Talon:
I'm doing the Aquacat next summer and already counting down the days. Anyone have any experience with this live aboard? How did they enjoy their trip? Any suggetions to help me get the most out of my trip?
Found this trip repoprt for you:
Part I
"Aqua Cat May 2004 Fantastic Voyage
by Ursela
Date: 2004-07-07
Location: Bahamas
I had been performing research over the last 1.5 years on available live-aboards to determine which might be the best. I was hoping to do something out of the Bahamas due to its close proximity to Florida, which is where we live. I noticed that not much detailed critique existed on the internet. So ultimately, based solely on gut feeling and the marketing propaganda, we chose the Aqua Cat Cruises out of Nassau. Boy were we pleasantly surprised; in fact, it was the best dive vacation that we have taken thus far. My trip report is a bit detailed as it was the type of report that I was hopeful for in making my selection. Hopefully it will help others.
Saturday May 8, 2004 (Day 1)
We flew on a direct American airlines flight from Orlando to Nassau. We arrived in the afternoon. After an uneventful passage through customs, we waited outside the baggage terminal and were greeted by the taxi valet representing the Aqua Cat. We loaded up and after a 35 minute ride arrived at the marina. We arrived a few hours prior to expected boarding, so we left our baggage on board as directed and ventured over to the Atlantis resort to kill time. Not having been at this resort previously, we were quite impressed with the amazing salt-water aquarium. It housed a diverse variety of fish life; from marching lobster, sharks, and goliath grouper to spotted eagle rays and one absolutely beautiful manta ray. We contributed our $20 to the casino, ate ice cream and ventured back over to the marina by 6:00pm where it was time to board.
We carried our luggage to our assigned rooms. Then we were asked to set up our dive gear at a desired location. This was a really nice feature. Each person remained at the same location all week. There was no need to swap gear from tank to tank as the same tank was simply refilled after each dive. A plastic container resided underneath the bench for storing fins, booties, mask, snorkel, anti-fog, underwater lights and other such things. A clothesline hung above for use in hanging wet towels for the day or wet bathing suits. A dry camera rack was provided in the center of the dive deck to ensure the safety in handling camera gear. Rods/hangers were present on each end of the dive deck for hanging wets suits after each dive. Two enclosed shower heads with hot/cold water were also on the dive deck. The showers were also a nice feature as a shower after each dive avoided the need to do so in the cabin. A single dry towel was provided to each person per day, although there existed extra in the event you may have needed two on a given day. Beach towels were also available. Chairs existed inside and out throughout the boat.
Dinner was served at 7:00pm and consisted of Bar-B-Que boneless chicken, burgers, salad, coleslaw and a variety of drinks. Soft drinks in the salon are available all the time. The dinner was tasty.
An orientation of the crew, boat and the expectations of the week occurred at 8:00pm. Crew consisted of Captain Ron, 1st Mate Gavin, Dive Master Lars, Murphy, Rob and Gabriel, Engineer Brett, House Mouse, Chef Jeff amd Sous Chef. Rob was also the videographer and all dive masters participated in still photo generation. Crew members were a mix of nationalities to include Canada, South Africa, Sweden and America.
For physical capabilities and layout of the vessel, it is probably best to refer to the Aqua Cat web site to give it fair justice. We were very pleased with the size and layout. The Aqua Cat also has a 27? boat named the Sea Dog used for excursions to land.
Our cabin was number 1 and located next to the maintenance rooms and main entrance to the cabin area. Our room had 4 beds, although we only made use of 2 as it was just my husband and I. A large window was present next to each bed. Drawers for storage existed underneath each bed and then open storage underneath that. In addition, hanging closets with hangers and more shelving existed. The bathrooms were more sizable than the average large cruise ship variety and included a sink, toilet and shower as well as hair dryer. Not that one?s hair could ever dry on this trip?.more on that later. We were please with the cabin although we would have preferred a king size bed, which were available in other cabins. Also, the noise from the main cabin entrance door or machinery from the maintenance room were at times an annoyance. Over time though, one even got used to that and it was just fine. There were a number of mornings at the end of the trip where the toilet pumps were not functional. They were always working again by breakfast. We were not sure of the rationale for this problem but people did not make a big deal about it.
We had 22 passengers on board. Careers ranged diversely from real estate moguls, English school teacher, retired police officer, to engineers, a window salesperson, and instructor/pilot. Passengers were from the US, Canada and UK. Most divers appeared experienced and comfortably got into their gear and maneuvered within the water and back on board. There were only a few newer divers but other than requiring better skills at buoyancy, were great and did not hinder anyone else. Everyone could get into and out of the water at their own pace.
Sunday May 9, 2004 (Day 2)
The Aqua Cat left at 5:40am. As an overall statement for the week, due to the strong wind conditions, the water conditions were very rough on the venture out to the Exumas. While in the Exumas, calm waters were sought as much as possible. The exposure to the typical reefs planned were altered for the comfort of the passengers ? this meant a lot more shallow dives than is typical. This was fine with us and most others because it meant a lot more bottom time. Being someone with serious motion sickness problems, there were some moments that the dosage of Dramamine was not as effective. I finally altered to a more frequent but less dose method and this helped tremendously. There were a few others on board who tried the electrical stimulus to the wrist method and were not happy campers (or in this case, divers). There was one dive that we called ?Navy Seal? training as the skill for getting back on the boat due to the high seas was definitely put to the test. Even then, for someone like myself with only 80 total dives, this was a great learning experience.
Prior to each dive, attendees were asked to meet in the salon for a detailed dive brief. The briefing described the underwater geography as well as expected fish life visible. Any special entry, underwater or exit directions were provided.
5 scheduled dives were planned for this day.
Dive #1 ? Flat Rock Reef
Dive #2 ? Jewfish Wall
Dive #3 ? Crab Mountain
Dive #4 ? Crab Mountain
Dive #5 ? Flat Rock Reef (Night Dive)
We skipped Dive #2 and went on the excursion to Leaf Cay Beach to see and feed the native Rock Iguana. It was quite humorous as the Sea Dog approached how all the 1-3 foot iguana would scurry to the water?s edge, awaiting food. We were advised of the procedure for feeding them (which in our case was stale bread) but some people were still nipped in the finger. It seemed that their vision was not the best when the food was dead on. It was fun to feed them and to watch others.
We did not dive, Dive #4.
We have dove all over Florida, Cozumel and Roatan and while these places are cool, the fish life and coral here were more pristine, more colorful and had more varieties. We documented all of the fish seen per day. The highlights for this day were the fairy basslets, intermediate gray angelfish, redlip blenny, sand diver, ruby brittle star, sea thimble jellyfish. Fish of the Day went to the Queen Triggerfish and the Yellowline Arrow Crab. The usual morays, stingray, parrot fish, snapper, jacks, barracuda to name only a few were abound.
Monday May 10, 2004 (Day 3)
5 scheduled dives were planned for this day.
Dive #1 ? Shroud Wall
Dive #2 ? Wax Cut Drift
Dive #3 ? Shark Feed at Amberjack Reef
Dive #4 ? Amberjack Reef
Dive #5 ? Amberjack Reef (Night Dive)
[Continued]