The Aqua Cat was my first live aboard. I will start out by saying that the entire trip was fun, the boat was great and the crew fantastic.
We left Denver on an AA flight early morning 4/13. We were late leaving and had a short layover in Miami. I thought for a few minutes we may miss our connection but made it just in time.
I was traveling with a group from A-1 Scuba. Things were well planned and went off without a hitch. We made it through customs and out in about 1/2 hour. No problems. We were met by a van and boarded the van while our bags traveled in a second van. We got to the Aqua Cat around 5:30 PM. As soon as we got on board we were helped getting our bags to our assigned cabin. We had the meet and Rum Punch, there was food and plenty of it for dinner that night, Hamburgers, they tasted good.
We were asked to unpack our bags and get things situated in our cabin, they came by and collected our empty bags and stowed them away. We went out to the dive deck and set up our gear. The dive deck has plenty of room and the camera table was big enough to keep cameras out and dry. There was a charging station with several outlets for charging batteries and also in the cabin. The cabins while not huge are plenty large enough for a comfortable stay. I have been told that the cabins are very large when compared to other live aboard, I don't have anything to compare it to but the cabin size is nice and there are windows not just small port holes but good sized windows that let in natural light and make it seem very roomy. You really don't spend much time in there anyway. There is plenty to do.
The food was good and plenty, Chef Kirk laid out quite a feast 3 times a day with fresh fruit, cookies and snacks both in the Main Salon and the dive deck. Plenty of water and cups everywhere. I can say that the food was excellent at every meal and varied. One of the people on the trip was vegetarian and seemed to be quite pleased with the food choices available for her. There was also 3 different beers on tap and plenty of rum and vodka, there was also 2 different red wines and a couple of different whites available. Nothing special mind you but drinkable and actually quite good. I grew particularly fond of the Strong Back Stout. Very tasty indeed. You were welcome to help yourself for the beverage of your choice. You could also make a trip to the liquor store if you wanted your own special liquor/Beer/wine etc. I can say that the AC worked well with a thermostat in each room and there was always plenty of hot water for showers along with clean dry towels.
Each and every dive was preceded by a very thorough dive briefing given by one of the Divemasters. Tom, Bex and Janine and Iian were very good at making sure you knew what to expect and completed a nice drawing showing the layout of the site with depths included. We were all reminded of planning dives and watching our computers. Each dive you could follow the DM for a tour, usually about 30 minutes guided, and the rest of the time you could dive your plan, computer or air. You could also just dive your on your own without the use of the DM if you wanted.
We all retired after a meal and a few drinks on the sun deck. The Aqua Cat left port early on Sunday morning for the first dive site of the day. Captain Ron (yes Captain Ron) and First Mate Chris know the area well and are masters at maneuvering the 103' Aqua Cat while providing a smooth ride for us land lubbers. The Aqua Cat also has a boat that is towed, the Sea Dog. Newly fitted with a new cat diesel the Sea Dog is capable of giving a smooth ride and plenty of power to make it pretty fast if needed. It is used for the shore excursions and is and nice ride should one care to go on the excursions. Though I only went one 2 trips because I was diving constantly, There was the offer of a trip to one of the sights like the Island with lizards, Exumas park, Eleuretha and one of the nice beach bars out there somewhere. Chris was more than glad one evening after dinner to take a trip out fishing and it was generally a very pleasant excursion even if we went fishing not catching. They also take you on a tour of the bridge and down into the engine rooms. Very interesting and a great way to see just how things work and the equipment it takes to make the trip as pleasant as it is.
Off to see the lizards.
Bahamian lizards like grapes. They all hit the beach when they heard us coming. Chris brought plenty of grapes for them and believe me those guys really like em. Who Knew?
I opted to use Nitrox, there is a membrane aboard and 2 testers for Oxygen Content. The nitrox was consistently 32% with little variance. When you get on board you set up your gear and never have to break it down again for the rest of the trip. There are baskets under the bench to hold your fins and other things so you don't have to haul things back and forth. There are racks on both sides of the boat with plenty of hangers and room to hang up wetsuits. When you complete a dive you are met by a crew member with a hand held shower and plenty of fresh water to rinse you off. There are towels on the dive deck to dry off with. Everything you need is available.
We are given the chance for 4 dives and 1 night dive for a total of 5 dives a day except for Thursday and Friday. You can have 4 dives on Thursday because Chef has a great dinner prepared and instead of being served buffet style the crew serves you. On Thursday after dinner there is a get together in the Salon that includes a photo contest and also a view of the video and pictures that were taken by the crew. The video was well done and well edited. There are 2 discs for sale, one with the video and one with roughly 200 photos. Every evening we had a great time meeting up on the Sun Deck for a couple of drinks, conversation and music. There is satellite radio on the Sun Deck. My pic won the contest for wide angle and was entered into the contest for a chance at a free trip on the Aqua Cat. It is the one of the ray coming up out of the sand. It probably won't win, but I won the prize of the night, an Aqua Cat t-Shirt.
The diving was wonderful, there were sharks seen on every dive if I remember correctly and the Shark dive is a must. There were reef sharks and nurse sharks. There were turtles, octopus, crabs, large and many lobsters, nudi branchs, hermit crabs and conch, Rays, groupers, file fish, trumpet fish (including a few Eagle Rays, my favorite) everywhere along with the other usual suspects. A few lion fish but not as many as I expected. The visibility was always in the 50+ and sometimes 100' range. We even got in a couple of drift dives. Seeing how the skill of Captain Ron and the crew are able to do a "live Boat" pickup with a 103' catamaran is amazing and something you just have to experience for yourself. A special thanks to Chuck and Randy, the engineers, they kept everything up and running perfectly the whole trip. This group is truly skilled in what they do and they are all good at it!! The water temps were 73-76 usually though on one of the dives I think it was Jeep Reef, I saw 77-78 degrees. 5 MM was plenty of wetsuit and some wore 3 mm. Most were comfy and a couple that wore 3s were chilled on a couple of dives later in the week.
We returned back to Nassau for the last night on the boat. They do the turn around for the next week and we had to go to town for dinner on our own. Atlantis is a <5 min walk from the dock. You can do your shopping for that gift and even do a little gambling at the Casino if you so desire.
We departed the boat Saturday morning and they kept our bags until we left for the airport that afternoon. We said our good bye to the crew not wanting to leave. It was an excellent trip, I have absolutely no complaints.
Only thing else I can do is think about the trip and smile.
Thanks to Ron, Chris, for driving the boat, Chuck, Randy, for making the trip safe and comfortable with plenty of cool air and hot water, Tom, Bex, Janine, Iian for making the diving safe and interesting and Kirk, Mia and Ailene for the food, dry towels and clean room that we all need. Well done, I can't see how anybody could not have a great time. I know I will surely return for a repeat trip.
We left Denver on an AA flight early morning 4/13. We were late leaving and had a short layover in Miami. I thought for a few minutes we may miss our connection but made it just in time.
I was traveling with a group from A-1 Scuba. Things were well planned and went off without a hitch. We made it through customs and out in about 1/2 hour. No problems. We were met by a van and boarded the van while our bags traveled in a second van. We got to the Aqua Cat around 5:30 PM. As soon as we got on board we were helped getting our bags to our assigned cabin. We had the meet and Rum Punch, there was food and plenty of it for dinner that night, Hamburgers, they tasted good.
We were asked to unpack our bags and get things situated in our cabin, they came by and collected our empty bags and stowed them away. We went out to the dive deck and set up our gear. The dive deck has plenty of room and the camera table was big enough to keep cameras out and dry. There was a charging station with several outlets for charging batteries and also in the cabin. The cabins while not huge are plenty large enough for a comfortable stay. I have been told that the cabins are very large when compared to other live aboard, I don't have anything to compare it to but the cabin size is nice and there are windows not just small port holes but good sized windows that let in natural light and make it seem very roomy. You really don't spend much time in there anyway. There is plenty to do.
The food was good and plenty, Chef Kirk laid out quite a feast 3 times a day with fresh fruit, cookies and snacks both in the Main Salon and the dive deck. Plenty of water and cups everywhere. I can say that the food was excellent at every meal and varied. One of the people on the trip was vegetarian and seemed to be quite pleased with the food choices available for her. There was also 3 different beers on tap and plenty of rum and vodka, there was also 2 different red wines and a couple of different whites available. Nothing special mind you but drinkable and actually quite good. I grew particularly fond of the Strong Back Stout. Very tasty indeed. You were welcome to help yourself for the beverage of your choice. You could also make a trip to the liquor store if you wanted your own special liquor/Beer/wine etc. I can say that the AC worked well with a thermostat in each room and there was always plenty of hot water for showers along with clean dry towels.
Each and every dive was preceded by a very thorough dive briefing given by one of the Divemasters. Tom, Bex and Janine and Iian were very good at making sure you knew what to expect and completed a nice drawing showing the layout of the site with depths included. We were all reminded of planning dives and watching our computers. Each dive you could follow the DM for a tour, usually about 30 minutes guided, and the rest of the time you could dive your plan, computer or air. You could also just dive your on your own without the use of the DM if you wanted.
We all retired after a meal and a few drinks on the sun deck. The Aqua Cat left port early on Sunday morning for the first dive site of the day. Captain Ron (yes Captain Ron) and First Mate Chris know the area well and are masters at maneuvering the 103' Aqua Cat while providing a smooth ride for us land lubbers. The Aqua Cat also has a boat that is towed, the Sea Dog. Newly fitted with a new cat diesel the Sea Dog is capable of giving a smooth ride and plenty of power to make it pretty fast if needed. It is used for the shore excursions and is and nice ride should one care to go on the excursions. Though I only went one 2 trips because I was diving constantly, There was the offer of a trip to one of the sights like the Island with lizards, Exumas park, Eleuretha and one of the nice beach bars out there somewhere. Chris was more than glad one evening after dinner to take a trip out fishing and it was generally a very pleasant excursion even if we went fishing not catching. They also take you on a tour of the bridge and down into the engine rooms. Very interesting and a great way to see just how things work and the equipment it takes to make the trip as pleasant as it is.
Off to see the lizards.
Bahamian lizards like grapes. They all hit the beach when they heard us coming. Chris brought plenty of grapes for them and believe me those guys really like em. Who Knew?
I opted to use Nitrox, there is a membrane aboard and 2 testers for Oxygen Content. The nitrox was consistently 32% with little variance. When you get on board you set up your gear and never have to break it down again for the rest of the trip. There are baskets under the bench to hold your fins and other things so you don't have to haul things back and forth. There are racks on both sides of the boat with plenty of hangers and room to hang up wetsuits. When you complete a dive you are met by a crew member with a hand held shower and plenty of fresh water to rinse you off. There are towels on the dive deck to dry off with. Everything you need is available.
We are given the chance for 4 dives and 1 night dive for a total of 5 dives a day except for Thursday and Friday. You can have 4 dives on Thursday because Chef has a great dinner prepared and instead of being served buffet style the crew serves you. On Thursday after dinner there is a get together in the Salon that includes a photo contest and also a view of the video and pictures that were taken by the crew. The video was well done and well edited. There are 2 discs for sale, one with the video and one with roughly 200 photos. Every evening we had a great time meeting up on the Sun Deck for a couple of drinks, conversation and music. There is satellite radio on the Sun Deck. My pic won the contest for wide angle and was entered into the contest for a chance at a free trip on the Aqua Cat. It is the one of the ray coming up out of the sand. It probably won't win, but I won the prize of the night, an Aqua Cat t-Shirt.
The diving was wonderful, there were sharks seen on every dive if I remember correctly and the Shark dive is a must. There were reef sharks and nurse sharks. There were turtles, octopus, crabs, large and many lobsters, nudi branchs, hermit crabs and conch, Rays, groupers, file fish, trumpet fish (including a few Eagle Rays, my favorite) everywhere along with the other usual suspects. A few lion fish but not as many as I expected. The visibility was always in the 50+ and sometimes 100' range. We even got in a couple of drift dives. Seeing how the skill of Captain Ron and the crew are able to do a "live Boat" pickup with a 103' catamaran is amazing and something you just have to experience for yourself. A special thanks to Chuck and Randy, the engineers, they kept everything up and running perfectly the whole trip. This group is truly skilled in what they do and they are all good at it!! The water temps were 73-76 usually though on one of the dives I think it was Jeep Reef, I saw 77-78 degrees. 5 MM was plenty of wetsuit and some wore 3 mm. Most were comfy and a couple that wore 3s were chilled on a couple of dives later in the week.
We returned back to Nassau for the last night on the boat. They do the turn around for the next week and we had to go to town for dinner on our own. Atlantis is a <5 min walk from the dock. You can do your shopping for that gift and even do a little gambling at the Casino if you so desire.
We departed the boat Saturday morning and they kept our bags until we left for the airport that afternoon. We said our good bye to the crew not wanting to leave. It was an excellent trip, I have absolutely no complaints.
Only thing else I can do is think about the trip and smile.
Thanks to Ron, Chris, for driving the boat, Chuck, Randy, for making the trip safe and comfortable with plenty of cool air and hot water, Tom, Bex, Janine, Iian for making the diving safe and interesting and Kirk, Mia and Ailene for the food, dry towels and clean room that we all need. Well done, I can't see how anybody could not have a great time. I know I will surely return for a repeat trip.
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