Hey all. This is pretty ironic. I just did a Blackbeard's trip last week and LOVED it! This comes with a disclaimer however. If you have a choice, whatsoever, request to be assigned to Captain Paul and "Ichiban" Johnny as your cook. It is guaranteed to be the best live-aboard food you will ever have. Blackbeard's is a great company overall, they will make the whole experience even better. Captain Paul is an amazing freediver, who has a great eye for spotting lobster. On almost all of their trips, they have a surf and turf night with lobster tails and steak when you arrive in Bimini. This is unique to them only however. From speaking with the crew, they are the only ones that do this... It is well worth it. Johnny is a former 4 star chef and can do what no other person can to Sysco "filler" food.
As for the dive conditions... The water is about 77 at the surface and 74-5 at depth. The currents that they were expecting were pretty mild the week I was out so there was not too much drift diving. I wore a 1mm wetsuit, but I am a little bigger than most. Pretty much everyone on my trip got along fine with a 3mm and gloves. It is always smart to have a hood as well, but I didn't use mine at all on the trip. There was a decent abundance of Caribbean Reef Sharks, lots of barracuda (although not as many as on the Outer Banks) and tons of fish. Also, they say that sea turtles are pretty rare to see in the wild, but I saw four in the span of 4 days, so thats not bad either. I also was one of the lucky few to see a Hammerhead shark at a dive spot called "The Nodules" It is a wall dive that begins at 65-70 feet and drops to infinity.
You will definitely want to bring foul weather gear however, since it was windy as hell when I was there. It could definitely get cold during the surface intervals. I actually preferred to be in the water since it would keep me warm.
As far as hotels, I am not entirely sure. If anyone has any further questions, let me know. This is about all I can think of right now and I am sure I left stuff out. Feel free to email me. Happy Diving.
Marc
