Any experience with Explorer Ventures Liveaboard?

[Jandee]

My husband will never go back to the same island twice and I'm running out of Carib islands. I have never experienced a live aboard. I have vacation scheduled for 12-4 to 12-11-10. I'm interested in Explorer Venture Live Aboard. They dive in St Maarten, St Kitts, Saba, and Statia. The reason I picked this live aboard is cost. I know you get what you pay for. All I want is a clean state room with private bathroom, plain ordinary food, good crew, and plenty of diving. I want a crew that shows interest in the divers. I want filled tanks when I need them and plenty of opportunity to use them. Help out of the water is nice in rough seas, and I want a dive operation that will wait a reasonable length of time for a flight to get in. Will
I be disappointed? Is early December a good time to go?

 

[diverlee]

I did that live a board in 1998 and was very pleased. It' been12 yrs so I can't say how it is now. I loved the area and returned to do land based diving several times.

 

[under water]

We did Explorer Ventures Turks & Caicos last December. It was fantastic. If you like diving, you will love a liveaboard. There is 5 dives a day and usually great people to hang out with. You have plenty of room to get away and be by yourself if that's your style.
Everything you asked for in your posting you will get. The food might be better than you expect. They will wait for your flight if it is late.

We would do it again for sure.

Some pics of the diving and boat at Turks & Caicos
Have fun!

 

[EVFleet]

Hi Jandee -

I'm biased but am sure we'll deliver what you need - we've been running the NE Caribbean itinerary for 23+ years, and have it fairly well dialed in! We actually won't leave port until late night or early morning after all the flights are in (sometimes earlier if everyone arrives early, but that's not too common). So don't worry, you won't miss the boat!

We do have space the week you're considering (10 left) - if you have any questions, just give us a call at 800-322-3577, ext 1.

Just a note, we recently stopped going to Statia every week, but have expanded the sites we're able to visit in St. Kitts and Saba.

Hope to see you on board in December!

Best,

- Clay

 

[UnderwaterBumbleBee]

We did the EV Exumas boat last June and they were great, they delivered everything you listed. I've met Clay a couple times and unlike some other liveaboard owners (who will remain nameless) he seems to be be very active & present in his company and it shows.

 

[SeaHorse81]

I am a die-hard Explorer Ventures fan, and have my fourth trip booked for October. You will get everything you're looking for and more if you do the Turks & Caicos trip. I can't speak to the other trips as I haven't taken them, but the T&C boat is superb and has always been staffed with people who take really good care of you. And the food is excellent for sure if Stan's still there.

I have had one ExVen disappointment, however, and it was a big one. We took the Bahamas trip two years ago and honestly, I wish I could have gotten my money back. The boat was due to be taken out of service right after our trip and it should never have made the trip at all. Stuff broke all week long (including water heaters, so warm showers were iffy) which was a source of daily frustration; I don't know when the engineer ever slept, because he always had multiple failures to manage -- if it wasn't for him, the trip wouldn't have been possible. The bad energy seemed to radiate out to the staff as well, as the captain had a baffling pattern of taking us regularly into the only pockets of bad weather that he could find, and the rest of the crew seemed generally demoralized.

The lesson I took from this is that for live-aboard diving, a lot depends on the quality of the boat itself, and it pays to investigate that to the extent that you can. I'd recommend sticking with boats that are either newer or recently refitted.

Live-aboard diving has ruined me, I'm afraid. Resort-based diving can't begin to touch the dollar/dive ratio that live-aboards give you, and if you have a decent boat, it's surprisingly easy to spend a full week with a bunch of other people in what would seem to be limited space. I guess jumping into the ocean every couple hours helps.

There is so much diving available, in fact, that you may well be tired for a couple of days before you adjust to the pace (you don't have to do every dive, of course). I always find it amusing when the call comes for the next dive and there's almost a group-groan, like, "Oh man, is it time to go back in already??" Tough problem to have. I can't wait for October.

 

[EVFleet]

I am a die-hard Explorer Ventures fan, and have my fourth trip booked for October. You will get everything you're looking for and more if you do the Turks & Caicos trip. I can't speak to the other trips as I haven't taken them, but the T&C boat is superb and has always been staffed with people who take really good care of you. And the food is excellent for sure if Stan's still there.

I have had one ExVen disappointment, however, and it was a big one. We took the Bahamas trip two years ago and honestly, I wish I could have gotten my money back. The boat was due to be taken out of service right after our trip and it should never have made the trip at all. Stuff broke all week long (including water heaters, so warm showers were iffy) which was a source of daily frustration; I don't know when the engineer ever slept, because he always had multiple failures to manage -- if it wasn't for him, the trip wouldn't have been possible.

Oh now you had to go and remind me of that trip - EVERYTHING went wrong. We had an - ahem - "engineer" on for a bit that did an absolutely incredible job of screwing up every system on that boat. Honestly, I didn't shut that boat down because it needed work - it didn't, prior to that guy arriving. It had just been repowered and refit the year before, but the costs to run there vs. what people were willing to pay made it "economically unwise" to keep it in service once the economy started to get iffy. But I spent more money on fixing the boat in the last month it was in service than I did the whole rest of the year.

SORRY AGAIN!! That was indeed a mess. Generally we do what we do very well, and have a bunch of great staff and crew that take a huge amount of pride in their work - but it sure didn't show THAT week.

:depressed:

THANK YOU for letting is show you that that's a rare exception rather than the rule!

- Clay

 

[Brodydog]

Jandee from what you posted I think you will enjoy a trip with EV very much. We will be making our 5th trip with the company in Nov. We were also on the CEXI just 3 weeks before it was taken out of the EV fleet and yes it did need some attention but that did not stop us from booking with EV again. From my experience the Turks and Caicos Explorer II boat is a little nicer than CEX II. And Stan, the cook, on T&C II is absolutely fabulous . But you will not be disappointed with CEX II. It's a great boat also and the food is usually above just your standard ordinary food. It's actually pretty good. We have been on both boats and I will return to either depending on where I want to dive at the time.

I highly recommend EV to all my friends. Great trips for the price you pay and the staff is always great too. I always feel the staff is very safety consious and they always attend to every need and request that I have. And the rooms are always clean. They will make your bed up while you are at breakfast and turn your bed covers down at night while at dinner.

Any specific questions you might have? Ask away.

 

[colo_diver]

I will let you know in 4 weeks as I have a group of 9 that will be on the boat starting Oct 9. This will be our second with Explorer and we enjoyed the Turks with them.

 

[diversteve]

You'll get everything you want and more. Tanks are filled with a whip immediately after you remove your 1st stage so you're ready to go for the next dive. Saba is supposed to be excellent - been on my short list for awhile.

We're like your husband - we don't repeat either.

Future trip suggestions: The BVI's, Tobago, St. Lucia - all have better than average diving.