Guy Carrier
Contributor
My wife and I just returned from a week on the Turks and Caicos Explorer II. It was our first liveaboard and we loved it. We did get wrapped up in the can't miss a dive syndrome and ended up doing all 26 of the offered dives. The boat lost one morning dive because the current was too strong at the dive site or we'd have done 27 dives.
This was a particularly interesting trip for us since it was our first liveaboard and our first opportunity to go off as a buddy team and rely on our own skills to navigate and make decisions about the dive plan. I really feel a lot more confident about our diving skills as a result. The boat did have a dive guide in the water on all dives and they we're available to lead divers if the divers wanted to be led. We did the guided dive only on our first dive of the trip and we went out on our own for the next 25 dives including 5 night dives.
Dive Sites: We started out at Northwest Point off Provo on day 1 AM and then moved to West Caicos that afternoon. We continued to dive various West Caicos sites until AM day 2. At that point the boat moved east to French Cay and we dove G Spot. At that point the Captain gave us a real treat because weather and current allowed us to venture out to West Sand Spit a really remote dive site southeast of French Cay. In the T&C dive site book, someone on the boat had, it stated that this dive site was only available about two or three times a year because it is so exposed to weather and current. What a treat! We did all five dives on day 3 at West Sand Spit and loved it. The rest of the trip was a return route with dives back at different dive sites at French Cay and then West Caicos. In general the reef conditions improved as you got further from places where people live and pollute. There was a good bit of green algae on the reefs in West Caicos and none at West Sand Spit.
Critters: We saw our first Caribbean Reef Sharks on our first dives at Northwest Point and continued to see them off and on subsequent dives. Also saw a few Eagle Rays, lots of stingrays, octopus, lots of lobsters (particularly at night), nurse sharks and of course tons of smaller fish.
Boat: The Explorer II has recently been refitted and is a beautiful boat. We had all ten staterooms filled and it never seemed crowded on board. There is a covered flying bridge, a roomy sundeck and the main salon for people to congregate between dives. The dive deck has ample room even on the rare occasions when all 20 people are going on the dive. We had good stable NITROX (32%) on all but two early dives when the membrane went down. The food was good to great depending on the menu and there was always plenty as far as we were concerned.
Crew: We really enjoyed the entire crew. The Captain went out of her way to get us the best diving available and the Purser and Cook made sure that we were well taken care of on the boat. They even surprised my wife and me with a cake for our anniversary which we celebrated on board. The dive crew was a couple of young but very experienced and capable dive instructors who were always ready to help with info or muscle depending on the need.
Gripes: The only really disappointing part of the trip was getting on and off the boat. The boat, according to the crew, has too deep a draft to dock at a pier and so they anchor about a quarter mile off a beach in Sapodilo (sp?) Bay and, in a small dinghy, ferry everyone and their luggage/dive gear out to the boat and off again when its time to leave. When we arrived at 12:30 PM on Saturday after doing the airport/airplane thing since 3:00 AM we were taken to a marina and dumped in the parking lot with the promise we would be picked up at 4:00PM (an hour later than we were supposed to be able to board the boat). The taxi driver was not very conversant in English so the info was sketchy and no one from the boat was available to tell us what was going on. We found a hotel with a pool and a bar next to it and suggested to the barkeeper that if we bought drinks we should be allowed to swim in the pool. She agreed but I think we were probably breaking the rules (oh well). At about 4:30 PM a taxi showed up back in the parking lot full of people going to the boat. At that point we found out that the dinghy motor had been broken all day and that everyone's luggage and dive gear was stacked up on this remote beach that we hadn't even seen. So we met most of the other liveaboard passengers over dinner and beers at a nearby restaurant. Dinghy was finally fixed and we got on board about 6:00 PM. Getting off was uneventful but a pain with multiple luggage and people trips.
All-in-all except for the above gripe we had a great time and would love to go back next Saturday. Liveaboards are a great way to get a lot of diving and experience quickly. We'll definitely do more in the future.
Guy
This was a particularly interesting trip for us since it was our first liveaboard and our first opportunity to go off as a buddy team and rely on our own skills to navigate and make decisions about the dive plan. I really feel a lot more confident about our diving skills as a result. The boat did have a dive guide in the water on all dives and they we're available to lead divers if the divers wanted to be led. We did the guided dive only on our first dive of the trip and we went out on our own for the next 25 dives including 5 night dives.
Dive Sites: We started out at Northwest Point off Provo on day 1 AM and then moved to West Caicos that afternoon. We continued to dive various West Caicos sites until AM day 2. At that point the boat moved east to French Cay and we dove G Spot. At that point the Captain gave us a real treat because weather and current allowed us to venture out to West Sand Spit a really remote dive site southeast of French Cay. In the T&C dive site book, someone on the boat had, it stated that this dive site was only available about two or three times a year because it is so exposed to weather and current. What a treat! We did all five dives on day 3 at West Sand Spit and loved it. The rest of the trip was a return route with dives back at different dive sites at French Cay and then West Caicos. In general the reef conditions improved as you got further from places where people live and pollute. There was a good bit of green algae on the reefs in West Caicos and none at West Sand Spit.
Critters: We saw our first Caribbean Reef Sharks on our first dives at Northwest Point and continued to see them off and on subsequent dives. Also saw a few Eagle Rays, lots of stingrays, octopus, lots of lobsters (particularly at night), nurse sharks and of course tons of smaller fish.
Boat: The Explorer II has recently been refitted and is a beautiful boat. We had all ten staterooms filled and it never seemed crowded on board. There is a covered flying bridge, a roomy sundeck and the main salon for people to congregate between dives. The dive deck has ample room even on the rare occasions when all 20 people are going on the dive. We had good stable NITROX (32%) on all but two early dives when the membrane went down. The food was good to great depending on the menu and there was always plenty as far as we were concerned.
Crew: We really enjoyed the entire crew. The Captain went out of her way to get us the best diving available and the Purser and Cook made sure that we were well taken care of on the boat. They even surprised my wife and me with a cake for our anniversary which we celebrated on board. The dive crew was a couple of young but very experienced and capable dive instructors who were always ready to help with info or muscle depending on the need.
Gripes: The only really disappointing part of the trip was getting on and off the boat. The boat, according to the crew, has too deep a draft to dock at a pier and so they anchor about a quarter mile off a beach in Sapodilo (sp?) Bay and, in a small dinghy, ferry everyone and their luggage/dive gear out to the boat and off again when its time to leave. When we arrived at 12:30 PM on Saturday after doing the airport/airplane thing since 3:00 AM we were taken to a marina and dumped in the parking lot with the promise we would be picked up at 4:00PM (an hour later than we were supposed to be able to board the boat). The taxi driver was not very conversant in English so the info was sketchy and no one from the boat was available to tell us what was going on. We found a hotel with a pool and a bar next to it and suggested to the barkeeper that if we bought drinks we should be allowed to swim in the pool. She agreed but I think we were probably breaking the rules (oh well). At about 4:30 PM a taxi showed up back in the parking lot full of people going to the boat. At that point we found out that the dinghy motor had been broken all day and that everyone's luggage and dive gear was stacked up on this remote beach that we hadn't even seen. So we met most of the other liveaboard passengers over dinner and beers at a nearby restaurant. Dinghy was finally fixed and we got on board about 6:00 PM. Getting off was uneventful but a pain with multiple luggage and people trips.
All-in-all except for the above gripe we had a great time and would love to go back next Saturday. Liveaboards are a great way to get a lot of diving and experience quickly. We'll definitely do more in the future.
Guy
