Belize?...Nekton Rorqual or Sun Dancer II???

[Doc]

Sorry Parrothead, you misunderstand me i am not talking about you.
I am talking about Roatan Man's comment about the flipping over and sinking.

It didn't sink.

He who can not remember history is doomed to repeat it.

 

[Doc]

You make an argument not to go on a liveaboard in Galapagos!??!?
Seeing as it is about a 15 hour ride up to Wolf/Darwin on a liveaboard how on earth will you do so on a day boat?
Sure the marine life around the southern islands is ok but it is nothing to compare to the thousands of schooling hammerheads and the whale sharks up north. I saw 13 whale sharks in three days.
If you spend the time and money to go all the way to the Galapagos then a liveaboard is a must or your time has been wasted.

To each his own. After many years of diving live aboards in the Galapagos (including the long crossing to Wolf & Darwin), my tastes have been exposed to land based day dive operations- a few of which are quite superior.

I've seen the Whale Sharks and the Hammeheads, from live aboards as well as land based.

I still believe the only way to experience the Belizian islands is by live aboard. I also beleive that to the seasoned traveler, Galapagos can be done either way with great success.

I agree the comment about the Wave Dancer is rather cold and unnecessary!

I never mentioned the name- y'all did. How would you have me phrased it? Simply because there were innocent victims doesn't make this subject taboo. Would you rather just forget about it and behave like it never happened? The subject was 'which liveaboard'. That was a relevant fact. Just a fact.

 

[Otter]

Unless the Capt and crew of the SDII are the same as the WD -- I know some of the crew perished in that terrible, some would say preventable accident, what IS the relevance. I won't be on the WD -- obviously. I guess the implication is that the Capt followed orders from someone in the PH management team. I doubt that (1) the management team would give those orders again, and (2) if they would be given, I doubt the Capt would follow em or (3) if the Capt did follow them, I am reasonably confident that the passengers would take matters into their own hands.

Tragically, logic would suggest that PH et.al. has learned from history so as to not repeat it. I wonder if the owners of the Neketon fleet believe that, due to their design, their ships are virtually unsinkable?

 

[Damselfish]

The captain of the SDII came from the Wind Dancer (from T&C.)

 

[diveski01]

Loved the Nekton Pilot's Belize itinerary! Nekton has some really great moorings over healthy reefs and awesome walls just behind the boat.

Like they said above, only time it feels crowded is first day safety briefing and first dive. Crew tries to stagger the guests when setting up their gear and first dive. After that you hardly notice that there's more than 12 people on board.

I enjoyed their brief evening educational sessions, E6 processing overnight, light tables, TV's, DVD's, large private cabins with private baths, ample storage, no rocking and rolling (after first night's crossings), unlimited fresh hot water showers, warm clean towels after each dive, fresh towels in cabin every day, great food, friendly crew.

Crew is cautious and will restrict guests to recreational dive limits of 130ft and "no deco". Nobody wants a dive accident or worse - a death - during what's supposed to be a fun week. Crew is just doing their best to keep everyone safe, healthy and happy. Oh yeah, and REALLY WELL FED!

 

[JRO]

As usual, y'all have provided some great feedback and suggestions...thank you.

It looks like the Pilot will be my ride through Belize in November so long as no hurricanes teat into it first.

Thanks again,

Jeff

 

[Allison Finch]

[

I agree the comment about the Wave Dancer is rather cold and unnecessary!

I never mentioned the name- y'all did. How would you have me phrased it? Simply because there were innocent victims doesn't make this subject taboo. Would you rather just forget about it and behave like it never happened? The subject was 'which liveaboard'. That was a relevant fact. Just a fact.

You used it to smear Peter Hughes' operation. These boats are run very independantly and what one boat does shouldn't reflect on all of them. PERIOD! I knew some of the people lost on that boat. I still dive on boats operated under Peter Hughes name with NO hesitation.

 

[UP4AIR]

I did the SDII in June of this year and found it to be an extremely safe operation. The divesites were great with plenty of photo ops. The boat was very comfortable with 20 passengers onboard. Food was good,rooms was good all was good!
For those of you who can't seem to forget what happened previously on the WD...get over it! The sport of diving is inherently dangerous and we all know...or should know the risks involved.
It is surely a tragedy what happened, but there are no gaurantees in life. Accept what the risks are in what we do and move on.

 

[czdiver]

I just did the Nekton in February. We had a full boat and it still didn't seem too crowded. The have an open dive deck policy which means that they open the dive deck after the morning briefing and you can dive whenever you like, as much as you like, until lunch. Then they move to another location and do the same thing after lunch until dinner. Some people dove right away after the briefing, some waited a bit, so the dive deck was never too crowded. The crew was the best I've come across. They seemed to anticipate your every need. They really wait on you hand and foot. We were a little disappointed when we first boarded because the boat needs a little fixing up, but it grew on us, and we loved the boat by the time the trip was over. Also, we saw the Aggressor and Peter Hughes boats moored nearby and they bobbed around in the water like corks compared to the Nekton which barely moves in the waves. The swath design is really amazing.