NektonRorqual - Just returned

Uh oh - another Nekton Report ! Seems like new places we go that have been flamed on Scubaboard turn out to be the best places and become favorites of ours. We loved our trip to St. Croix aboard the Nekton Rorqual. First time to St. Croix and first time on a Nekton boat. (Not our first LOB though).

We met the boat in Peurto Rico where we were met and driven to the boat. it was a 10 hour overnight ride to St. Croix. The only bad experience was the restaurant at the marina for our first night's supper, slow, expensive and mediocre food I wish I would have picked up McDonald's on the way. Oh - you do stop at a grocery store to pick up your personal beer, wine, spirits and carbonated beverages. There are none of these on the boat. I would suggest bringing a netted sack to place your beverages in. All the beverages are placed in a common cooler aboard. Having them in your own sack keeps yours separate from the others. There was no problem with other guests helping themselves - just housekeeping.

Crew- great, helpful, cheerlful and friendly
Food- Very good and plentiful
Room - large and comfortable - no awful smells at all. I brought air freshener because of earlier reports but didn't need at all.
Diving- Surprisingly good

I was surprised and very pleased about the diving. Very little dive pressure in the area. I saw the biggest undamaged fans ever. The condition of the reef is awesome. Much better than many other places in the Caribbean that we've visited.

I was quite nervous about the number of divers on the boat (28), but that turned out to not be a problem. First, it's a big boat. Secondly, I really liked the way they (Nekton) arranges the dive schedule. The dive platform was open from 0800 to 1145 in the morning. 1300 - 1745 in the afternoon and 1900 - 2045 for night dives. So, you could in essence make your own dive schedule. Some people went in right away, some later - never any pressure. The dive deck was never crowded. Not like some other boats where you have to go in at specific times for morning, afternoon and night dives.

The dive sites were at first chosen by the captain, but returns were by popular demand among the divers.

We dove:
"Alien Nation"
"Kings Cross"
"Shallow Wrecks"
"North Star"
"Armageddon"
"Pavilion"
"Cane Bay"
"Deep Wrecks"
"Fredericksted Pier"

The sea life was varied, plentiful and very interesting. We saw many species that you would normally see alone, but here they were in pairs or groups. Cane Bay and the Pier were maybe my favorites, but they were all wonderful. However, we did not see any large Grouper (Nassau, Tiger, Black or Goliath), or Yellowtail Snappers - obviously fished out. Another surprise, we didn't see one Lionfish. Saw turtles on most dives. Some divers saw sharks deep (below 110), but I never went that deep - so much to see shallower.

We missed night dives for three nights because of sea wasps. Very unusual for 3 days. They did leave by the time we got to the Pier and were able to do night dives there. Lots to see under that Pier! On the last diving day (Friday) you could dive as many dives as your outbound flight schedule permitted (18 - 24 hour rule). Since our Saturday flight wasn't until after 1500, we made two morning dives on the Pier and then on early afternoon dive at Alien Nation. The boat didn't make the return trip until 2100, so if your flight schedule permitted, a night dive could have been possible.

Mentioned above - many people (28) - all a great group and good divers ! Bring your passport, you will need them to clear customs when you return to Peurto Rico, even though St.Croix is part of the American Virin Islands - customs does check when the boat returns. No problem, just a formality.

Water Temps - Oct 10 - 17th 2009. Constant 84 top to bottom. Swim trunks and a "t' shirt all week.

Would I go again to this itinerary - defiantly. Would I go again on the Nekton to a different destination - defiantly.

NAIBdiver1

NAIBdiver1:

Uh oh - another Nekton Report ! Seems like new places we go that have been flamed on Scubaboard turn out to be the best places and become favorites of ours.

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Yes, but you were a guest, not a former employee.

We liked it, too. Here are some recent pix: Nekton pictures by Doc_Adelman - Photobucket

Thanks for posting a report, even though you were afraid of the attack mob.
so where are the pictures???

No stills - shot lots of video though. Editin process starts soon.

There's a comment I forgot to add to my report -

By the end of the week I thought I'd been on a mountain climbing vacation ! I climbed many stairs over the course of the week and my legs sure felt that by the end of the week ! Room - lower deck, food middle deck, sun deck - upper deck, dive deck different stairs to the water. Up and down many many times.

Great report NAIBdiver! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the report NAIBdiver. Could you give some more info about the sea wasp situation? We were there in March and they were non-existent. Were there just a few in the water at night, or "clouds" of them? Did they keep the light out on the dive deck to keep from bringing them in? Unfortuantely, my wife is alergic to them, so I like to get as much info as possible, as to what time of the year they are most prevalent at different dive locals. Thanks

BTW, I had been bashing St. croix as a dive location, but it seems that most people that go to the north shore like the itinerary (we didn't get to go up there). Was the north shore the best part of your dives, other than the pier?

According to the captain - he had only seen sea wasps once before and only for a day - lucky us, we had much more. The first night they showed up there were only a few and the divers were surprised. Some got out of the water right away. On the next two nights after that, they were carpet thick. We then moved to the pier and didn't see any there for the night dive. The last night we moved away from the pier, but still on the west side and saw a few more.

The north side was GREAT. Maybe the best corals I've seen in the Caribbean - As I wrote above - largest undamaged sea fans I've ever seen on this side of the planet. I was really surprised and pleased !

NAIBdiver1:

By the end of the week I thought I'd been on a mountain climbing vacation ! I climbed many stairs over the course of the week and my legs sure felt that by the end of the week ! Room - lower deck, food middle deck, sun deck - upper deck, dive deck different stairs to the water. Up and down many many times.

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Tell me about it! Only be sure you are humping those stairs barefoot! They are all steel construction (like everything else on that boat) and street shoes are problematic on them. I fell halfway down one of those stairs when disembarking from the boat with regular shoes on, and had a mighty stiff return flight as a result.

diverdoug1:

Thanks for the report NAIBdiver. Could you give some more info about the sea wasp situation? We were there in March and they were non-existent. Were there just a few in the water at night, or "clouds" of them? Did they keep the light out on the dive deck to keep from bringing them in? Unfortuantely, my wife is alergic to them, so I like to get as much info as possible, as to what time of the year they are most prevalent at different dive locals. Thanks

BTW, I had been bashing St. croix as a dive location, but it seems that most people that go to the north shore like the itinerary (we didn't get to go up there). Was the north shore the best part of your dives, other than the pier?

Click to expand...

sea wasps live deep and come up to the surface usually right after a full moon for a few nights, that is when night divers usually see them. They can be anywhere in ocean diving, but usually seen where there is a deep wall as they live very, very deep. Normally, divers never encounter them.
I know I posted this here recently, but the only time we have seen "sea wasp" issues was when we were in Bonaire in June 2007. We were warned that they were seen for several nights, not to night dive our first night as some divers had gotten stung there on island in past few nights. We went down to dock that night and sure enough, a guy got out of the water wearing a shortie and he was screaming in pain. He showed us his leg and he had a long whelt around it, bright red and maybe 12" long. It was ugly and he was in serious pain. We sent him up to front desk to see if they could get him some medical help. The next night we went night diving and saw none, but then we were wearing full 3mm suits. We were told that the dive lights attract them IF they are in area.