Turks & Caicos Explorer II Trip Report
- Thread starter jkotovsky
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The reason why I knew that there were hairdryers on other liveaboards besides the Kona Aggressor (as claimed by another poster) is because I've successfully convinced J to leave hers at home based on written evidence that the boat cabin and all intervening hotel rooms will have hairdryers (she won't believe me unless she sees it in writing).
I suppose others could say the same about shampoo. I, for one, love to rinse the salt water out of my hair after a dive, and a quick shampooing makes me feel even better. Therefore, I prefer liveaboards that keep shampoo by their dive deck showers. Of course, others will say that I could bring my own shampoo, and still others will say I should just shave my head and not worry about it!
Trust me (I've been on 11 liveaboards of a week or more and can be rather picky), there are plenty of liveaboards out there that not only provide DMs underwater as guides, but also have hairdryers. Some may even recycle, depending on local facilities. Don't be dismayed by your one venture, just make sure next time that the boat actually will provide what you expect (from their brochures, etc., or direct communication) instead of assuming they will.
diverrick
Contributor
Live aboards are not for everyone. Lets get that straight. But here are the things I like about them. They fill your tanks, but don't mess with my gear. You get to check your own Nitrox mix.
There is no internet. here is no cell service in most cases. They hand you your camera while getting in, and take it off your hands while coming out.they take your fins from you while your gtting out. You do not have divemaster to hold your hand, except in certain situations where it is prudent to follow the leader.
You have no sand in your gear at the end of the week. The food is prepared for you, it is your choice if you want to eat it. you have your choice of drinks anytime you like.
I am saddened to hear that one of the DM's got bent. That pretty much washes them up in that career. Very sad thing. I have seen it. I would hate to have my career ruined like that. Demi Is a wonderful person, but he too deserves a little time off .. They don;t get much time off while on the boat at all. add to that they were down a DM, the remaining crew has extra work loads to take on.
All in all it sounds like they did the best one could do under the circumstanse. I guess the other option would have benn to pull the plug on the rest of the trip. I imagine you might have benn a bit put out if that had happened.
It is an island after all, and the availability of replacment DM's is small if not non existant.
I would love to see more recycleing, but I see the issue, that most islands do not have the infrastucture to recycle in most situations. I would gladly recycle the stuff on the flight home if I only had the room in my baggage. Island life is differnet form living here in the US, plus living on a boat, while off an island is also way different. Some things are just not there for you,as they might be here in the good ol' US of A. I like the liveaboards for all the above reasons. If you wanted all that other "fluff stuff, maybe a cruise ship might have been a btter choice.
There is no internet. here is no cell service in most cases. They hand you your camera while getting in, and take it off your hands while coming out.they take your fins from you while your gtting out. You do not have divemaster to hold your hand, except in certain situations where it is prudent to follow the leader.
You have no sand in your gear at the end of the week. The food is prepared for you, it is your choice if you want to eat it. you have your choice of drinks anytime you like.
I am saddened to hear that one of the DM's got bent. That pretty much washes them up in that career. Very sad thing. I have seen it. I would hate to have my career ruined like that. Demi Is a wonderful person, but he too deserves a little time off .. They don;t get much time off while on the boat at all. add to that they were down a DM, the remaining crew has extra work loads to take on.
All in all it sounds like they did the best one could do under the circumstanse. I guess the other option would have benn to pull the plug on the rest of the trip. I imagine you might have benn a bit put out if that had happened.
It is an island after all, and the availability of replacment DM's is small if not non existant.
I would love to see more recycleing, but I see the issue, that most islands do not have the infrastucture to recycle in most situations. I would gladly recycle the stuff on the flight home if I only had the room in my baggage. Island life is differnet form living here in the US, plus living on a boat, while off an island is also way different. Some things are just not there for you,as they might be here in the good ol' US of A. I like the liveaboards for all the above reasons. If you wanted all that other "fluff stuff, maybe a cruise ship might have been a btter choice.
diverrick
Contributor
I forgot one other issue.. Neither you nor the boat crew can do anything about the vis, and sea conditions except maybe move to a "hopefully" better spot. Your kinda stuck with what you get that week.. This is actually more true for fixed base dive ops, as they have much less choice as to where they can take you to dive if conditoins are bad. The only chance you have is to plan your trip during those optimum weeks where conditions historically are the best, but there are still no guarantees as to what you'll get when you jump in. But on those weeks you probaly not get that screaming rate for a spot aboard. Those are usually reserved for boats that are not full,, during the low season in an effort to get the boat as full as possable.
Shasta_man
Contributor
Biggest cabin I've seen is the Master and Commanders cabin on the Paradise Dancer at 470 sq ft. Picture a treasure ship with the windows looking out the stern. One whole floor of that is the cabin. The rest of the cabins were 180 sq ft.
hobiejuan
Guest
Sorry I just found out about this posting. But John missed a good trip. I was on that trip and although some of the fact are true, John is not reporting them correctly. The trip was full of experienced divers. Two of us are Instructors with the dive shop which ran the trip. We did our own dive groups. John never got involved in any way. The group discussed the situation with the person going to the chamber. We dicided to go ahead and dive while she went and was dropped off. We know the situation and helped out as we could. Ken was completely in the right. We also had two members of our group get sick on the first day out. One had an alergic reaction to her eyes, the other had some other physical problems. Ken made arrangements for the to be taken to a clinic on Provo. they were back later that same day. Again we discussed the situation and did what had to be done. We are mostly friends and travel together. I remember John and his wife not getting involved with group, but staying up in their room between dives. Which was strange, because they have been traveling with us for many years.
The staff on the Turks Cacois Explore II was great, the meals were great Stan is fantastic cook. Ken was a great captain, Tim and Sandra were first class. They let us dive our way. As a matter of fact I am with the same group sitting on the ship in Provo with a new crew as I write this note. It was a great week with them all. I look forward to a different trip next year on this same ship. This year we went to Mayaguana. The diving is what it is, they can not control the fish, but they go out of their way to make each trip the best. I would encourage anyone to read John's reports and do the opposite. Book now!
The staff on the Turks Cacois Explore II was great, the meals were great Stan is fantastic cook. Ken was a great captain, Tim and Sandra were first class. They let us dive our way. As a matter of fact I am with the same group sitting on the ship in Provo with a new crew as I write this note. It was a great week with them all. I look forward to a different trip next year on this same ship. This year we went to Mayaguana. The diving is what it is, they can not control the fish, but they go out of their way to make each trip the best. I would encourage anyone to read John's reports and do the opposite. Book now!
I was on that trip also and just heard about this post. Hobiejuan spells it out correctly. John complained about everything and many were in his control. Some were uncontrollable. To complain about it here is just immature and many dive shops don't want him on their trips anymore We had a great trip. Nobody missed the dive master at all. It didn't change a thing. Ken and his team made this trip one to remember. I went to eat, sleep and dive. It was very successful then and on this recent trip.
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