooked for good, which is probably why I haven’t logged as many dives as I would have liked. Too expensive… Well then, Jay responds, you’ll love diving in North Carolina - It’s the best of both worlds - Warm, clear tropical water diving reasonably priced and, relatively close to home. (…The first of his many ‘professions’ to me on the subject, might I add…) So, with extreme skepticism, I scraped together the $350.00 and booked my spot.

June 23^rd - D-Day (Dive Day) - After a bit of a logistical miscommunication, I eventually found myself in the passenger seat of yet another of Planet Ocean’s plethora of members bearing the name of the Saint called ‘Joseph’… Despite the 37-some-odd construction delays, and a brief stop in Richmond for dinner, Joe and I made reasonably good time, arriving at approximately 3:00 AM. Surprisingly though, we were NOT the last to arrive…

Three hours into what could have easily an 8-hour event, we are awakened by the sounds of grazing cattle - No wait, it was Dave's alarm clock - He was thoughtful enough to ‘set’ it the night before so we would all be on time for our first day of diving!! Lured by the thought of being able to double the current night’s sleep on the boat ride outbound, I sluggishly dragged myself off the couch and down to the docks - where I found the remainder of the group gathered around the statue of Poseidon, eyes closed, hands lifted to the sky in an ‘offering’ posture, humming in unison. Not wanting to look like an oddball, I joined in…

I learned afterward, that it is customary for the group to collectively find it’s ‘mantra’ with the gods of the sea prior to any group diving activities of this sort. I was told the story of a Planet Ocean trip to North Carolina a few years earlier in which diving activities had been canceled the week prior to their arrival due to rough seas - Some intense group prayers and chanting around the statue of Poseidon the evening of their arrival and once again the following morning…And the seas “laid down” for the three days that they were scheduled to dive, only to pick up once again on the day of their departure. Likewise, I learned afterward, that there was no diving two days prior to, and several days after, the three days of diving we did on this trip…

Our diving was chartered through Olympus Dive center in Morehead City, NC. It was immediately apparent that the Planet Ocean group was favorably known by the personnel of the dive center as everyone was on a first-name basis with one another and - Clearly a long-standing history between these two groups - So much so, that Jay received a telephone call this past fall from Olympus Dive Center requesting that we “do our mantra thing” on their behalf, to steer one of the many hurricanes which had pummeled the Carolinas this past season, clear of their area.

Anyway, back to diving - With the boats loaded up, papers signed, dive buddies paired and a padded bench for my nap secured, we shoved off around 7:30 AM for the two-hour, 40-some-odd mile ride out to pick up the Gulf stream current and that warm, 80-plus degree, 100-foot visibility current that Jay’s been promising me for 8 months now!! Upon arriving, I sauntered up on deck to check out the water and, my first sight was a small pod of dolphins playfully swimming about 30 or so feet off the port side of the boat. According to some maritime folklore, the presence of dolphins is a good sign - Hmmm, maybe that ‘mantra’ thing really works…!?!

Our first dive of the trip was a wreck called “Papoose” - affectionately known as the ‘lair of the sand tiger shark’. Strapping on my new set of steel doubles, I had to keep reminding myself to only use half of the air in the cylinders if I wanted to make a second dive that day. “One small step for man, one giant stride for diving-kind” - And I was in!! Well, you say…? Yeah…Jay was right…100-plus foot visibility and a brief check of my dive computer indicated 79 degree water temperature. I made my way down the descent line to what was the bow of the wreck and began to swim aft along the starboard side of the wreck. As I approached the break at mid-ship, I saw this huge thing swimming off in the distance. I turned in and penetrated the wreck and - Whoa! tiger sharks!! Quickly, I pulled out the camera and began snapping pictures - So focused on photographing the sharks (my first diving encounter with…), that I didn’t notice the one that had circled around behind and above me, until it ‘brushed’ me as it swam by!

Surprisingly, at no time was I ever afraid of being in such close proximity to these sharks - perhaps I was just too focused on photographing them or, perhaps over the course of my instructor training, I’ve recited the ‘golden rule’ with regard to marine life so many times that it has become a part of my sub-conscious: “Leave it alone and, it will leave you alone”. Knowing that most animals ‘attack’ as a defensive action, I made no threatening moves towards them, I kept my distance - allowing their own natural curiosity to draw them towards me, and I left as quietly as I came…

After what seemed to be only a minute after leaving the sand tiger sharks, I heard the familiar chirp of my dive computer telling me that I just went into decompression - Not to worry though, my computer is set for air tables and my scuba cylinders are filled with a 30% Nitrox mix. Using air tables with a Nitrox mix affords me a margin of safety, providing I follow my dive computer’s advice (which I do), turning around to swim for the anchor line at 45-degree angle. This allows me the opportunity of an overhead, ‘aerial’ view of the wreck while slowly ascending to intercept the anchor line at around 60 feet or so. An additional hang of five minutes or so at 15 feet as an extra margin of safety, to which I was treated to a live display of Jay & Dave’s ‘assets’, and dive number one became an entry in my dive log book.

After a two hour rest to off-gas additional nitrogen and to move the boat, we dove the ‘Shurz’ wreck - A wartime munitions freighter in a rather advanced state of decay. Once again, 80-ish degree temperatures, 100-plus foot visibility, swarms of tropical fish and a few ‘reef-dwellers’. As with most of the dives that we made, the bottom consisted mostly of sand, with the reef dwellers as mentioned above, clinging to the remains of the wreck. There was little to no current on any of the dives and, with proper buoyancy control in full force and effect (with the exception of digging for treasure - bullets are the popular find here), no suspended particulate, or ‘turbidity’, as Jay reinforces to his students in the open water class. The only exception was our last dive of the last day - the ‘Ashkabad’ wreck, but I think that was due to being in much shallower water and, much closer to the coastal shores.

Day two - The seas were a bit more ‘robust’, so much that it sent several of us ‘chumming’, but a minor inconvenience at the most. Our first dive: the U-352 - A World War II German U-Boat sunk by a U.S. Coast Guard Cutter. Again, temperature and visibility within aforementioned tolerances. The hatch of the conning tower has been removed, so one has a great view looking down into the sub, which is sitting upright, with only a small list to the starboard. Additionally, a rather large hole in the bow of the sub allows one, maybe two, small individuals the opportunity to penetrate the wreck into the forward torpedo room, where one will find live torpedoes still sitting in their racks that they were placed over fifty years ago. Again, the chirp of my computer signaling ‘deco’, a slow ascent with a five minute-or-so hang and a two hour rest before returning to the ‘Shurz’ again for more treasure hunting.

Day three - The seas a bit rougher still, which I compensated for with additional Dramamine; and two more wreck dives. Throughout the entire trip, the only negative aspect of the trip (if I had to come up with one) is the depth of water that all these wrecks sit in. With conditions as favorable as they were, it is a shame that these dives require some prior diving experience, with deeper depths, mix gases (Nitrox), etc. to complete - Otherwise, I can easily see thousands more individuals, particularly those residing in the Northeastern U.S., getting into the sport of diving, just based on this experience alone.

Well, any good review would be incomplete without saying a little something about the company one keeps - Great dive trips have been ruined by lousy company and, mediocre trips made great by good company. I was fortunate on this trip to have both - great diving and great people to dive with. While we all had to pick a ‘dive buddy’ at the onset of the trip, I found that I had, in actuality, 20-plus dive buddies over the course of the weekend. With the Planet Ocean group, everyone looks out for everyone else - passing someone in the water always elicits the ‘O.K.?’ sign from both divers. This concept was driven home when, on the U-352, I stuck my head into an opening in the hull to snap a picture - When I went to remove myself, I found that manifold valve of my tanks had caught on a piece of metal. Several attempts to free myself were unsuccessful, then from nowhere, a hand pushed down just enough to allow me to free myself. As I turned around, I saw the fins of one of my ‘buddies’ kicking away from me, going about their business as if it was all part of the dive plan…

Of course, the buddy concept didn’t stop under the water. Being the new guy, it was readily apparent of the history that this group has shared with one another. I sat at the end of the table one evening, and watched entire conversations being had amongst the group without anyone ever saying a word…

O.K. - So Jay was right, North Carolina DOES offer the best of both worlds - warm water and close to home. But more importantly, the Planet Ocean group is unlike any group of individuals that I’ve ever met - and probably ever will - truly a ‘family’ of divers sharing a common interest… As for me, I’m already there for North Carolina 2000.

I wonder if Poseidon likes Alaskan Amber Beer…

- Joe (call me what you will…) Federico