Nekton Cay Lobos trip

[laurena1]

Has anyone taken the Nekton Cay Lobos trip yet? I've taken the Bahama Adventure trip with Nekton and had a great time but am wondering about signing up for this relatively new trip they offer. Thanks for any info anyone can provide.

Laurena

 

[fish finder]

We booked the October trip and I'll post a review when we return, but I would also like any feedback fromm anyone who has taken this trip. Thanks.:mean:

 

[DocVikingo]

Here is a report that I received from a reliable source who went just this past May"

"... took the May 3rd cruise to Cay Lobos. It was describe as a
virgin, pristine reefs and walls diving experience. This sounded very good to us so we booked the trip. I can't describe how disappointed we both were by the end of the week. Actually I can, we felt we were "had".

This disappointment wasn't just ours. .. over twenty divers on this trip held a meeting on the last night to discuss the trip. A vote was then held on the following two questions:

Would you take this trip again?

Would you recommend this trip to others?

All voted "No" to both questions, save one diver who answered, "Yes". Perhaps this answer had some bering on the fact that it was his first live abroad trip as well as diving in salt water. He also had a turtle swim up to his face mask and allowed being touched. This was captured on video by another diver.

Our personal feelings would rate the four sites at Cay Lobos as follows: Two Scoops - poor; Cabbage Patch - poor; Lion King - average; and Meeting Place - good. The visibility on all reefs left a lot to be desired. As these sites are so close to the Bank I can't see them ever being free of the particulate we found on our trip. As a matter of interest the weather on our trip was good. We very much enjoyed the dive site named ³Meeting Place.² Unfortunately it did take a bit of time to locate the wall as the crew could not find the mooring pin. Later we learned that they could not locate it on the maiden voyage either.

Xxx and I came across the mooring pin ten minutes into our dive and on the way back found two of our fellow divers securing the float float ball to the pin. This pin is in a good place so future divers will be able to spend more time on the wall.

However, because of the time lost trying to locate the pin and ultimately finding an alternative method of securing the boat the Captain only allowed us one dive. We assume this was done so he could maintain his schedule. Many of us were upset with this decision. We had paid $2000 and traveled a long way to dive Cay Lobos. To call off a dive here so a schedule could be maintained we felt was not right.

This was even more galling when we found the next morning's dive was a small blue hole with poor visibility. We spent an hour on it circled it twice then return to it for a second dive to do the same thing again later in the morning.

The fact that most of the divers enjoyed the tiny little reef known as "The Strip" in Bimini more than any of the Cay Lobos sites should tell you a lot. I think it could be summed up by the comment of one of the divers who said at the end of the trip, "We now know why no one comes here to dive"."

Best regards.

DocVikingo

 

[fish finder]

We are concerned now because we booked this trip. Was there a storm a few days before that kicked up a lot of debris?

We may try to get on the Cay Sal Bank route instead.

Thanks for your imput.

 

[Aquatic Eagle]

I went to dive school with two of the instructors on Nekton; Ben Martin and Evan Snyder. They say that it is awesome there and they love the job. That's all I know about it because I've never been but they're good honest people so I trust it. Good luck!

 

[diverio]

Hi everyone,
In my opinion, the diving in Cay Lobos is great. I've done the trip at least 6 times. I'm one of the Captains. What do I have to compare to it? Red Sea, Puerto Rico, Okinawa (Japan), Australia, Guam, Hawaii, Pago Pago, Wake Island, and most of Florida. I can't say I've dove everywhere and therefore my opinion of great is relative to my own experience.

The itinerary is a little more 'strict' than the Cay Sal itinerary. This is due to the distance traveled. It's a small comprimise we make for seing more pristine and remote sites.

Of all the sites of this itinerary, my favorite is Cabbage Garden. A lot of people seem to choose not to dive the best part of this site, which is the wall. There is a cute little island with a lighthouse that seems to attract many of the divers.

As for the storms and the visibility. This is something that is very unpredictable and our of the control of ALL of us.

I'd love to answer any other questions about this or our Cay Sal itinerary.

 

[Knavey]

Diverio,

You aren't the Rorqual captain who named Lady's secret are you?

We took the Rorqual to Cay Sal Bank earlier this year. Awesome diving, awesome boat, and even more awesome crew. You guys are first rate, and my wife and I will be booking again next summer.

 

[the sharkman]

I understand that the trip to Cay Sal May 15-22 has been changed to N. Bahamas (or something similar). Do you know anything about that? We were thinking about getting on that trip, but would like to know if it was changed.

:guitar:

 

[DocVikingo]

I believe that the Nekton Pilot will be on its repositoning cruise from Belize back to the Bahamas that week & will not be diving at all. The Rorqual is slated to do Cay Lobos that week.

Best regards.

DocVikingo