Previous
DiveHatteras (Visit this link)
DiveHatteras is owned and operated by Ann and Dave Sommers. We have been diving for a combined total of over 40 years (yeah, we’re that old). Both of us instructed diving for several years at a shop in Virginia where we live and are avid wreck divers who love to do u/w photos as well as hunt for artifacts and new shipwrecks. For several years we operated a small boat the "SeaVentures" wreck diving out of Ocean City, MD. We moved the boat to Hatteras for "just one season" many years ago and have been hooked on Hatteras diving ever since!
The old boat was retired in '94 and almost immediately we acquired the d/v Icy May, a 35ft Henriques Maine Coaster. We continually made improvements to her and she turned into an excellent dive boat. However, after 6 years of going to sea in the Icy May, we found our needs once again changed and we sold her.
We took one season off and found we couldn't do without diving Hatteras. We searched for and bought a new and different style of boat to use for our Hatteras wreck diving. Several different boats were considered and we finally found the right thing for us. What we ended up with was a very upscale boat for diving, a Hatteras Sport Fish Yacht. This boat, which we named Akyla (a-cool-a), is now extremely well equipped. She has plenty of luxury features including a generator, A/C for those really hot days, full galley with microwave, refrigeration, and very large head. The Akyla has superior electronics with Radar, redundant GPS, Lorans and Sonars for wreck hunting.
However, after just a short while, we realized that more much was needed and the Akyla underwent a complete refit of all the machinery and was converted to diesel power. She now has a very fast cruise speed of 20 knots and plenty of reserve power for more if needed.
Akyla takes only six divers per trip instead of the fifteen as on the Icy May. This allows us to maintain a more even skill level across the group of divers and once again visit the more challenging wreck sites on a regular basis, keeping the group (and us) happier.
We will not be chartering every weekend from early spring through the late fall, but as many as possible. We both love diving or we wouldn’t be doing this!
http://www.divehatteras.com