Caribbean Explorer I - Georgetown Dec 22-29

[mrlipis]

she got sea sick, even using the “patch” and pills which had worked for her on previous day boats and cruises,

Just an FYI about the patch. If the pills work, don't use a patch. I had a similar experience many years ago. Never got sick when using pills and then just for the convenience I suppose I got a patch and was sicker than a dog. I found out later from my doctor that those patches are really potent. I used pills after that and never had a problem. There is nothing worse than sea sickness. I would have paid a thousand bucks for a helicopter to come get me.
I'm just saying

Bruce

 

[nbalsari]

Vic Hi,

It was fun with you and Debbie on CE as well! I'm also getting ready for the project and busy for this week. But will post a trip report ASAP. I also have some pictures of you and will e-mail it soon... (Not good as the ones you took though )

Good luck with the design of the 'new bird'

Nuri

 

[tstormdiver]

Glad to hear your trip went reasonably well. I was very impressed with my trip last May. Sorry to hear your wife got sea sick during the trip. I got sea sick only 1 time during mine when we hit some very rough weather (12ft waves). I just went below decks (had one of the cheap cabins) & took a nap until the weather cleared. We had a full passenger ensemble & never felt crowded, but then I had only done Blackbeard's then & even with only 9 passengers, it was crowded (can carry 22 passengers on a 65ft sailboat). There was plenty of room for everyone. Yes, I will agree with you about Peace & Plenty completely. I will admit though that I was dead tired when my buddy & I arrived & I slept right through the music being played. It kept my buddy up though. That was the reason I had recommended St. Francis to Stay at. I was also impressed with the diving that was there. My LDS is doing a land trip to San Salvador this summer, Wish I could go, but work schedule says "no". I'd love to dive those walls again. By the way, great pictures!

 

[robint]

thanks for the trip report, VideoRookie, of your trip on the Bahamas Explorer. All your pictures are there, you just need to click on the album cover.
It is nice to get another liveaboard report with information about the boat. It sounds like a great trip other than the seasickness.

 

[nbalsari]

OK, the Trip report at last… I’ll use Video rookie’s template…

CEX1, Dec 22-29, 2007

Getting there:
I flew same day with Lynx air, a local commuter operating from FLL. No luggage problems, as the aircraft was a C-402, with 7 passengers, one sitting on the first officers seat…If you like adventure, and small planes it is OK. Other else take a bigger one from MIA.

The boat:
The renovated boat has a serious noise problem. The engine room is not properly insulated. While upperdeck rooms were hot, we were freezing in lowerdeck rooms, and had to close the air ducts with cardboards.

Food was really great. I’ve put 4 lbs on in a week . I’m sure others also `suffered the same problem.

The weather:
See Video Rookie’s report…
The diving:
I’ve started with a 2mm shorty on a 3mm vest. After 2nd day, started to use the full 3mm, which was obviously better, but harder to put on.

Sea life was somehow not as rich as I expected. Last 2 dives were really bad, at the shark reef. I believe the problem was with the Captain who took us there a night before for the dawn dive. There was nothing but sand during the first dive. I was out of water after 10 minutes.
Don’t expect much from the dive masters. They are either not experienced, or too sick and tired of diving there. Do not expect them to support you under water, or help you in spotting fishes, etc.

Both dive NITROX, while some of the customers are diving AIR. I believe this a very serious safety issue! They can not claim that they do a lot of dives a day, as they share the dives, and do half of the dives of the customers each.

Summary:
I had to stay one extra day in Georgetown, and stayed in the B&B in downtown, (w/o breakfast  ) which is a very small village. Accommodation is quite expensive in the island. If you do not get your connections right, expect to pay $100 for the B&B, $250 for better places per night.

I asked the same question to myself: `Would I go again?`

I’m commenting after my 4th live-aboard experience: Not in Bahamas, and with CE1.

The food and cabins were OK, but I could have better in a resort hotel! I was there for diving. Captain, dive deck staff, fish life, and most importantly UW safety are very questionable.

 

[tstormdiver]

The boat:
The renovated boat has a serious noise problem. The engine room is not properly insulated.
Food was really great. I’ve put 4 lbs on in a week . I’m sure others also `suffered the same problem.


Sea life was somehow not as rich as I expected.

Don’t expect much from the dive masters. They are either not experienced, or too sick and tired of diving there. Do not expect them to support you under water, or help you in spotting fishes, etc.

Both dive NITROX, while some of the customers are diving AIR. I believe this a very serious safety issue! They can not claim that they do a lot of dives a day, as they share the dives, and do half of the dives of the customers each.



I asked the same question to myself: `Would I go again?`

I’m commenting after my 4th live-aboard experience: Not in Bahamas, and with CE1.

I was there for diving. Captain, dive deck staff, fish life, and most importantly UW safety are very questionable.

Sorry thing didn't turn out as you expected. Not sure who your boat staff was. Sounds like it has turned over since I was there. The crew was fantastic when I went. Very knowledgeable & experienced. Both the captain & one of the dive masters were very experienced technical diver instructors. The dive masters we went with were very good at being guides, in fact my buddy & I followed them around quite a bit. Our crew was (if I can remember correctly- only got first names):
Eamon- Capt.- very good, technical diver instructor & had that a strong British sense of humor
Nicola- Purser & Capt.'s wife- very uptight & snappy with the crew, but kept things working smoothly
Zack- Cook- very quiet, but friendly if you talked to him, great cook!
Johnny- Dive Master- very funny, great guide under water, liked to show off the small stuff like worms, crabs & such.
Cindy- Dive Master- What a gem! She would do anything for anyone. One of my favorites. She was a good guide for finding things, both big & small.
Bob- Dive master- Great guide for the bigger stuff. He could find eels, sharks, turtles & such.
Rob- Dive Master- Technical diver instructor & very good except for the one time he didn't know my buddy & I were coming down the "Chimney" at North Pole where he was to spot depth for those using Nitrox & went way below even rec. limits. My buddy & I caught ourselves right at the Nitrox limits & had no problems. He always hung out in the deeps to keep anyone from going too deep.
All the Dive Masters, the captain & the purser were upper level instructors & very professional. Overall the crew, when we went, was very good except for the occasional chewings that Nicola would give, but the crew would take it in stride & go on. We had the dive masters with us on 90% of the dives & they did switch up throughout the day, for their own safety, but we were all fairly well experienced divers & did fine on our own, as well as with them.

The boat was obviously older & it was a little noisy when the engines started & ran (our cabin was on the port side, closest to the engine room), but I guess I'd be so tired I didn't notice too much.
Though not super thick, there seemed to be some life around when we went last May, but sometimes we did have to look for it a little. The shark dive area was a bit devoid of much, except the sharks, but for me (as I enjoy watching them) I had a great time. The vis on our trip wasn't always the greatest, but then I'd think 50ft of vis any day was better than the 5-10 ft of vis that is normal at the quarries I dive. I guess that it is all perspective in what everyone thinks is a good experience. The crew make up & how they interact can truly make or break a trip. I will admit that I had only been on 1 live aboard before that (Blackbeards) & that the CEXI was much better in most respects. As for Georgetown, I was a bit underwhelmed, seemed trashy (but hen again this was an island) & the locals not overly friendly. My buddy had been with Explorer Ventures before, a couple of times, on the CEXII & she couldn't say enough good things about it & had also been with the Turks & Caicos Explorer (was not real thrilled with that one). She said the the CEXI was in second place on her books, with the company.

 

[johnspierce]

Captain, dive deck staff, fish life, and most importantly UW safety are very questionable.

It's always surprising how different the diving in any destination can be at different times. When we were on CEX1 last July, we saw just about everything you could possibly see short of Manta Rays and Whale sharks. For us, fish were in abundance on every dive site. We saw: Green and Spotted Morays, Adult and Juvenile Lionfish, Spotted Eagle Rays, Southern Rays, huge schools of Jacks, glassy sweepers, schools of Parrotfish, Octopus, Puffers, huge Crab and Lobster and finally, sharks - lots of them! We saw sharks every day and had several Hammerhead sightings in addition to the reef sharks.

I certainly sympathize if you had a down week for sea life; I remember going to Grand Cayman 15 or so years ago and diving the exact same sites on the north side which had been totally electric 6 months previous and it was like everyone moved out!

good luck,
John

 

[nbalsari]

The staff completely changed. I do not want to disclose the names here though. we had only 6 staff on board: Captain, purser/instructor(practically dove by himself, made some pictures, for himself, and was out of water earlier than everybody), instructor (unexperienced, but very positive, promising, but still diving Nitrox, even if he knows that it is a safety concern for the customers), 2 engineers, a cook and a maid. Last two wee perfect, but different than the ones in Tammy's list.

I also heard great things about CE II, and staff running it.

Sea life: The captain had no experience in the area. He did his first dive with us in that part of Bahamas. I believe this was one of the reasons of not locating the right dive sites for that season/day/weather. We had he same problem once in Red Sea; Boat Manager did wrong choices for the dive sites, and missed a lot of things. Boat Manager or Captain (the person who decides where to dive) shall be experienced in that very region.

Nuri

 

[scubamickey]

The staff completely changed. I do not want to disclose the names here though. we had only 6 staff on board: Captain, purser/instructor(practically dove by himself, made some pictures, for himself, and was out of water earlier than everybody), instructor (unexperienced, but very positive, promising, but still diving Nitrox, even if he knows that it is a safety concern for the customers), 2 engineers, a cook and a maid. Last two wee perfect, but different than the ones in Tammy's list.

Nuri

I think maybe you are confused about the role of a liveaboard divemaster. He/she is not diving your profile unless they are actually your buddy for that dive. In that case they would dive your air profile. There is no safety concern for customers as it is THEIR responsibility to plan and execute their own profile. If person can't plan and execute their own profile they probably shouldn't be on a liveaboard since they are geared toward competent, independent divers. No the "hold me by the hand" kind. It is safer to dive Nitrox than air and there is no reason that a divemaster or instructor should have to be diving air.