britusa
Registered
Sailed with the Nekton Pilot from Aug 16-23 - unfortunately, right in the middle of Tropical Storm Fay. This was only my second liveaboard (the first was with Peter Hughes in Galapagos last year).
The trip started uneventful enough - the Nekton crew pick you up at the airport, and whisk all your baggage to the boat while you enjoy a relaxing (though for us a rather long) day in Ft. Lauderdale. As others have stated, the crew then pick you up and take you to a grocery center where you can buy alcohol at the liquer store or anything you want at the grocery store, such as carbonated beverages. We don't drink, but we did buy soda. When I do a Nekton trip again, I won't bother as they provide an ample bariety of non-carbonated drinks around the clock.
When we got on board, we got the bad news - we couldn't do Cay Sal because of Fay - we were going to the Northwest area in hopes of outrunning Fay and avoiding her. The captain hoped our diving wouldn't be too interrupted.
Sunday we dove Sugar Wreck - nice little dive site and for my money the best one of the trip because of Fay. By the end of the day, the currents were getting pretty bad. Monday we dove Rocky Mountain. I think this would have been my favorite site had the viz not been less than 20 ft.
We got the bad news that we'd have to be moving to a safe port - seas were getting rough and Fay had a mind of her own and was moving very slowing and travelling more east than expected. We spent Tuesday, Wednesday and most of Thursday morning in Freeport Harbor. Freeport was probably a nice town once. It isn't much now. If you spend 3 hours in Freeport, you've probably spent 2 hours too many - unless you like to gamble slot machines at the small casino.
Thursday, after two false starts (couldn't dive the first two sites because of curent and visibility), we wound up at Hawksbill. I was hard to say what this site would have been like if we had decent viz, but again, we were only around 20 ft. Friday we moved to Spotted Sands. This site was really wrecked. (probably because it's so close to Bimini). Again, the viz wasn't much to speak of.
I have to say that the crew really went out of their way to make our non-diving days bearable. In fact, the crew made this whole trip. They were ALWAYS there to help, talk to you (genuinely talk to you), dive with you - etc.
While this was my first time with Nekton, it won't be my last. Yes, there are some things I'd change - i thought the dive deck was a bit crowded with 30 divers, and the sun deck needs an overhall. But the beds are very comfortable (better than Peter Hughes), and the crew were just top notch. For the crew alone - and the friendliess of everyone we met from Nekton - I'd dive with them again - AND HOPE I MISS OUT A HURRICANE!
The trip started uneventful enough - the Nekton crew pick you up at the airport, and whisk all your baggage to the boat while you enjoy a relaxing (though for us a rather long) day in Ft. Lauderdale. As others have stated, the crew then pick you up and take you to a grocery center where you can buy alcohol at the liquer store or anything you want at the grocery store, such as carbonated beverages. We don't drink, but we did buy soda. When I do a Nekton trip again, I won't bother as they provide an ample bariety of non-carbonated drinks around the clock.
When we got on board, we got the bad news - we couldn't do Cay Sal because of Fay - we were going to the Northwest area in hopes of outrunning Fay and avoiding her. The captain hoped our diving wouldn't be too interrupted.
Sunday we dove Sugar Wreck - nice little dive site and for my money the best one of the trip because of Fay. By the end of the day, the currents were getting pretty bad. Monday we dove Rocky Mountain. I think this would have been my favorite site had the viz not been less than 20 ft.
We got the bad news that we'd have to be moving to a safe port - seas were getting rough and Fay had a mind of her own and was moving very slowing and travelling more east than expected. We spent Tuesday, Wednesday and most of Thursday morning in Freeport Harbor. Freeport was probably a nice town once. It isn't much now. If you spend 3 hours in Freeport, you've probably spent 2 hours too many - unless you like to gamble slot machines at the small casino.
Thursday, after two false starts (couldn't dive the first two sites because of curent and visibility), we wound up at Hawksbill. I was hard to say what this site would have been like if we had decent viz, but again, we were only around 20 ft. Friday we moved to Spotted Sands. This site was really wrecked. (probably because it's so close to Bimini). Again, the viz wasn't much to speak of.
I have to say that the crew really went out of their way to make our non-diving days bearable. In fact, the crew made this whole trip. They were ALWAYS there to help, talk to you (genuinely talk to you), dive with you - etc.
While this was my first time with Nekton, it won't be my last. Yes, there are some things I'd change - i thought the dive deck was a bit crowded with 30 divers, and the sun deck needs an overhall. But the beds are very comfortable (better than Peter Hughes), and the crew were just top notch. For the crew alone - and the friendliess of everyone we met from Nekton - I'd dive with them again - AND HOPE I MISS OUT A HURRICANE!
