I took my first liveaboard trip on the Rorqual to Mayaguana 2/20-2/27/10.
Here is the quick version, you may read on if you want further details:
Overall, I really enjoyed the trip. The boat and crew were great. The food was excellent. The diving on Mayaguana was so-so.
We had 17 passengers on the boat.
Air temps: 68-73
Water temp: 75
Slight-Moderate currents on most of the sites
Moderate-heavy winds all week
Choppy seas most days
Walls start at 55-60 feet
All sites had a deep wall and most had a shallower sandy area with scattered coral mounds to do a shallow profile if you wished.
I felt there was a lack of fish life, possibly due to many lionfish.
The Nitrox is still not fixed. Those who used it reported maximum percentages of 25%. Not worth $195 for the week in my opinion.
The land tour absolutely sucked. I would not consider going back to this destination as long as that land tour is part of it.
I did 25 of the 26 offered dives on the trip.
End quick version. Now the rest of the details
We had air temperatures of 68-73 for most of the week. Water temps were a consistent 75 degrees. We had a couple squalls blow through and choppy seas for about half the week, making for some tricky exits at times. We had 55 knot winds one day that ripped a large section of the sundeck canopy off. The crew said the previous week was dead calm. Most of us wore 5mm full suits, some with hoods. One guy wore a shorty and he was complaining about being stung by stuff on just about every dive. I didnt find that to be a problem. All of us were cold getting out of our suits in the strong winds after the dives. We even turned the heat on in our cabin a couple nights. Definitely bring sweatshirts and long pants if you are going there anytime soon.
The crew is still in the process of installing mooring balls at various sites around the island. There were about 4 setup when I was there. While we dived a site with a mooring line, the crew sent out a work detail on a skiff to scout out a future site and drill and cement a pin and line there.
Because of the lack of established mooring sites, we did re-visit some sites and they also had us do drift dives where there were no places to tie up to. They were drift dives in procedure, but there was little to no current. I liked the drift dives the least as we had to enter, dive, and exit as a large group (10 in one group, 7 in the other). We had to start our safety stop when the first person hit 1000psi, which was about 30 minutes into the dive.
I ran out of deco time on several dives due to the depth and not having reasonable Nitrox percentages to dive with. They really need to do something about their compressor/membrane.
I felt that the fish life was lacking compared to other places Ive been (Caymans, Roatan, Curacao, etc.). There was an abundance of lion fish and I suspect they may have had something to do with the small fish population. Even the parrot fish were fewer in number than Im used to. There were several barracuda, Nassau groupers, squirrel fish, jacks, and damselfish on just about every dive, but it was a big deal if you found an eel, a crab, or a banded coral shrimp.
The boat is about due for an overhaul, which the captain told me is going to happen in August. He also said the Pilot needs to clear the drydock by that date so the Rorqual can come out of the water and take its spot.
A few people had damp carpets from the notorious poor air conditioning system. The boat is also waiting for a part for the ice machine, so ice was limited. I found my mattress totally sucked and got very little sleep the first night. I told a crew member about it and several mattress pads were added to it before I returned from my next dive.
We had one incident where the mooring line snapped in high winds/seas (the mooring pin was fine, the line rubbed and frayed on contact with the boat in the waves). I happened to be right under it when it happened. The crew acted immediately, powering up the boat and recalling the divers. The boat then maneuvered to pick up the two groups that the passengers ended up assembling into. They also had to wrestle the skiff back on board in the rough seas, and for a few minutes, I thought it might sink as much of it was underwater. However, they performed as a cohesive unit, and got everyone and the skiff safely back on board. It was quite impressive. They all should have taken an immediate nap after all that, but they announced lunch 5 minutes later and the crew was there, filling drinks and clearing tables. Outstanding.
The crew seemed genuinely happy to be there and were extremely attentive to passenger needs/wishes.
Since this is a new itinerary, they are still working out a few bugs. For instance, the brochures they mailed out about 3 months prior to the trip stated the boat would be docked at Nikki Beach on Provo for departure. However, the LDS I booked through told me about a week prior to the trip that Nikki Beach was closed and the boat would be somewhere else, but had no info where. I ended up calling the number they had on the provided luggage tags when I arrived and took a taxi to the boat at the South Dock commercial area.
The commercial area has no facilities to wait in, and because we couldnt board until 7:30 PM, most of the passengers ended up spending several hours sitting on concrete walls or whatever else they could find while we waited for the boat to open. It would have been a lot worse if it had been raining. There isnt much around the commercial dock, save for one restaurant, a gas station, and a poorly stocked 7-11. The cab ride was $13 per person each way. Ask the driver to take you to a convenience or liquor store prior to the dock.
We hit another snag with customs on Mayaguana. We tied up at about 9:30 the first morning and had to wait for the customs people to come out to the boat before we could go anywhere else. They didnt show up until after lunch, so we ended up doing 3 dives on that site (we got there a bit too late to get the first morning dive in, so only 4 dives were done the first day).
The worst part of the trip was the mandatory shore excursion to Mayaguana. It was $25 each, which included a crappy buffet dinner (the boat food was much, much better) and an island tour. We had to take skiffs out to a crumbling concrete/rock area that used to be a pier. Several people got scraped up on either the skiffs or the rocks getting there or back. We then had to board a rickety bus that sped through the various areas of the island, not even slowing for us to take photos (not that there was much to photograph anyway). All during this, an island representative on the bus repeated her sob story about how the island population has been dwindling since the US Navy deserted the airbase there in the 1960s and how you people, as she called us, need to help them by buying land there. It came very close to being a timeshare sell.
After our rapid tour of pretty much nothing, they dropped us off at what I guess was the best resort on the island. More sob stories were told, and we had an awful buffet dinner that I would equate to what is served at a fast food seafood restaurant. You had to pay for anything other than water to drink, on top of the $25 you already spent for the tour/meal.
They then turned us loose to do nothing for nearly 3 hours. The resort has a very dirty beach and only two run down beach chairs outside. Most of us wandered the garbage for as long as we could stand and counted the minutes until the bus returned. It was agony. They couldnt get me out of there soon enough. I would suggest you horde some food the day prior to the trip and skip it (dinner is not served that evening on the boat). I realize the island wants to build their economy, but they were going about it the wrong way. I returned to the boat vowing to never do this itinerary again as long as this tour was part of it.
That tour put a black mark on what was, up until then, a very good week, all things considered. The cheery, positive attitude of the crew, and their willingness to take care of the passengers really made up for what a lot of the dives lacked. I definitely plan to take another trip with Nekton to another destination, and I hope many of the same crew are there when I return.
We had Kris as captain (Jonathan was training him--Jonathan is leaving for the Kona Aggressor in April). The rest of the crew was Kendall, Bryan, Todd, Bud, Jessie, Beth, Davy, Neil, and Mercedes, the cook.
Here is the quick version, you may read on if you want further details:
Overall, I really enjoyed the trip. The boat and crew were great. The food was excellent. The diving on Mayaguana was so-so.
We had 17 passengers on the boat.
Air temps: 68-73
Water temp: 75
Slight-Moderate currents on most of the sites
Moderate-heavy winds all week
Choppy seas most days
Walls start at 55-60 feet
All sites had a deep wall and most had a shallower sandy area with scattered coral mounds to do a shallow profile if you wished.
I felt there was a lack of fish life, possibly due to many lionfish.
The Nitrox is still not fixed. Those who used it reported maximum percentages of 25%. Not worth $195 for the week in my opinion.
The land tour absolutely sucked. I would not consider going back to this destination as long as that land tour is part of it.
I did 25 of the 26 offered dives on the trip.
End quick version. Now the rest of the details
We had air temperatures of 68-73 for most of the week. Water temps were a consistent 75 degrees. We had a couple squalls blow through and choppy seas for about half the week, making for some tricky exits at times. We had 55 knot winds one day that ripped a large section of the sundeck canopy off. The crew said the previous week was dead calm. Most of us wore 5mm full suits, some with hoods. One guy wore a shorty and he was complaining about being stung by stuff on just about every dive. I didnt find that to be a problem. All of us were cold getting out of our suits in the strong winds after the dives. We even turned the heat on in our cabin a couple nights. Definitely bring sweatshirts and long pants if you are going there anytime soon.
The crew is still in the process of installing mooring balls at various sites around the island. There were about 4 setup when I was there. While we dived a site with a mooring line, the crew sent out a work detail on a skiff to scout out a future site and drill and cement a pin and line there.
Because of the lack of established mooring sites, we did re-visit some sites and they also had us do drift dives where there were no places to tie up to. They were drift dives in procedure, but there was little to no current. I liked the drift dives the least as we had to enter, dive, and exit as a large group (10 in one group, 7 in the other). We had to start our safety stop when the first person hit 1000psi, which was about 30 minutes into the dive.
I ran out of deco time on several dives due to the depth and not having reasonable Nitrox percentages to dive with. They really need to do something about their compressor/membrane.
I felt that the fish life was lacking compared to other places Ive been (Caymans, Roatan, Curacao, etc.). There was an abundance of lion fish and I suspect they may have had something to do with the small fish population. Even the parrot fish were fewer in number than Im used to. There were several barracuda, Nassau groupers, squirrel fish, jacks, and damselfish on just about every dive, but it was a big deal if you found an eel, a crab, or a banded coral shrimp.
The boat is about due for an overhaul, which the captain told me is going to happen in August. He also said the Pilot needs to clear the drydock by that date so the Rorqual can come out of the water and take its spot.
A few people had damp carpets from the notorious poor air conditioning system. The boat is also waiting for a part for the ice machine, so ice was limited. I found my mattress totally sucked and got very little sleep the first night. I told a crew member about it and several mattress pads were added to it before I returned from my next dive.
We had one incident where the mooring line snapped in high winds/seas (the mooring pin was fine, the line rubbed and frayed on contact with the boat in the waves). I happened to be right under it when it happened. The crew acted immediately, powering up the boat and recalling the divers. The boat then maneuvered to pick up the two groups that the passengers ended up assembling into. They also had to wrestle the skiff back on board in the rough seas, and for a few minutes, I thought it might sink as much of it was underwater. However, they performed as a cohesive unit, and got everyone and the skiff safely back on board. It was quite impressive. They all should have taken an immediate nap after all that, but they announced lunch 5 minutes later and the crew was there, filling drinks and clearing tables. Outstanding.
The crew seemed genuinely happy to be there and were extremely attentive to passenger needs/wishes.
Since this is a new itinerary, they are still working out a few bugs. For instance, the brochures they mailed out about 3 months prior to the trip stated the boat would be docked at Nikki Beach on Provo for departure. However, the LDS I booked through told me about a week prior to the trip that Nikki Beach was closed and the boat would be somewhere else, but had no info where. I ended up calling the number they had on the provided luggage tags when I arrived and took a taxi to the boat at the South Dock commercial area.
The commercial area has no facilities to wait in, and because we couldnt board until 7:30 PM, most of the passengers ended up spending several hours sitting on concrete walls or whatever else they could find while we waited for the boat to open. It would have been a lot worse if it had been raining. There isnt much around the commercial dock, save for one restaurant, a gas station, and a poorly stocked 7-11. The cab ride was $13 per person each way. Ask the driver to take you to a convenience or liquor store prior to the dock.
We hit another snag with customs on Mayaguana. We tied up at about 9:30 the first morning and had to wait for the customs people to come out to the boat before we could go anywhere else. They didnt show up until after lunch, so we ended up doing 3 dives on that site (we got there a bit too late to get the first morning dive in, so only 4 dives were done the first day).
The worst part of the trip was the mandatory shore excursion to Mayaguana. It was $25 each, which included a crappy buffet dinner (the boat food was much, much better) and an island tour. We had to take skiffs out to a crumbling concrete/rock area that used to be a pier. Several people got scraped up on either the skiffs or the rocks getting there or back. We then had to board a rickety bus that sped through the various areas of the island, not even slowing for us to take photos (not that there was much to photograph anyway). All during this, an island representative on the bus repeated her sob story about how the island population has been dwindling since the US Navy deserted the airbase there in the 1960s and how you people, as she called us, need to help them by buying land there. It came very close to being a timeshare sell.
After our rapid tour of pretty much nothing, they dropped us off at what I guess was the best resort on the island. More sob stories were told, and we had an awful buffet dinner that I would equate to what is served at a fast food seafood restaurant. You had to pay for anything other than water to drink, on top of the $25 you already spent for the tour/meal.
They then turned us loose to do nothing for nearly 3 hours. The resort has a very dirty beach and only two run down beach chairs outside. Most of us wandered the garbage for as long as we could stand and counted the minutes until the bus returned. It was agony. They couldnt get me out of there soon enough. I would suggest you horde some food the day prior to the trip and skip it (dinner is not served that evening on the boat). I realize the island wants to build their economy, but they were going about it the wrong way. I returned to the boat vowing to never do this itinerary again as long as this tour was part of it.
That tour put a black mark on what was, up until then, a very good week, all things considered. The cheery, positive attitude of the crew, and their willingness to take care of the passengers really made up for what a lot of the dives lacked. I definitely plan to take another trip with Nekton to another destination, and I hope many of the same crew are there when I return.
We had Kris as captain (Jonathan was training him--Jonathan is leaving for the Kona Aggressor in April). The rest of the crew was Kendall, Bryan, Todd, Bud, Jessie, Beth, Davy, Neil, and Mercedes, the cook.
