We just came back from a week on T&C Explorer. Overall a very enjoyable week.
1. Boat
I won't dwell much on the boat as there are other more detailed reports re configurations. It is a very comfortable boat with great set up for gear etc. Note for night dives they required tank lights as well as a spare torch between buddies. Food was great and varied - I think I gained a couple of pounds. DMs were knowledgeable and a lot of fun. The boat swung more than normal due to the wind but no one found it too challenging.
2. Diving
I'm not sure if I can do a fair review on this since due to weather conditions we first dive French Cay and worked our way back to Provo. Surprisingly my favorite sites were West Caicos. Most of the dive sites are: sand / reef at 50ft next to a wall. While some of the wall formations were beautiful I did find it a little monotonous. Water temps were between 80-85 with noticeable thermocline in some areas. We were in the 5ml and a bit cold - most people were wearing 3ml full suit.
3. Fish / critters
We saw sharks, turtles and stingrays most of the dives. Lot of crabs were seen during the night dives though disappointingly no octopus. Our favorite finds were the mantis shrimps and very small pipefish. In terms of fish density, I would say it's average. There were one or two lionfish every dive but there were plenty of small fish. At least one or two groupers were seen most of the dives, some of them very big.
4. Overall impression
While I enjoyed the boat and the crew were great I can't say this was my favorite dive trip. What makes a trip great for one person doesn't make it great for another - there was a couple who loved the wall diving and they kept on coming back. For me the dives were too deep, losing the color of the reef and while we found some very interesting things at times many dives felt the same. I'm more of a macro person, and although I found some things I had never seen before some of the dives I didn't feel very engaged. So overall it was a very nice break but unlikely to repeat.
P.S. My husband's Suunto and another divers' Oceanic computers went very high in OLF and were beeping for the last night dive and the day 5 dives. Even my Sherwood was telling me high OLF by the end of the trip.
1. Boat
I won't dwell much on the boat as there are other more detailed reports re configurations. It is a very comfortable boat with great set up for gear etc. Note for night dives they required tank lights as well as a spare torch between buddies. Food was great and varied - I think I gained a couple of pounds. DMs were knowledgeable and a lot of fun. The boat swung more than normal due to the wind but no one found it too challenging.
2. Diving
I'm not sure if I can do a fair review on this since due to weather conditions we first dive French Cay and worked our way back to Provo. Surprisingly my favorite sites were West Caicos. Most of the dive sites are: sand / reef at 50ft next to a wall. While some of the wall formations were beautiful I did find it a little monotonous. Water temps were between 80-85 with noticeable thermocline in some areas. We were in the 5ml and a bit cold - most people were wearing 3ml full suit.
3. Fish / critters
We saw sharks, turtles and stingrays most of the dives. Lot of crabs were seen during the night dives though disappointingly no octopus. Our favorite finds were the mantis shrimps and very small pipefish. In terms of fish density, I would say it's average. There were one or two lionfish every dive but there were plenty of small fish. At least one or two groupers were seen most of the dives, some of them very big.
4. Overall impression
While I enjoyed the boat and the crew were great I can't say this was my favorite dive trip. What makes a trip great for one person doesn't make it great for another - there was a couple who loved the wall diving and they kept on coming back. For me the dives were too deep, losing the color of the reef and while we found some very interesting things at times many dives felt the same. I'm more of a macro person, and although I found some things I had never seen before some of the dives I didn't feel very engaged. So overall it was a very nice break but unlikely to repeat.
P.S. My husband's Suunto and another divers' Oceanic computers went very high in OLF and were beeping for the last night dive and the day 5 dives. Even my Sherwood was telling me high OLF by the end of the trip.
