My wife and I were on the Nekton Rorqual trip to Mayaguana last week (Mar. 13-20), so I thought I'd add our observations. It looks like we had much better conditions than previous posters. Air temps 78-80, water temp 78, slight breeze, mostly calm seas. We did encounter some relatively strong currents the first few days on the South side of the island, so they moved the boat to the previously unexplored West side, where we had only slight or nonexistent currents. There were 22 divers on the boat.
Like others, we also found the reefs in very good shape. However, unlike a previous poster, we thought the fish life was really quite good and varied. Some people on the boat (not us, unfortunately) saw some hammerheads, morays, and a spotted eagle ray. We saw lots of very large parrotfish, groupers, triggerfish, angels, turtles, and many small fish, including several juvenile spotted drums, as well as a reef shark and small nurse shark. Unfortunately, there were also a lot of lionfish, but still many other fish, including smaller ones and juveniles, than I might have expected given the number of lionfish.
The topography is really one of the best aspects of the reefs. Lots of large coral heads, incredible walls dropping off into the deep blue, and many swim-throughs. We explored a new site on the West side that, at least for now, is named holy s**t because it's so amazing.
None of our dives were drift dives. At several sites, on the South side, mooring pins had been installed, otherwise the boat had to drop anchor at each site, which took extra time as the crew was careful not to drop the anchor in coral. In several cases this produced rather interesting results when the anchor didn't hold in the sand and the boat had to be repositioned while we were underwater, leaving us to search for the boat after we returned to where it had been, but no longer was. However, this wasn't a big deal and was generally regarded as just another part of the adventure of exploring new dive sites.
As others have said, the crew is really what makes the trip. They are all very friendly and work well together, doing what they can to please the passengers. They were a lot of fun to be with and to get to know. When repositioning time cut into dive time on a few of the days, meals were re-scheduled and two dawn dives were added so that we could still get in all our dives. I did 18 dives (I don't do night dives) but others were able to get in 22 dives by doing the night dives.
The food was very good. My wife and I are vegetarians and at nearly every dinner there was some dish especially for the vegetarians. Even those meals that didn't include a designated vegetarian dish still had plenty of stuff we could eat. Food was plentiful and varied, and snacks such as fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies were provided between dives. One thing Nekton does differently than other liveaboards is that they don't provide alcoholic or carbonated beverages. Most everyone drank the non-carbonated drinks (lemonade, tea, fruit punch) provided, but we also had a chance to pick up things in Provo before we boarded, but at very high prices ($6 for a six-pack of diet Coke). We picked up wine in the duty free shop before leaving the U.S., which is what I would recommend if you want alcoholic drinks.
The boat is in need of some refurbishing, but it really was not as bad as I had expected. I didn't hear anyone complain about problems with their cabin during the week. I've been on other liveaboards in the Caribbean (Peter Hughes, Aggressor, Explorer) and it seems like all of them have some problems. The Rorqual didn't seem particularly worse than the others, although we did have one of the generator engines apparently throw a rod and start a small fire in the engine compartment as we were leaving Mayaquana on the last day. However, the crew handled this small emergency very well and the fire was contained without problem. The other generator was started up and we continued on our way.
There is still some problem with their nitrox system, although our fills during the week averaged 28-29 percent, still less than the 31-32 percent I've had on other boats. However, if they didn't watch the system closely it would drop down to 26%, which is what we got on a few fills.
Regarding the shore excursion, we did find out why this is mandatory. Apparently, the agreement with the Bahamian government that allows Nekton to operate around Mayaguana also requires that they do the shore excursions to promote tourism and development. Apparently Nekton has also made some changes in the way the shore excursions are operated. We had to pay (now $30) upfront for the excursion when we first checked in on the boat. Also, the meal on the island is now a lunch, after which we did the island tour and then returned to the boat by 4 o'clock. The last night's dinner was served on-board.
Contrary to what has been said about the meal on the island, we found it to be very good. Others in our group who are not vegetarians said the conch fritters were among the best they had ever tasted. However, everyone agreed that the tour is a waste of time and is, at best, a misguided effort to promote tourism.
Nekton is still working out some details about this itinerary. We were originally told the boat would be at Nikki Beach Marina, but several days before departure we were advised it would be at South Dock, which is Provo's commercial port. When we went there at 7:30 to board, there was a gravel barge being unloaded in the spot where the Rorqual should have been. However, Nekton got cabs to take us to a restaurant where we waited until the Rorqual could dock. We finally got to board at about 11:00 p.m., but that meant we didn't reach Mayaguana until about noon the next day, leaving time for just the afternoon and night dives that day.
Overall, we were very satisfied with this trip and would recommend it. There were a few glitches, but these were dealt with effectively and efficiently. Yes, the mandatory shore excursion is a pain, but it's also a relatively small price to pay for the opportunity to explore previously un-dived reefs.
