I need help regarding liveaboards (I.E. Inquiring minds want to know)!

[Darnold9999]

Completely agree that Nitrox is not necessary on the Nekton. You will just need to watch your profiles a bit and make sure you spend most of your bottom time on the reefs not the walls. Not generally an issue, as most of the stuff is on the reefs.

However you can quickly get over the line if you find something interesting deeper down and want to stay.

I prefer the flexability of Nitrox and the larger margin for error when diving air profiles. YMMV

Another tip for any liveaboard is to make sure that your flight out is 24 hours past the last dive you want to make. Many divers sat out the last dives because their flights were noon of the next day. Made for a better party on the last night as I think there were only 4 divers out of 18 in the water, but I prefer to dive

 

[DiveMaven]

Yes, you're absolutely right about having to watch profiles, etc., when diving air on a liveaboard. The margin of safety and flexibility on Nitrox is definitely a huge factor when considering whether or not to spend the money.

One of the nice things about Nekton's Belize and NW Bahamas intineraries is that you CAN choose to dive air without making too many compromises. I wouldn't consider anything but diving Nitrox for the Cay Sal or Cayman intineraries that Nekton offers, as those tend to offer deeper diving that you don't want to miss due to nitrogen loading. We'll definitely be diving Nitrox when we head to Truk Lagoon, and wouldn't even considering doing that trip on air for a second.

Definitely plan for late flights if you can....or spend a night inland and catch your flight home on Sunday! Since we were spending 3 days inland at the end of our trip, we wound up being the only afternoon divers as everyone else was breaking down gear to fly out around noon on Saturday.

 

[ladycute1]

I love the Nekton... Have been on the Pilot twice... and am going back with a group for a third time. We'll be doing the second week of December this year. Belize is great, and easy travel.

My previous trips were late November and early January... both trips had fine weather.. and great diving.. viz somewhat variable.. but generally 50+ ft.

 

[ewong]

I was on the Nekton Pilot in Jan and viz was 60+, except for two days. The water was warm 81F on average, sometimes warmer than the air temp (as low as 72F)!!

For underwater photographers, I would highly recommend Nitrox since you never know when an interesting creature might show up. I ran into creatures right under the boat, and having to constantly check your profile decreases your flexiblity. In Belize Central, most of our dives were no deeper than 70 ft on average, most dropoffs were at 40ft, which is usually where most of creatures are. So, you can do it without Nitrox if you are disciplined.

As a post dive/pre-flight activity, I would recommend visiting some of the Mayan ruins or going into the jungle. There's nothing interesting in Belize City.

I have a trip report on Belize, if you havent seen it:

http://www.yellowtangsoftware.com/purpleink/blogs/


Eddy.