Trip Report: Turks & Caicos Explorer II, June-July 2019

[Aviyes]

Does anyone know whether cell service is available on the T&C EX2? Not sure if the boat is close enough to shore. Thanks.

Very sporadic. Sometimes you can get it from the top deck, but you are often having to hunt for signal. I would get enough to load some webpages/check email/shoot out a text. Other times I would get nothing. It would get better towards the end of the week, as you slowly moved closer to cell towers.

 

[ThatDogDontHunt]

Does anyone know whether cell service is available on the T&C EX2? Not sure if the boat is close enough to shore. Thanks.

There is reliable cell coverage at Northwest point dive sites. At West Caicos and french caye you can expect no cell service.

 

[BigJimDiver]

Regarding your question on Saba: I did CEII With my son in April 2012 (so things may have changed). While I love liveaboards, loved our trip overall on CEII, and agree that EV is more customer-friendly than Aggressor (have done 2 EV and 4 aggressor trips) I wasn't a huge fan of St. Kitts diving and would have liked even more time at Saba. The CEII is well maintained but older and has a covered outdoor upper deck where you dine. The "one-way" aspect (we did the St. Kitts-St. Maarten direction) required our taking a one way flight on Liat from St. Maarten to St. Kitts, had a very long connection time in St. Maarten and Liat has all kinds of weight limits on baggage and carry on, limiting you to 1 carry on of 15 lbs. and only guaranteeing 1 piece of checked luggage will make the trip (additional bags fly "stand by" which motivated me to arrive a day prior to our departure and I was sweating it out until we got all our bags in St. Kitts). The dive sites at Saba were fantastic, those we did seemed fairly close to the dock, and the island is quite interesting in topography, architecture, and history. I have been thinking about going back and doing a land-based trip there someday.

 

[DeputyDan]

The OP indicated that one of the guests had an DCS issue and the EV staff took excellent care of the guest.

When we went on the CEII (several years ago) a guest came down with a life threatening health issue (related to a prior surgery - their doctor had cleared them to resume diving) and the crew went above and beyond in helping the guest get to a hospital - and a crew person stayed with them the entire time (even after they had been admitted).

So I can second that EV takes this type of issue very seriously.

 

[Streydog]

@kablooey Thank you for the positive feedback.

One suggestion: if you have already made your reservation, consider whether or not you want to request a larger-capacity aluminum 100 tank. There is only a finite amount of them, so if you want to ensure that you have one, it might be worth asking sooner rather than later. Even if your gas consumption is normally good, the greater average depths on this trip will increase it, so it might be worth having the extra gas if you are comfortable with the larger tank. There is no extra charge for the aluminum 100s.

Also, if you plan to do any night dives, they do require a tank strobe for those dives. If you have one, bring it, but you can also get one on board for $13.

Do you recall what PSI the 100's were filled to? Also did the tanks fit in the same holders as the 80's?

 

[BigJimDiver]

Do you recall what PSI the 100's were filled to? Also did the tanks fit in the same holders as the 80's?

The pressure was the same for all tanks, ~3100-3200 PSI if I remember correctly. As for tank holders, I apologize but do not recall if they fit in the holder as well as the 80's, or if they were held in by bungee cords. A few LOB's I've been on have had arms that were adjusted to fit the 100's, others rigged up bungee cords to hold them in place.

 

[ontdiver]

I have been on both boats under discussion on this thread (2 X on the CEX II). The crews, diving, boats and food were great. I dove on larger tanks and enjoyed the extra bottom time.

 

[Streydog]

The pressure was the same for all tanks, ~3100-3200 PSI if I remember correctly. As for tank holders, I apologize but do not recall if they fit in the holder as well as the 80's, or if they were held in by bungee cords. A few LOB's I've been on have had arms that were adjusted to fit the 100's, others rigged up bungee cords to hold them in place.

Thanks, going next month and just checking to see if there were any down sides to using the bigger tanks. I used an AL 100 once on a smaller boat and it would not fit in the tank holder.

 

[dflaher]

Thanks, going next month and just checking to see if there were any down sides to using the bigger tanks. I used an AL 100 once on a smaller boat and it would not fit in the tank holder.

The TCEXIi has adjustable arms that will hold either an 80 or a 100 CF tank. Happy diving!

 

[Streydog]

The TCEXIi has adjustable arms that will hold either an 80 or a 100 CF tank. Happy diving!

Thanks, I have reserved a 100. Can't wait!