Nekton Pilot / Mona Island - Trip Report

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Ron G.

Contributor
Messages
188
Reaction score
40
Location
Ellicott City, MD
# of dives
200 - 499
I was on the December 6 trip, my first liveaboard.

Frankly, I was hoping others would have reported here about the trip. (I think trip reports are more interesting if the writer has been on other liveaboards.)

I'd read quite a bit here and elsewhere about Nekton and the Mona Island itinerary and had high expectations. I had about 45 dives under my belt when I started the trip, including land-based trips to Bonaire and Cozumel.

The boat was nearly at capacity (28 passengers with a capacity of 32). Interestingly, the trip the previous week went with only four passengers. 28 seems to be well above the norm, so I was a bit concerned, but had no reason to be. The only downside to being near-capacity was that I had to share a room with another single (which worked out fine).

Overall, this was a great trip. The crew were great. I was 100% impressed by everyone's obvious desire to serve the passengers....from the dive deck to the galley to the rooms. The captain and co. management should be very pleased with the crew's performance. They were quick to help out with gear on the dive deck, accompany a solo diver on a dive, etc., etc. This attitude was reflected throughout the crew. Everyone seemed anxious to provide a great experience for the divers. (I was also amazed to see the captain directly participating in menial tasks throughout the week, in addition to his other duties.)

The only real negative was the transportation from the airport to the dock. It's a 3-hour drive, but we took six in a rickety, crowded school bus. This was only their second run with this itinerary and their first with this many passengers. We hit a lot of traffic leaving San Juan, but it was made worse because we were unsure if we were going to be fed upon arrival at the boat (at about 10:00 pm). The Nekton documents said that we needed to eat before arrival at the boat. Since we boarded the bus at around 4:45 pm, I don't think anyone had eaten. So, we stopped for a fast food dinner en route. We had no group leader, so the food stop was disorganized....it turned out that some got their meals to go, others sat and ate (in a different restaurant). It ended up being a wasted hour 'cause they did feed us when we arrived. (If only we knew in advance.) We also made a scheduled stop along the way to by liquor, soft drinks, etc. For some reason, we made this stop about half way there, so folks who bought stuff had to handle it for half the trip. There were obviously many supermarkets much closer to the dock. Having said all this, Nekton was quick to change the return transportation. We had three nice vans to ride back in and it went perfectly smoothly.

The Nekton boat is great. I had at one time considered Blackbeard and think I would have been very disappointed...especially compared to Nekton. The passenger rooms were relatively roomy. My had two twin beds, a private bath and several shelves/cubbies for your stuff. Also, there was room under the beds to shove your bags, etc. The room had large picture windows, which was great. Everything inside was nicely air conditioned. they provided towels and wash cloths, but no shampoo.

The main deck included several cabins, a dining area and galley and a "salon". The salon was a common living area with a flat screen tv, dvr, etc. (It also had a computer for photographers to transfer their pics from their media to cd's, which were provided.) The salon was a very comfortable area to hang out between dives...if you wanted to be inside.

The top deck was about 2/3 uncovered with chaises. The other 1/3 was covered and included chairs, a couple tables and an area for the daily dive briefings. It also had a wall of cubbies for divers to store their dry misc. stuff. I liked being able to be outside, yet covered (if I chose).

I thought the diving was great, and somewhat adventurous. Some folks were disappointed because they were expecting to see many, large critters. We did see some small-ish turtles and nurse sharks, some octopus, etc., but not a lot of big stuff. (If you read the itinerary description on the Nekton website, it does raise one's expectations for big sea life.) I'm a newer diver and I enjoyed the walls, reefs, rock formations, coral, etc. No disappointment on my end.

The first dive day lost some time to the orientation, etc. Other days they made sure we could do four day dives plus a fifth, night dive. I did 21 dives, some did about 25. (We visited a small Puerto Rican port on the last afternoon/evening, so there were only two morning dives on Friday. I suppose that was to give everyone 24 hours surface time before their flights. I would have liked to have had the option of afternoon dives, but most folks seemed to like being able to go ashore. I'm not certain, but I think there may have been some drinking. :)

The set-up is great for diving. You put your BC on a tank at the beginning of the week and you never have to take it off. They fill the tanks in place, air or Nitrox. It was very convenient. There were two entry points off the back of the boat and on on each side. Even with 28 passengers, we were able to get in and out of the water pretty smoothly.

They do a number of dives without mooring, so they do what they call a "live" dive. It's basically a drift dive where everyone enters the water very quickly and immediately descends...trying to keep folks together. When it's time to re-board, you all wait in a group on the surface and they back this large boat up to you (often in relatively strong swells). At the captain's signal, two dives swim quickly to the ladders at the back of the boat, grab on an board. Then the next two and the next two. The swells can make this a pretty exciting process. (After the first, one of the other divers grinned at me and said, "once again, we've cheated death". :)

Based on the positive reviews I'd read, I booked a second (discounted) trip on Nekton to St. Croix on January 31 (on the same boat). I had a great time on the first and look forward to the next.

Oh, a comment about "luxury". I thought the Nekton amenities were exactly right for a dive trip. I've heard of others offering massages, linen table cloths, etc. That's not what I'm looking for. Nekton did have warm towels and cookies available when you finished your dives....no back rubs. I thought naugahyde in the salon made practical sense. Blackbeard would have been too spartan for my tastes, but Nekton was just right.

Ron
 
thanks for the write up! I am anxious to hear more about Mona Island trip, it sounds like one we would like. :D Did you take any pictures to share?
What were your favorite dives? How were the night dives? :D

robin:D
 
Brian,

Ours was their second trip back to Mona Island and, yes, it was discounted $600 (as was the first trip). In fact, I thought the base prices for the Nekton trips were pretty reasonable, but the discount made them a real value.

Robin, I didn't take pictures, but others did and may make them available here.

While we were there, there was a pretty strong current for about half the dives. (I'm in the process of buying new, more efficient fins to reduce some of my effort.) The current made some of the dives a bit taxing. Based on that, I really enjoyed the ease of the drift dives....which was made even more fun by the excitement of the speedy entries and challenging exits.

On some of the dives, they moored directly above a very deep wall. We could then choose between diving along the wall (as deep as you cared to go), or among the nearby reefs. The depth below this wall was something I hadn't seen before in Bonaire or Cozumel. I enjoyed hovering beyond the wall, looking down into the seemingly endless abyss.

The captain kept trying to find the right conditions to takes us across a relatively narrow channel to a smaller island called Monito (or, maybe it was Molito). The side of the island we were on was a sheer wall....something like 70' above the water and about the same below. I could see why they made an effort to get us over there. Although it was a challenge from the captain's point of view given the current and swells, there were absolutely beautiful rock formations along the wall.

The night dives were mixed. On one, the current was so strong that the few that went out either came right back, or were forced to be collected by the dinghy after they ended up 200 yds from the boat. (That was on the last opportunity for a night dive, which I'd decided to take a pass on.) One or two of the other night dives were affected (to a lesser degree) by relatively strong currents, but the other night dives were great. The crew made a point of getting us to a place for our afternoon dives that would also be good for the night dives...so we were familiar with the dive site.

In fact, the crew/captain were really good about trying to get us the very best diving possible given the conditions. I never got any sense that they were looking for easy dives...they worked to get us the best week of dives they could, and I thought they were great.

Ron
 
I did the Nekton trip to Mona a couple of years ago, it was a hoot. Since then I did the Cayman cruise and Cay Sal Bank, just last August. I think Nekton is pretty special, and can't wait to go with them again. Those steel 95's are something else. No weight & I go down like a brick.
 
Nice trip report Ron. I'm glad you had a good time. You know liveaboard trips will spoil you. Makes a 2 tank day-boat trip seem anemic.

Next time consider the Bahamas (NW) trip and we're currently thinking about Cay Sal Banks.

Don
 
Don,

I'm trying to do a dive trip every two months. The St. Croix trip if for February, so I'm looking down the road for something for April and June. (I have been looking at Nekton's schedule for those months.)

I'm probably going with a LDS to Roatan in August and Cozumel in October.

Getting back to Nekton.....

Have you looked into their 'last minute special" program? You have to pay $99 per year for access to the program, but they offer discounts on trips.....some within 30 days or departure, others with a longer timeframe. The odd thing is that they don't advertise what kind of discounts to expect, beyond saying that they promise that you'll save at least the $99 membership fee on your first trip. Frankly, I'd be looking for much more than a $99 discount.

I thought I'd wait to see if I enjoy the St. Croix trip as much as Mona Island, then I'll call the Nekton rep to get more specifics (e.g., prices) for the last minute program.

(I've also looked at Explorer Ventures, which seems to be priced similarly to Nekton....but without the significant discounts sometimes offered by Nekton.)

You're right, though. If I look at additional Nekton trips, it's likely to be to the Bahamas, which should save money on airfare, since they leave out of Ft. Lauderdale.

By the way, I got a call last week from Nekton telling me that they'd reduced the fuel surcharge from $150 to $75, so I'll get a credit for $75. (Given the drop in gas prices, maybe it should be even more, but I was pleased to see that they were making some recognition of the realities of fuel prices.)

Also, I checked my reservation on UAL to San Juan. Turns out that my $380 fare has gone down to $280! I called United and they're sending me a voucher for $100. So, my St. Croix trip just got cheaper by $175 (and I already had a $600 promotional discount). Pretty soon, I won't be able to afford not to go on a trip. :)
 
Don,

I'm trying to do a dive trip every two months. The St. Croix trip if for February, so I'm looking down the road for something for April and June. (I have been looking at Nekton's schedule for those months.)

I'm probably going with a LDS to Roatan in August and Cozumel in October.

Getting back to Nekton.....

Have you looked into their 'last minute special" program? You have to pay $99 per year for access to the program, but they offer discounts on trips.....some within 30 days or departure, others with a longer timeframe. The odd thing is that they don't advertise what kind of discounts to expect, beyond saying that they promise that you'll save at least the $99 membership fee on your first trip. Frankly, I'd be looking for much more than a $99 discount.

I thought I'd wait to see if I enjoy the St. Croix trip as much as Mona Island, then I'll call the Nekton rep to get more specifics (e.g., prices) for the last minute program.

(I've also looked at Explorer Ventures, which seems to be priced similarly to Nekton....but without the significant discounts sometimes offered by Nekton.)

You're right, though. If I look at additional Nekton trips, it's likely to be to the Bahamas, which should save money on airfare, since they leave out of Ft. Lauderdale.

By the way, I got a call last week from Nekton telling me that they'd reduced the fuel surcharge from $150 to $75, so I'll get a credit for $75. (Given the drop in gas prices, maybe it should be even more, but I was pleased to see that they were making some recognition of the realities of fuel prices.)

Also, I checked my reservation on UAL to San Juan. Turns out that my $380 fare has gone down to $280! I called United and they're sending me a voucher for $100. So, my St. Croix trip just got cheaper by $175 (and I already had a $600 promotional discount). Pretty soon, I won't be able to afford not to go on a trip. :)

Ron,

Let's keep in touch and I'll talk to my bride. She seems to have the most influence over where and when we go. She's also my CFO.

Our LDS is going to Akumal, Mexico in the sping but that's not as interesting as Cay Sal is to us.
 
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