Aquacat vs T&C Explorer II as far as the diving itself goes

[luckydiver]

Yes, diving Nitrox. I've been on over 25 liveaboard trips and am not one that likes hand-holding or being watched over. I was a last-minute addition to the trip and did not travel with a dive partner, so I was left to find others to dive with. As a photographer, I tend not to be the best "buddy" and tended to tag along with others as a third wheel. I am used to diving on my own and rarely, if ever, get castigated if I surface well after my buddy - or in this case, buddy team. I was called out on this. I also choose liveaboards for the freedom to hit the water when ready and get back on board with an appropriate margin of air in the tank. Diving on T&C Explorer is done to a schedule - period. On one dive, I was working on camera gear and missed my buddy team hitting the water. I thought, no problem - I'll catch up. I was not allowed to enter the water even though it was obvious to me where the buddy team had ventured. For all the idiotic release and waivers signed, I felt I was treated like a inexperienced diver at a land-based operation. Definitely not what I am used to on liveaboards. I know I'll catch crap from all sides on this, but I'll just say that diving on the T&C Explorer was the most restrictive liveaboard diving I have ever done.

So if I am traveling with a partner and follow the rules, you think the T&C diving would be better than Aquacat's dive spots? Did you get to night dive each night if you wanted to? Are the day dive profiles on nitrox with Explorer conducive to night diving where they moor for the nights? What turns me off are what you read about dying reefs, lion fish, lack of marine variety so I am willing to forego what is maybe more convenient diving on the aquacat for a better chance to see more vibrant colors and marine variety even if most of the dives are deeper and shorter. Dunno, guess that's why I'm asking.

 

[ptn72]

Hi luckydiver,

I haven't done Aquacat so I can't compare between the two. I did T&C Explorer in July so I could give me take on that.

- We dove at 3 places: Northwest Point, West Caicos, and French Cay. The reefs are very healthy. We saw lion fishes on each dive. In term of marine life between those places, French Cay was the best and Northwest Point was the worse. You can read my review in the same forum for more detail.
- All days dives were wall dives. Guided dives started out deep along the wall then turn around after 1000 psi and head for shallower water for the rest of the dive. You can chose to follow DM or dive on your own with dive buddy. Since everyone dove nitrox, rules are 110ft of max depth, max bottom time is 60 minutes, back in the boat with at least 500 psi in your tank.
- Since there are 5 dives a day, I understood the 60 minutes bottom time as the crew had to stay with a tight schedule.
- For night dives, they asked us to stay around the boat and not to go to the wall.
- The last two dive started really early, 5:30AM. This was to ensure you'll have at least 24 hours before your flight.

 

[luckydiver]

Hi luckydiver,

I haven't done Aquacat so I can't compare between the two. I did T&C Explorer in July so I could give me take on that.

- We dove at 3 places: Northwest Point, West Caicos, and French Cay. The reefs are very healthy. We saw lion fishes on each dive. In term of marine life between those places, French Cay was the best and Northwest Point was the worse. You can read my review in the same forum for more detail.
- All days dives were wall dives. Guided dives started out deep along the wall then turn around after 1000 psi and head for shallower water for the rest of the dive. You can chose to follow DM or dive on your own with dive buddy. Since everyone dove nitrox, rules are 110ft of max depth, max bottom time is 60 minutes, back in the boat with at least 500 psi in your tank.
- Since there are 5 dives a day, I understood the 60 minutes bottom time as the crew had to stay with a tight schedule.
- For night dives, they asked us to stay around the boat and not to go to the wall.
- The last two dive started really early, 5:30AM. This was to ensure you'll have at least 24 hours before your flight.

Thx ptn72, that's exactly the type first hand usable info I was looking for about the diving. Are there any wrecks to dive on in the mix? Do they have DMs hovering over you and herding you or can you do your own thing with your buddy as long as you follow their dive limit rules?

 

[WetLens]

My experience with T&C Explorer is they did leave us to dive on our own. You could choose to go with the guide or dive on your own with the same general rules. As I stated in my first post on this thread, I still prefer northern Exumas diving to T&C diving. Yes, there is more algae blooming in the Exumas, but the many of the reefs are still very healthy - especially the inside sites. There is a lot more diversity to the diving in the Exumas with some easy to high current drift dives thrown into the mix. I also like the shallower dive profiles offered by inside diving in the Exumas vs. the 45-60' minimums in T&C. Even with Nitrox, there is a lot of nitrogen loading with 5 dives per day at those depths.

 

[KeithG]

Thx ptn72, that's exactly the type first hand usable info I was looking for about the diving. Are there any wrecks to dive on in the mix? Do they have DMs hovering over you and herding you or can you do your own thing with your buddy as long as you follow their dive limit rules?

No wrecks with t&c except for the thunderdome.
you are an adult and treated as such.
2 different sites each day, 5 dives a day (last one is a night dive), 60 minute max, min 500 psi, stay with your buddy.
a DM is available if you wish to follow them, there are no scuba police on the boat, you are free to conduct your own dive profile. You must have a computer. A computer violation sits you out for a day.
they do record time in, time out, max depth and returning air.

Its a great boat, interesting dive sites. we have been a handful of times and look forward to returning.