Bahamas Cat Ppalu & Stuart Coves Dive Trip Apr 25 to May 5
Sorry but this pretty lengthy. I'll try and post some video's when I get back to the state's.
Disclaimer: This is my personal trip report and your mileage may vary. I do not work for Blackbeards, but I have taken 3 week long trips on their sailboats and this is my first trip on the Cat Ppalu. Blackbeards also owns the Aqua-cat. All dives were made using a computer and were within recreational limits. All dives were no-decompression using a computer. Tables will not allow you to make many of these dives. The Cat Ppalu crew requests all dives be made as no-decompression dives. They gave detailed site/dive briefings before each dive, but allowed each diver to plan and execute their own profile.
9 of us booked the Cat Ppalu (part of Blackbeards fleet) for a week long dive trip out of Nassau, New Providence, Bahamas. We decided to come in one day early (Friday) and dive with Stuart Coves on Saturday Morning before joining the Cat Ppalu and then to dive with Stuart Coves for 3 days on returning from the live aboard.
I along with 5 of the others flew in on the US Airways direct flight out of Reagan National to Nassau. No problems with the flight. We were 10 minutes late leaving the gate but still arrived in Nassau 10 minutes early. The flight was smooth and it was nice not having to make any connections. The other 3 came in out of BWI taking 2 different routes and also experienced no problems. All luggage arrived safely and it cost $30 for 6 people and 14 dive bags plus carry-ons for a cab from the airport to the Orange Hill Inn where we were booked through Stuart Coves for 1 night before and 3 nights after the live aboard. The rooms are basic, but clean with AC, 6 channels on the TV, coffee maker & refrigerator in the room. They have a pool on site, and are on the shore across the road from the beach. Restaurant with bar on site. Friday night we ate at the hotel, and I had the seafood combo with blackened grouper, fried conch and a half a lobster tail with mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, black beans and rice, plain rice, cauliflower, macaroni and cheese for $30. The food was very good and it was serve yourself for the side items. Other menu items ranged from Baked or BBQd chicken for $12, Chicken Marsala for $15, blackened grouper for $24. The staff in the restaurant and hotel were very friendly and service was quick by island standards. The bar is on the honor system with beer for $4 and canned soda for $1.50.
Saturday, Apr 26, 2008. Dove with Stuart Coves on New Providence Island for the AM dive. Stuarts put us on our own boat which was great. After asking what kind of dives we were looking for and hearing Wrecks! Dive master Vivian and Captain Eric took us to Steel Forest for our first dive. Steel Forest is actually 3 ships sunk on the same site in a triangle. The largest an island freighter is right next to the wall at 70+ feet with the other 2 at shallower levels. You can easily see all three on a single dive. Swim out the bow ramp of the freighter and youre over the blue in 6,000 feet of water. Besides the wrecks, Lionfish were the big attractions and were every where on all three wrecks. Dive time was 40 minutes with max depth of 98 feet. Wall goes to 6,000+ so watch your depth. Second dive of the day was a double wreck again, Ray of Hope, an island freighter and Bahama Mama, a barge. This site is very close to where Stuarts does their shark feed, and we had about 20-30 sharks in the water swimming around the area. When a snorkel boat anchored next to us and put a chum bucket in the water, the activity really picked up in the area. Wish I had brought my camera down with me, but with a new 5mm suit I was working on one thing at a time. Glad I brought a 5mm, water temp was 74F on my computer. Other computers said from 71 to 76. Were diving with them the end of the week after our trip on the Cat Ppalu and requested Vivian and Eric when we come back. Very good dives to start the trip.
Dive 1 with Stuart Coves was Steel Forest with 98 feet for 40 min.
Dive 2 with Stuart Coves was Ray of Hope with 56 feet for 46 min.
Stuarts did take us back to the Orange Hill Inn to get the rest of our luggage and then took us on to the Cat Ppalu. The driver was a little unsure exactly where the Cat Ppalu was docked and initially took us to the wrong marina. We finally got straightened out and to the right Marina, The Nassau Harbor Marina and found the boat. The crew got us all aboard, gear stowed and we left the dock just after 3. No diving this afternoon, as we have to cross a very shallow area during daylight to get over to the Exuma Chain for our diving. The crew consists of Captain Gavin, from Ireland, Cook Michelle from Ireland (also an Instructor), Engineer Robert from Florida and Divemaster/Instructor Stuart from England. We were all impressed with the accommodations and room on board after having done the Blackbeards sailboats. There is a lot more room on the Cat Ppalu. Dinner was Pork Loin, Black beans and rice, salad, and summer vegetables. Good Food was had all week and Ill mention the high points as I go along.
Sunday, April 27, 2008, breakfast at 7:30 then 1st dive briefing at 8am and 1st Dive at 8:30. Today the weather was sunny, 80 and very windy. Due to wind direction and force we were forced to stay in the lee of the islands and dive shallow.
Dive 1 was Closemons Reef with 20 feet for 62 min.
Dive 2 was Flatrock Reef with 27 feet for 49 min.
Dive 3 was Baracuda Shoals with 30 feet for 62 min.
Dive 4 was a night dive on Closemons Reef with 20 feet for 52 min.
All these sites are relatively close together in the area of Allens Key in the northern Exuma chain. On each of the dives we saw the usual reef fish and unless we see something very unusual or exciting, Im not going to comment on all the ones we saw. We did make a short afternoon stop on Allens Key to feed the Iguanas grapes. They are brazen little beggars and are not afraid of taking them from your fingers. They do have sharp teeth and poor eyesight so you may want to put the grapes on a short stick to protect your fingers.
A warm shower after the night dive was a welcome change. (Blackbeards sailboats have one shower and youre only allowed 30 seconds a day.) The Cat Ppalu has 2 showers and they dont restrict your shower. Dinner was baked fish, salad, black beans and rice, Squash, fried plantains, with peach/fruit cobbler for desert after the night dive. Excellent dive day.
Monday, Apr 28, 2008. We started in the middle Exumas off Highborne Key at a site called Pillar Wall.
Dive 5 was Pillar Wall with 104 for 36min
Dive 6 was Pillar Wall again with 106 for 39 min
After lunch we moved down to the Exuma Land and sea Park in the Southern Exumas off Cistern Cay.
Dive 7 was Three Peaks Reef with 53 for 55 min.
Dive 8 was a night dive on Three Peaks Reef with 52 for 50 min
Pillar wall starts about 30-40 feet and drops off into the blue. Several sand chutes along the wall drop off into over 150 feet so watch your depth. Several swim throughs and canyons along the walls. Look along the wall for huge lobster. I did see a shark here at the end of the dive, but he didnt hang around. Three peaks is a large patch coral and sand area between 30 and 55 feet. I did see one lionfish here. Capt Gavin said he hadnt seen any this far south before. During the night dive several of the lobsters were out on the reef moving around.
Dinner before the night dive was Thanksgiving at sea, Roast Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and fresh rolls. After the night dive Michelle had hot apple crisp with ice cream waiting for us. Another good day in the book.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008 The day started Beautiful, Sunshine, warm weather and Denver omelet for breakfast. We spent the night in a protected anchorage at the Marine Park HQ. Aqua Cat moored right next to us. So far they seem to be following us to the same areas, which makes sense considering both boats come out of Nassau and do the Exuma Cays.
Dive 9 was Danger Reef off of Cistern Cay with 56 feet for 53 min.
Dive 10 was again Danger Reef off of Cistern Cay with 65 feet for 45 min.
Danger reef is near where a shark feed is done and several Caribbean Reef sharks were in the area for both dives. At least 10 large groupers and over 100 horse-eyed jacks hung under the boat during both dives. Got some good video of them all.
Dive 11 was Shroud Wall off Shroud Cay with 126 feet for 40 minutes. Shroud wall starts at 50 feet and drops off vertically into the blue. Again watch your depth.
Dive 12 was a night dive at Hammerhead reef off Long Cay with 23 feet for 45 min. No, there were no hammerheads.
Tonight was pasta night with spaghetti bolognaise, Spinach and cheese tortellini, Caesar salad and garlic bread. Raspberry torts were for desert.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008. We started with wall dives today.
Dive 13 was Blacktip Wall off Long Cay with 120 feet for 35 min.
Dive 14 was Dog Rocks Wall north of Ships Channel with 100 feet for 36 min.
Dive 15 was Dog Rocks Wall again with 96 feet for 47 min.
Both these sites are walls starting in 30-40 feet and dropping off into the abyss. Both have multiple swim-thrus, cuts and tunnels dropping out onto the wall at 85-100 feet. Watch your depth as the bottom is a long way off. While traveling from Blacktip to Dog Rocks we were trolling for fish and caught 2 ½ dolphin (the fish) and a mackerel. It would have been 3 dolphins but just as the 2nd dolphin was being brought alongside the boat, a shark came up and took the back half of the fish. We quickly learned to land them as quick as possible. Engineer Robert showed what he learned on commercial fishing boats and cleaned all the fish up. Michelle is going to do fresh fried fish and sushi on Thursday for lunch.
Dive 16 was Lobster No Lobster for a night dive with 30 feet for 46 min. Found 2 lobsters and 3 stingrays in the sand.
Dinner tonight was chicken cordon bleu, salad, mixed vegetables and roasted potatoes with marble cake for desert.
Thursday, May 01, 2008. Today started with the crossing from the northern Exumas back to New Providence Island. We arrived at our first dive site just before lunch.
Dive 17 was the Blue Hole off New Providence Island with 130 feet for 29 min. The Blue Hole is nearly a perfect circle 100 feet across and goes down 200 feet at the edges with a mound at the center at 150-160. There is a crack/tunnel at 75 feet that goes back over 60 feet before narrowing down to 2-3 tall. It appears to go back another 50+ feet. Most of the fish we found were in the tunnel. The blue hole was pretty neat, never having done one before, but again watch your depth as its easy to just start down and not realize how deep you are.
Lunch was baked fresh fish and sushi from the fish we caught yesterday. Potato salad and French fries rounded out the meal.
Dive 18 was Periwinkle reef just off New Providence Island. IT was a shallow dive on a reef with 23 feet for 1:04. The big treat here was taking a small box of corn flakes to feed the sergeant major fish. As we swam up to the reef, at least 200 sergeant majors came swimming towards us. They just swarmed the guys with the cereal bags. Large starfish were in the sand around the reef. Turn one over to watch it right itself. Make sure you have 20-25 minutes to sit and watch.
After the last dive we made it into the dock at the marina by 4:30 and had some time to walk around the local area before dinner. Dinner tonight was surf and turf with steamed shrimp, roast beef, salad, rice and rolls. For desert it was fresh baked brownies topped with ice cream and chocolate syrup. After desert we were able to watch the fireworks from Paradise Island sitting on the boat. Tonight is on the boat and then in the morning we debark and move back to the Orange Hill Inn. We dive with Stuart Coves tomorrow afternoon with their Shark Dive.
Some final thoughts on the Cat Ppalu trip. Our group was nine people, 7 singles and 1 couple. The boat has 4 single bunks in 2 cabins and 4 double cabins, so they can take a maximum of 12 guests. With our 9 we never felt crowded on the boat and the main salon was big enough to seat all of us together along with all 4 crew to eat together which was nice after eating in shifts on the Blackbeards sailboat. The dive deck is well laid out and Stu was very good about always giving full 3000psi fills. They have Aluminum 80s and 63s for those who want them. Each person has their own locker under the bench to store fins/mask/gloves/lights and all those other wet things. They kept a bucket full of fresh water for cameras and each side of the dive deck has a fresh water hose for rinsing masks before dives and heads after dives. There was always someone, usually 2 on the dive deck while divers were in the water to assist in getting you off and back on. They didnt restrict your diving other than to remind everyone that it was recreational diving and not to go into deco or below 130 feet. Since all our guys were diving with computers and experienced divers this was not a problem, Capt. Gavin runs a good ship, and its not often you see the Captain cleaning the head most days. Michelle is a very good cook and always had more food prepared than we could eat. Engineer Robert was very responsive to fixing anything you broke or that quit. Stu always filled tanks right after the dive, so we were ready for the next dive. Like most live-aboards you set your gear up once and only have to remove the first stage for them to re-fill your tank. The overall opinion of our group was very positive and were already discussing a return trip next year. Im not sure I can get any of these guys back on the Blackbeards sailboat.
Sorry but this pretty lengthy. I'll try and post some video's when I get back to the state's.
Disclaimer: This is my personal trip report and your mileage may vary. I do not work for Blackbeards, but I have taken 3 week long trips on their sailboats and this is my first trip on the Cat Ppalu. Blackbeards also owns the Aqua-cat. All dives were made using a computer and were within recreational limits. All dives were no-decompression using a computer. Tables will not allow you to make many of these dives. The Cat Ppalu crew requests all dives be made as no-decompression dives. They gave detailed site/dive briefings before each dive, but allowed each diver to plan and execute their own profile.
9 of us booked the Cat Ppalu (part of Blackbeards fleet) for a week long dive trip out of Nassau, New Providence, Bahamas. We decided to come in one day early (Friday) and dive with Stuart Coves on Saturday Morning before joining the Cat Ppalu and then to dive with Stuart Coves for 3 days on returning from the live aboard.
I along with 5 of the others flew in on the US Airways direct flight out of Reagan National to Nassau. No problems with the flight. We were 10 minutes late leaving the gate but still arrived in Nassau 10 minutes early. The flight was smooth and it was nice not having to make any connections. The other 3 came in out of BWI taking 2 different routes and also experienced no problems. All luggage arrived safely and it cost $30 for 6 people and 14 dive bags plus carry-ons for a cab from the airport to the Orange Hill Inn where we were booked through Stuart Coves for 1 night before and 3 nights after the live aboard. The rooms are basic, but clean with AC, 6 channels on the TV, coffee maker & refrigerator in the room. They have a pool on site, and are on the shore across the road from the beach. Restaurant with bar on site. Friday night we ate at the hotel, and I had the seafood combo with blackened grouper, fried conch and a half a lobster tail with mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, black beans and rice, plain rice, cauliflower, macaroni and cheese for $30. The food was very good and it was serve yourself for the side items. Other menu items ranged from Baked or BBQd chicken for $12, Chicken Marsala for $15, blackened grouper for $24. The staff in the restaurant and hotel were very friendly and service was quick by island standards. The bar is on the honor system with beer for $4 and canned soda for $1.50.
Saturday, Apr 26, 2008. Dove with Stuart Coves on New Providence Island for the AM dive. Stuarts put us on our own boat which was great. After asking what kind of dives we were looking for and hearing Wrecks! Dive master Vivian and Captain Eric took us to Steel Forest for our first dive. Steel Forest is actually 3 ships sunk on the same site in a triangle. The largest an island freighter is right next to the wall at 70+ feet with the other 2 at shallower levels. You can easily see all three on a single dive. Swim out the bow ramp of the freighter and youre over the blue in 6,000 feet of water. Besides the wrecks, Lionfish were the big attractions and were every where on all three wrecks. Dive time was 40 minutes with max depth of 98 feet. Wall goes to 6,000+ so watch your depth. Second dive of the day was a double wreck again, Ray of Hope, an island freighter and Bahama Mama, a barge. This site is very close to where Stuarts does their shark feed, and we had about 20-30 sharks in the water swimming around the area. When a snorkel boat anchored next to us and put a chum bucket in the water, the activity really picked up in the area. Wish I had brought my camera down with me, but with a new 5mm suit I was working on one thing at a time. Glad I brought a 5mm, water temp was 74F on my computer. Other computers said from 71 to 76. Were diving with them the end of the week after our trip on the Cat Ppalu and requested Vivian and Eric when we come back. Very good dives to start the trip.
Dive 1 with Stuart Coves was Steel Forest with 98 feet for 40 min.
Dive 2 with Stuart Coves was Ray of Hope with 56 feet for 46 min.
Stuarts did take us back to the Orange Hill Inn to get the rest of our luggage and then took us on to the Cat Ppalu. The driver was a little unsure exactly where the Cat Ppalu was docked and initially took us to the wrong marina. We finally got straightened out and to the right Marina, The Nassau Harbor Marina and found the boat. The crew got us all aboard, gear stowed and we left the dock just after 3. No diving this afternoon, as we have to cross a very shallow area during daylight to get over to the Exuma Chain for our diving. The crew consists of Captain Gavin, from Ireland, Cook Michelle from Ireland (also an Instructor), Engineer Robert from Florida and Divemaster/Instructor Stuart from England. We were all impressed with the accommodations and room on board after having done the Blackbeards sailboats. There is a lot more room on the Cat Ppalu. Dinner was Pork Loin, Black beans and rice, salad, and summer vegetables. Good Food was had all week and Ill mention the high points as I go along.
Sunday, April 27, 2008, breakfast at 7:30 then 1st dive briefing at 8am and 1st Dive at 8:30. Today the weather was sunny, 80 and very windy. Due to wind direction and force we were forced to stay in the lee of the islands and dive shallow.
Dive 1 was Closemons Reef with 20 feet for 62 min.
Dive 2 was Flatrock Reef with 27 feet for 49 min.
Dive 3 was Baracuda Shoals with 30 feet for 62 min.
Dive 4 was a night dive on Closemons Reef with 20 feet for 52 min.
All these sites are relatively close together in the area of Allens Key in the northern Exuma chain. On each of the dives we saw the usual reef fish and unless we see something very unusual or exciting, Im not going to comment on all the ones we saw. We did make a short afternoon stop on Allens Key to feed the Iguanas grapes. They are brazen little beggars and are not afraid of taking them from your fingers. They do have sharp teeth and poor eyesight so you may want to put the grapes on a short stick to protect your fingers.
A warm shower after the night dive was a welcome change. (Blackbeards sailboats have one shower and youre only allowed 30 seconds a day.) The Cat Ppalu has 2 showers and they dont restrict your shower. Dinner was baked fish, salad, black beans and rice, Squash, fried plantains, with peach/fruit cobbler for desert after the night dive. Excellent dive day.
Monday, Apr 28, 2008. We started in the middle Exumas off Highborne Key at a site called Pillar Wall.
Dive 5 was Pillar Wall with 104 for 36min
Dive 6 was Pillar Wall again with 106 for 39 min
After lunch we moved down to the Exuma Land and sea Park in the Southern Exumas off Cistern Cay.
Dive 7 was Three Peaks Reef with 53 for 55 min.
Dive 8 was a night dive on Three Peaks Reef with 52 for 50 min
Pillar wall starts about 30-40 feet and drops off into the blue. Several sand chutes along the wall drop off into over 150 feet so watch your depth. Several swim throughs and canyons along the walls. Look along the wall for huge lobster. I did see a shark here at the end of the dive, but he didnt hang around. Three peaks is a large patch coral and sand area between 30 and 55 feet. I did see one lionfish here. Capt Gavin said he hadnt seen any this far south before. During the night dive several of the lobsters were out on the reef moving around.
Dinner before the night dive was Thanksgiving at sea, Roast Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and fresh rolls. After the night dive Michelle had hot apple crisp with ice cream waiting for us. Another good day in the book.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008 The day started Beautiful, Sunshine, warm weather and Denver omelet for breakfast. We spent the night in a protected anchorage at the Marine Park HQ. Aqua Cat moored right next to us. So far they seem to be following us to the same areas, which makes sense considering both boats come out of Nassau and do the Exuma Cays.
Dive 9 was Danger Reef off of Cistern Cay with 56 feet for 53 min.
Dive 10 was again Danger Reef off of Cistern Cay with 65 feet for 45 min.
Danger reef is near where a shark feed is done and several Caribbean Reef sharks were in the area for both dives. At least 10 large groupers and over 100 horse-eyed jacks hung under the boat during both dives. Got some good video of them all.
Dive 11 was Shroud Wall off Shroud Cay with 126 feet for 40 minutes. Shroud wall starts at 50 feet and drops off vertically into the blue. Again watch your depth.
Dive 12 was a night dive at Hammerhead reef off Long Cay with 23 feet for 45 min. No, there were no hammerheads.
Tonight was pasta night with spaghetti bolognaise, Spinach and cheese tortellini, Caesar salad and garlic bread. Raspberry torts were for desert.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008. We started with wall dives today.
Dive 13 was Blacktip Wall off Long Cay with 120 feet for 35 min.
Dive 14 was Dog Rocks Wall north of Ships Channel with 100 feet for 36 min.
Dive 15 was Dog Rocks Wall again with 96 feet for 47 min.
Both these sites are walls starting in 30-40 feet and dropping off into the abyss. Both have multiple swim-thrus, cuts and tunnels dropping out onto the wall at 85-100 feet. Watch your depth as the bottom is a long way off. While traveling from Blacktip to Dog Rocks we were trolling for fish and caught 2 ½ dolphin (the fish) and a mackerel. It would have been 3 dolphins but just as the 2nd dolphin was being brought alongside the boat, a shark came up and took the back half of the fish. We quickly learned to land them as quick as possible. Engineer Robert showed what he learned on commercial fishing boats and cleaned all the fish up. Michelle is going to do fresh fried fish and sushi on Thursday for lunch.
Dive 16 was Lobster No Lobster for a night dive with 30 feet for 46 min. Found 2 lobsters and 3 stingrays in the sand.
Dinner tonight was chicken cordon bleu, salad, mixed vegetables and roasted potatoes with marble cake for desert.
Thursday, May 01, 2008. Today started with the crossing from the northern Exumas back to New Providence Island. We arrived at our first dive site just before lunch.
Dive 17 was the Blue Hole off New Providence Island with 130 feet for 29 min. The Blue Hole is nearly a perfect circle 100 feet across and goes down 200 feet at the edges with a mound at the center at 150-160. There is a crack/tunnel at 75 feet that goes back over 60 feet before narrowing down to 2-3 tall. It appears to go back another 50+ feet. Most of the fish we found were in the tunnel. The blue hole was pretty neat, never having done one before, but again watch your depth as its easy to just start down and not realize how deep you are.
Lunch was baked fresh fish and sushi from the fish we caught yesterday. Potato salad and French fries rounded out the meal.
Dive 18 was Periwinkle reef just off New Providence Island. IT was a shallow dive on a reef with 23 feet for 1:04. The big treat here was taking a small box of corn flakes to feed the sergeant major fish. As we swam up to the reef, at least 200 sergeant majors came swimming towards us. They just swarmed the guys with the cereal bags. Large starfish were in the sand around the reef. Turn one over to watch it right itself. Make sure you have 20-25 minutes to sit and watch.
After the last dive we made it into the dock at the marina by 4:30 and had some time to walk around the local area before dinner. Dinner tonight was surf and turf with steamed shrimp, roast beef, salad, rice and rolls. For desert it was fresh baked brownies topped with ice cream and chocolate syrup. After desert we were able to watch the fireworks from Paradise Island sitting on the boat. Tonight is on the boat and then in the morning we debark and move back to the Orange Hill Inn. We dive with Stuart Coves tomorrow afternoon with their Shark Dive.
Some final thoughts on the Cat Ppalu trip. Our group was nine people, 7 singles and 1 couple. The boat has 4 single bunks in 2 cabins and 4 double cabins, so they can take a maximum of 12 guests. With our 9 we never felt crowded on the boat and the main salon was big enough to seat all of us together along with all 4 crew to eat together which was nice after eating in shifts on the Blackbeards sailboat. The dive deck is well laid out and Stu was very good about always giving full 3000psi fills. They have Aluminum 80s and 63s for those who want them. Each person has their own locker under the bench to store fins/mask/gloves/lights and all those other wet things. They kept a bucket full of fresh water for cameras and each side of the dive deck has a fresh water hose for rinsing masks before dives and heads after dives. There was always someone, usually 2 on the dive deck while divers were in the water to assist in getting you off and back on. They didnt restrict your diving other than to remind everyone that it was recreational diving and not to go into deco or below 130 feet. Since all our guys were diving with computers and experienced divers this was not a problem, Capt. Gavin runs a good ship, and its not often you see the Captain cleaning the head most days. Michelle is a very good cook and always had more food prepared than we could eat. Engineer Robert was very responsive to fixing anything you broke or that quit. Stu always filled tanks right after the dive, so we were ready for the next dive. Like most live-aboards you set your gear up once and only have to remove the first stage for them to re-fill your tank. The overall opinion of our group was very positive and were already discussing a return trip next year. Im not sure I can get any of these guys back on the Blackbeards sailboat.
Where are the pics?
