Caribbean Explorer II to Saba/St. Kitts

[ppatin]

My girlfriend and I are considering a trip on the CEX II this summer or fall and I was hoping to get some other people's experiences and opinions. From the trip reports I've read they sound like a pretty good operation and the price for a week long trip is very reasonable. Are there any downsides or things that I should be aware of? I wasn't thrilled with the price of airfare to or from St. Kitts but it's not like the boat can control that. Also, are there any significant differences between going in August, September or October?

 

[volvorules]

My girlfriend and I went in November 2011, right after Thanksgiving. The trip was our first liveaboard, and was amazing! We had a great time with all of the guests, and the crew was outstanding. I would highly recommend Explorer Ventures and the Saba/St.Kitts crew. We had some amazing diving, and the weather was gorgeous. We had slightly rough seas one afternoon and I felt a little queasy, but other than that there were no issues.

Not sure about the differences between those months, so can't help you there unfortunately. But I would certainly recommend the trip!

 

[Brodydog]

I highly recommend Explorer Ventures. Great company. Have been out with them 5 or 6 times. Saba/ St Kitts is good if you want to do some island touring, but for the diving I much prefer the Turks and Caicos trip with them. The T&C trip is usually a bit more expensive with EV but comes out about even with the flights being more expensive to Saba/St Kitts. Feel free to pm me with any questions.

 

[aquanex]

My son and I did the CE II from St. Kitts to St. Maarten. We traveled the last week of November in 2008 so a bit dated. Absolutely awesome trip. One of my all-time favorite trips in terms of U/W photography.

Remember that Aug/Sept/Oct is the heart of hurricane season so weather could be somewhat unpredictable. Hurricane Omar in Mid Oct 2008 did quite a bit of damage (just a month before we traveled) to the reef on Stacia - still a beautiful dive spot. The chain and Saba in particular took a direct hit from Hurricane Earl (August 30) in 2010.

 

[tursiops]

The T&C Explorer is a nicer boat than the Caribbean Explorer....salon is air-conditioned, for example.
Both are great crews, good policies, food depends on who the cook is, but always substantial.
CEXII runs either St Kitts to St Martin, or the other direction, alternating weeks. Visiting St Kitts old fort is nice. Diving at Saba better than either of the two ends of the trip. T&C diving in general better than the CEXII diving. Our CEXII trip was blown out with a nearby hurricane...lost half our diving. Crew handled it well, safety/comfort of passengers was paramount.

Buy trip insurance for ANY Caribbean travel in Aug-Sept-Oct. If you dive a lot, buy the DAN Annual Trip Insurance.