NAIBdiver1
Contributor
We've just returned from spending Christmas week on the Turks & Caicos Explorer II. We had a very good time !
No problems at all flying there or home (for a change). The diving was good. We visited North Point, West Caicos and French Cay. As far as the fish life - I think it must have been "dating time" in the Atlantic. We saw many pairs of different fish and breeding behavior. Most awesome was two Nassau Groupers together.
We saw sharks (Carribbean Reef), southern sting rays and eagle rays every day. Many grouper of various kinds and lots of porcupine puffers. We did see quite a few lionfish as well. Most of the usual caribbean reef fish as well, but not many eels. Lots of box and trunk fishes of various kinds. The lionfish we found on the walls and they tended to stay a bit deep. The soft corals were in wonderful condition and made for beautiful back drops for video.
The nitrox compressor failed before we left, so diving on air was necessary for the week. I sure felt the effects, but napping is good. The diving conditions for the week were a bit rough due to strong winds. Probably not a good beginners trip, but I'm sure it's fine in calmer weather. I only did 2 night dives for the week.
The boat itself is rather long and really swings back and forth on the mooring. That really wasn't a problem. Just ascend, do your safety stop in mid water and wait for the boat to swing back to your position (just a few minutes). It wasn't really a good idea for your saftey stop to hang off the boats down lines. The boat swung so fast that if you were hanging on the down line at 15 - 20 feet, quit quickly you'd be cruising along very fast at 3 feet.
The water temp was a constant 79F (26C) top to bottom for the week. I dove a 3mm for the week and was fine with that (no gloves, hood or lycra)
The room we had was great. We were upstairs in one of the larger rooms. The crew was great and the cook, outstanding. Plenty of hot showers, both on the dive deck and in room.
We had a very nice and enjoyable Christmas with the other guests and crew.
Happy New Year to all
NAIBDiver1
No problems at all flying there or home (for a change). The diving was good. We visited North Point, West Caicos and French Cay. As far as the fish life - I think it must have been "dating time" in the Atlantic. We saw many pairs of different fish and breeding behavior. Most awesome was two Nassau Groupers together.
We saw sharks (Carribbean Reef), southern sting rays and eagle rays every day. Many grouper of various kinds and lots of porcupine puffers. We did see quite a few lionfish as well. Most of the usual caribbean reef fish as well, but not many eels. Lots of box and trunk fishes of various kinds. The lionfish we found on the walls and they tended to stay a bit deep. The soft corals were in wonderful condition and made for beautiful back drops for video.
The nitrox compressor failed before we left, so diving on air was necessary for the week. I sure felt the effects, but napping is good. The diving conditions for the week were a bit rough due to strong winds. Probably not a good beginners trip, but I'm sure it's fine in calmer weather. I only did 2 night dives for the week.
The boat itself is rather long and really swings back and forth on the mooring. That really wasn't a problem. Just ascend, do your safety stop in mid water and wait for the boat to swing back to your position (just a few minutes). It wasn't really a good idea for your saftey stop to hang off the boats down lines. The boat swung so fast that if you were hanging on the down line at 15 - 20 feet, quit quickly you'd be cruising along very fast at 3 feet.
The water temp was a constant 79F (26C) top to bottom for the week. I dove a 3mm for the week and was fine with that (no gloves, hood or lycra)
The room we had was great. We were upstairs in one of the larger rooms. The crew was great and the cook, outstanding. Plenty of hot showers, both on the dive deck and in room.
We had a very nice and enjoyable Christmas with the other guests and crew.
Happy New Year to all
NAIBDiver1
