dtykris
Guest
This was my first live aboard experience and we had a great time and checked in on the Morning Star. There were a total of 16 in our group, one a non-diver who accompanied her husband. There we two instructors in the group and 4 DMs.
We booked the long weekend cruise that left at 3pm on 10/20 and returned late Tuesday night for departure on Wednesday. I personally liked this as it gave me time to see the local scene before departing home.
We did 13 dives, 3 wrecks, 3 night dives, one wall drift and one shark feed we actually did Bull Run twice as well as the wreck dives again at night. All of which were fun and teeming with life and lots of sharks and rays. I finished my AOW and it was a great experience, however it makes you realize how much you still have to learn. The group was all pretty good, however there were two divers that had not dove ( by their own admission) in a few years and at the start of the trip commented how their LDS wanted them to do a refresher, but they did not because they felt he was just trying to get into their pockets this proved to be a mistake as on the first several dives they would just barrel to the surface knocking us off the line and basically blowing off their safety stops thank god it didnt kill them dumb#%$@#
I was a little disappointed in how many divers chose to root things out from their homes and show a lot of disregard for the reefs and the life around them, however I tried to mention it up top and basically was ignored. The crew did a good bit of free diving and bagged a nice lobster for everyone on board talk about fresh!!! Overall the food was not bad and actually better than I anticipated. Sleeping quarters were tight and my group stayed in the galley area and this was fine with me. I think from diving so often each day, after the night dive and a few rum punches I was out cold. I cant say enough how much I appreciate my toilet and shower at home!! We docked once in Bimini and this allowed us to have a normal shower and some of the group hung out at the bar.
I have to give a shout out to Chris from Virginia, he did some excellent video work and shared it with all of us unselfishly to show are friends and family youre the best man!!!
Overall a big thumbs up to the overall operation and staff at Black beards!!
David
We booked the long weekend cruise that left at 3pm on 10/20 and returned late Tuesday night for departure on Wednesday. I personally liked this as it gave me time to see the local scene before departing home.
We did 13 dives, 3 wrecks, 3 night dives, one wall drift and one shark feed we actually did Bull Run twice as well as the wreck dives again at night. All of which were fun and teeming with life and lots of sharks and rays. I finished my AOW and it was a great experience, however it makes you realize how much you still have to learn. The group was all pretty good, however there were two divers that had not dove ( by their own admission) in a few years and at the start of the trip commented how their LDS wanted them to do a refresher, but they did not because they felt he was just trying to get into their pockets this proved to be a mistake as on the first several dives they would just barrel to the surface knocking us off the line and basically blowing off their safety stops thank god it didnt kill them dumb#%$@#
I was a little disappointed in how many divers chose to root things out from their homes and show a lot of disregard for the reefs and the life around them, however I tried to mention it up top and basically was ignored. The crew did a good bit of free diving and bagged a nice lobster for everyone on board talk about fresh!!! Overall the food was not bad and actually better than I anticipated. Sleeping quarters were tight and my group stayed in the galley area and this was fine with me. I think from diving so often each day, after the night dive and a few rum punches I was out cold. I cant say enough how much I appreciate my toilet and shower at home!! We docked once in Bimini and this allowed us to have a normal shower and some of the group hung out at the bar.
I have to give a shout out to Chris from Virginia, he did some excellent video work and shared it with all of us unselfishly to show are friends and family youre the best man!!!
Overall a big thumbs up to the overall operation and staff at Black beards!!
David
