My buddy @Cheryl Petreman and were just on the the Caribbean Explorer II from March 1 to 8. Logistics was pretty smooth, both St Kitts and St Martin are relatively easy to get to and to get around on. Even Air Canada didn't screw up too badly. We were only 9 guests (about half full), so that was very nice. The non-AC salon was not as much of an issue as I expected. The weather was mostly moderate (by Caribbean standards), and I rarely felt I had to hide in my cabin. It's an old boat (we were last on it in the 1990s), and it shows a few places. The dive deck is reasonable, although I did wonder if giant stride from a few meters up was a bit harder on my ears. There is a big camera table (although not much storage underneath). Food was mostly excellent, with a variety of different (partially americanized) cuisines. There was not too much visible bleaching, perhaps because of the season. The tradeoff is the water was a steady 80F, which for me meant hooded vest + 3mm suit on every dive. Conditions were a bit variable, particularly around Saba. Visibility was better around Saba than St Kitts, but there was also more currents and surge. Once or twice we got caught in a fairly stiff current on the way back to the boat.
Some photos from the trip are at
Caribbean Explorer 2, March 2025
Sharks were relatively rare compared to e.g. T&C, but Turtles (mostly Hawksbills), seemed relatively common).
Most of my profiles were above 70ft, but other people were diving deeper on the same dives.
I dove nitrox the whole week, which meant NDLs were almost never the limiting factor.
Some photos from the trip are at
Caribbean Explorer 2, March 2025
Sharks were relatively rare compared to e.g. T&C, but Turtles (mostly Hawksbills), seemed relatively common).
Most of my profiles were above 70ft, but other people were diving deeper on the same dives.
I dove nitrox the whole week, which meant NDLs were almost never the limiting factor.
