vetdiver
Contributor
Itinerary – 12 days on the Bilikiki – Florida Islands, Russell Islands, Mary Island, and Marovo Lagoon
Other passengers – my husband and I (American and English), several other Americans, a few Aussies, a couple from South Africa, and a couple (plus their kids – I mean their cameras!!) from Amsterdam. Everyone was pretty nice, no complainers – pretty experienced divers for the most part, I think. Most were warm-water once-a-year vacation divers. Four of us were in our 30’s, which is apparently a pretty young group. We really liked the other passengers, but let’s face it – 12 days on a vessel will get you to the point where you want some “alone time” no matter who the heck else is on the boat, am I right??
Food - Yum. Warm cookies after the morning dive - enough said. Michael is the cook, and he is amazing. My husband is not a big fish fan – and once this had gotten to the galley, steak showed up for my husband every time fish was the main course. Another passenger is watching his cholesterol intake, and scrambled egg whites "appeared" for his breakfast almost every day.
Dive schedule (and food schedule)– (breakfast) 8 am dive, (cookies and popcorn), 11 am dive, (lunch), 2 pm dive, (popcorn and fruit), 5 pm dive, (dinner), and most days there was an 8 pm night dive -some days the schedule was off for village visits or weather stuff. The 5 pm dive was usually a sundown type of thing, so we typically took a light. We did 4 dives a day nearly every day.
Diving - Dives were fabulous and varied – some current, some slack, reefs with some wrecks, visibility from 20 ft (wrecks) – 100 ft. We saw quite a few sharks and a few rays (eagle and one or two mantas spotted), lots and lots of little critters (nudis, crabs, shrimp, anemonefish galore) but I think the really phenomenal thing about the Sols were the lush hard and soft corals and sea fans. Diving Mary Island was particularly unforgettable – you’d look around and see huge, untouched hard corals the likes of which I don’t expect to see very many other places in the world (I’ve certainly never seen coral that healthy before!!!). Sites were mainly 50 + ft walls with a slope at 40 ft or so, and rubble/shallower corals at 20 or 30 ft.
The boat - is quite nice – cabins are spacious, and there was plenty of space for camera equipment and battery chargers, etc., for our group. It might get a bit scrunched with more photographers aboard, though. The dive deck was amazing. You put your gear on a tank on day 1, then you never touch it again unless you’re analyzing Nitrox ($15/day). The last dive day, when you’re done, all equipment was washed (including BC’s, inside and out!!!) and dried – our gear was totally dry when we packed it to come home.
The staff – Recently, someone posted about Monty and Michelle (specifically, that they needed replacing) – the stuff this guy wrote could not be further from the truth. They ran the boat fantastically – and they are constantly reminding people to dive safely and within the limits of their training/experience. In addition, they are warm, accommodating, and fun (expect lots of dry humor if your group can handle it – I have not laughed so hard in a long time!!!), and I imagine that a large portion of repeat business for the Bilikiki is due to their presence as managers. Everyone on our sailing – people widely ranging in age, background, career, etc, adored them. The crew is made up of locals with varied backgrounds as cooks, engineers, etc, many of whom have been on the boat for longer than Monty and Michelle. Many of them were pretty shy (English is not a first language for them), but as we opened up to them, they became more and more friendly and talkative. They were all very sweet and considerate – one of them found out that my husband was into the World Cup, and once word got around, several crew members began reporting scores to him on a daily basis.
Souvenirs – amazing wood carvings (masks, tables, bowls), sago palm nut carvings, shell money jewelry. Bring cash or traveler’s checks. Larger objects could be expensive, but are unique!! We bought 2 large (2 ft x 1 foot) masks elaborately inlaid with mother-of-pearl and different types of wood for about $400 USD and 8 D-cell batteries. We brought D-cell batteries (which were VERY vaulable!!!), old masks, and Old Navy t-shirts for bartering, and we also brought some crayons/coloring books and kids’ t-shirts as donations. The boat crew also appreciates old masks, if you have any – we left our spare behind.
In short – this was the trip of a lifetime. We plan to go back.
I do have some pictures, but we just got back and I have not sorted through them yet. Will try to post a few next week. For fledging photogs, you will find help in Michelle and Monty, who are both experienced and talented. Michelle, in particular, has an “eye” for the small stuff and makes a point to show you things she knows you’d like to see and snap! In addition, we were very fortunate to have 2 talented photographers (cor and _bella_ on this board) on our trip who gave me lots of pointers.
[Soapbox – I know this will incite the wrath of a few people, but I’ll take my chances. I know of a few people on our sailing who did not plan to leave a gratuity (traditionally 5-10% for a liveaboard). This makes up a significant source of income for the crew, who worked from dawn until dusk busting their butts to make us happy. Please budget this into the cost of your trip so that the money will be available if you feel a gratuity is warranted. These trips are expensive, we all know. But we are a one-income, 30-something family, currently paying for my husband’s school tuition out-of-pocket – and with extensive planning and budgeting, we managed to have ample cash set aside for this!!! If you can afford the trip, you can afford the tip – and if you can’t afford to do it in 12 months, do it in 18!!!!!!]
Other passengers – my husband and I (American and English), several other Americans, a few Aussies, a couple from South Africa, and a couple (plus their kids – I mean their cameras!!) from Amsterdam. Everyone was pretty nice, no complainers – pretty experienced divers for the most part, I think. Most were warm-water once-a-year vacation divers. Four of us were in our 30’s, which is apparently a pretty young group. We really liked the other passengers, but let’s face it – 12 days on a vessel will get you to the point where you want some “alone time” no matter who the heck else is on the boat, am I right??
Food - Yum. Warm cookies after the morning dive - enough said. Michael is the cook, and he is amazing. My husband is not a big fish fan – and once this had gotten to the galley, steak showed up for my husband every time fish was the main course. Another passenger is watching his cholesterol intake, and scrambled egg whites "appeared" for his breakfast almost every day.
Dive schedule (and food schedule)– (breakfast) 8 am dive, (cookies and popcorn), 11 am dive, (lunch), 2 pm dive, (popcorn and fruit), 5 pm dive, (dinner), and most days there was an 8 pm night dive -some days the schedule was off for village visits or weather stuff. The 5 pm dive was usually a sundown type of thing, so we typically took a light. We did 4 dives a day nearly every day.
Diving - Dives were fabulous and varied – some current, some slack, reefs with some wrecks, visibility from 20 ft (wrecks) – 100 ft. We saw quite a few sharks and a few rays (eagle and one or two mantas spotted), lots and lots of little critters (nudis, crabs, shrimp, anemonefish galore) but I think the really phenomenal thing about the Sols were the lush hard and soft corals and sea fans. Diving Mary Island was particularly unforgettable – you’d look around and see huge, untouched hard corals the likes of which I don’t expect to see very many other places in the world (I’ve certainly never seen coral that healthy before!!!). Sites were mainly 50 + ft walls with a slope at 40 ft or so, and rubble/shallower corals at 20 or 30 ft.
The boat - is quite nice – cabins are spacious, and there was plenty of space for camera equipment and battery chargers, etc., for our group. It might get a bit scrunched with more photographers aboard, though. The dive deck was amazing. You put your gear on a tank on day 1, then you never touch it again unless you’re analyzing Nitrox ($15/day). The last dive day, when you’re done, all equipment was washed (including BC’s, inside and out!!!) and dried – our gear was totally dry when we packed it to come home.
The staff – Recently, someone posted about Monty and Michelle (specifically, that they needed replacing) – the stuff this guy wrote could not be further from the truth. They ran the boat fantastically – and they are constantly reminding people to dive safely and within the limits of their training/experience. In addition, they are warm, accommodating, and fun (expect lots of dry humor if your group can handle it – I have not laughed so hard in a long time!!!), and I imagine that a large portion of repeat business for the Bilikiki is due to their presence as managers. Everyone on our sailing – people widely ranging in age, background, career, etc, adored them. The crew is made up of locals with varied backgrounds as cooks, engineers, etc, many of whom have been on the boat for longer than Monty and Michelle. Many of them were pretty shy (English is not a first language for them), but as we opened up to them, they became more and more friendly and talkative. They were all very sweet and considerate – one of them found out that my husband was into the World Cup, and once word got around, several crew members began reporting scores to him on a daily basis.
Souvenirs – amazing wood carvings (masks, tables, bowls), sago palm nut carvings, shell money jewelry. Bring cash or traveler’s checks. Larger objects could be expensive, but are unique!! We bought 2 large (2 ft x 1 foot) masks elaborately inlaid with mother-of-pearl and different types of wood for about $400 USD and 8 D-cell batteries. We brought D-cell batteries (which were VERY vaulable!!!), old masks, and Old Navy t-shirts for bartering, and we also brought some crayons/coloring books and kids’ t-shirts as donations. The boat crew also appreciates old masks, if you have any – we left our spare behind.
In short – this was the trip of a lifetime. We plan to go back.
I do have some pictures, but we just got back and I have not sorted through them yet. Will try to post a few next week. For fledging photogs, you will find help in Michelle and Monty, who are both experienced and talented. Michelle, in particular, has an “eye” for the small stuff and makes a point to show you things she knows you’d like to see and snap! In addition, we were very fortunate to have 2 talented photographers (cor and _bella_ on this board) on our trip who gave me lots of pointers.
[Soapbox – I know this will incite the wrath of a few people, but I’ll take my chances. I know of a few people on our sailing who did not plan to leave a gratuity (traditionally 5-10% for a liveaboard). This makes up a significant source of income for the crew, who worked from dawn until dusk busting their butts to make us happy. Please budget this into the cost of your trip so that the money will be available if you feel a gratuity is warranted. These trips are expensive, we all know. But we are a one-income, 30-something family, currently paying for my husband’s school tuition out-of-pocket – and with extensive planning and budgeting, we managed to have ample cash set aside for this!!! If you can afford the trip, you can afford the tip – and if you can’t afford to do it in 12 months, do it in 18!!!!!!]
