This was my first liveaboard so I don't have anything to compare it to but I can't imagine how one could improve on this one.
Accomodations:
I stayed in an upper bearth with my own bathroom and I paid an additional $300.00 for that convenience. It was convenient, as it is right off the upper sun deck and much of our time was spent there, however if I was to do it again I would probably just get a room below deck as they were about the same size (they had a sink in the room) and for a 3 hundred dollars savings, that darn near pays for the airline tickets.
The boat has plenty roomy (we had 14 guests, with a max of 18) and I never felt crowded... other than getting to the beer cooler after the last dive. The dive deck is large and well designed with two hot showers (great for those night dives). Nitrox and air filled immediatley after each dive and those operations were done at each individuals station. Large camera table in the middle of the deck.
Crew was outstanding and very accomodating. They really went out of their way to make sure everyone was attended to. Concise pre dive instructions and any safety concerns were addressed always.
Food was plentiful and very good. It would be next to impossible to get hungry on one of these trips. Dive.. Eat.. Dive..Eat..Dive Eat.
Diving:
I logged 23 dives and of those only one of them was not fun. We hit some currents at Conception Island on the way out and on our return trip. The first dive of the trip we had some current that was tolerable but on our trip back on Thursday it was down right ripping and my dive was limited to hanging on to the mooring line.
We made it to San Salvador on Monday and dove there for the next four days. One word describes the diving there.. Spectacular! Healthy coral and unlimited wall diving. Lots of swim throughs and ubundant sea life. I don't even remember how many different sights we hit but I doubt that we missed many. Only a couple of hammerhead sightings but pretty much everthing else. Our last two dives of the trip were at Long Island and were pretty cool. The first was a wreck at 100 feet and the last was done at a sight where a local operation feeds sharks. Although we did not feed the sharks they were there waiting for us. They hear the engines and think it's dinner time. I logged 55 minutes at that site and there were sharks swimming the entire time. An interesting note, the fish there were very friendly. I had a grouper that became my buddy and was a ham for the photo ops.
Summary
The combination of a great crew, good weather and a great group of divers led to a stress free week that was really enjoyable. I really can't say anything negative.
Two thumbs up. Would do this trip again in a heart beat.
BTW.. no baggage issues on my end. I flew into Atlanta on Delta and then took a regional jet direct to Georgetown. Getting home was a different issue as our Saturday flight out was delayed until Sunday as our plane had mechanical problems.
Water temp 79 degrees on most dives but did find some 75s on a couple of dives. I dove a 5mil and surprisingly got chilled around the fourth dive. I didn't wear a hood until later in the week and that helped alot. Will try and post some pics in the next day or so.
Bruce
Accomodations:
I stayed in an upper bearth with my own bathroom and I paid an additional $300.00 for that convenience. It was convenient, as it is right off the upper sun deck and much of our time was spent there, however if I was to do it again I would probably just get a room below deck as they were about the same size (they had a sink in the room) and for a 3 hundred dollars savings, that darn near pays for the airline tickets.
The boat has plenty roomy (we had 14 guests, with a max of 18) and I never felt crowded... other than getting to the beer cooler after the last dive. The dive deck is large and well designed with two hot showers (great for those night dives). Nitrox and air filled immediatley after each dive and those operations were done at each individuals station. Large camera table in the middle of the deck.
Crew was outstanding and very accomodating. They really went out of their way to make sure everyone was attended to. Concise pre dive instructions and any safety concerns were addressed always.
Food was plentiful and very good. It would be next to impossible to get hungry on one of these trips. Dive.. Eat.. Dive..Eat..Dive Eat.
Diving:
I logged 23 dives and of those only one of them was not fun. We hit some currents at Conception Island on the way out and on our return trip. The first dive of the trip we had some current that was tolerable but on our trip back on Thursday it was down right ripping and my dive was limited to hanging on to the mooring line.
We made it to San Salvador on Monday and dove there for the next four days. One word describes the diving there.. Spectacular! Healthy coral and unlimited wall diving. Lots of swim throughs and ubundant sea life. I don't even remember how many different sights we hit but I doubt that we missed many. Only a couple of hammerhead sightings but pretty much everthing else. Our last two dives of the trip were at Long Island and were pretty cool. The first was a wreck at 100 feet and the last was done at a sight where a local operation feeds sharks. Although we did not feed the sharks they were there waiting for us. They hear the engines and think it's dinner time. I logged 55 minutes at that site and there were sharks swimming the entire time. An interesting note, the fish there were very friendly. I had a grouper that became my buddy and was a ham for the photo ops.
Summary
The combination of a great crew, good weather and a great group of divers led to a stress free week that was really enjoyable. I really can't say anything negative.
Two thumbs up. Would do this trip again in a heart beat.
BTW.. no baggage issues on my end. I flew into Atlanta on Delta and then took a regional jet direct to Georgetown. Getting home was a different issue as our Saturday flight out was delayed until Sunday as our plane had mechanical problems.
Water temp 79 degrees on most dives but did find some 75s on a couple of dives. I dove a 5mil and surprisingly got chilled around the fourth dive. I didn't wear a hood until later in the week and that helped alot. Will try and post some pics in the next day or so.
Bruce
