Nekton Caymans ...One Month to Go !

[Footslogger]

Last payment made, flights booked, gear all spread out on the bed in the guestroom. Fun starts on the 26th ...

Damn a month sure seems like a long time !!

Somebody throw me a bone and tell me how GREAT the Caymans are gonna be. This'll be our first time on that itinerary.

 

[Darnold9999]

Went last summer - Bloody Bay wall was excellent - lots of juvenile's just over the top. Some great wide angle opportunities on some sites as you back down the wall with the sun overhead. Nelson and crew were terrific. Food was better than Belize. You will have a great time. Only negative was the half day on Cayman Brac not diving. Would rather be diving.

 

[DeputyDan]

I am doing this trip in July - don't steal all the memories!

 

[Trwmodela]

Did the Rorqual in Cayman last September. The diving was excellent and the crew worked hard to please everyone. I just saw Captain Nelson here in Fort Myers at Dean's Dive Center. Nelson will give you 100 percent! He is also an excellent diving instructor. Taking the afternoon off in Cayman Brac was good for everyone. You only miss two dives as you still get the night dive. I am booked on the Rorqual for the Northwest Bahamas, September 15, 2007. BTW...I did the Pilot in Belize during February 2007.

Have Fun & Dive Safe! :14:

 

[Footslogger]

Did the Rorqual in Cayman last September. The diving was excellent and the crew worked hard to please everyone. I just saw Captain Nelson here in Fort Myers at Dean's Dive Center. Nelson will give your 100 percent! He is also an excellent diving instructor. Taking the afternoon off in Cayman Brac was good for everyone. You only miss two dives as you still get the night dive. I am booked on the Rorqual for the Northwest Bahamas, September 15, 2007. BTW...I did the Pilot in Belize during February 2007.

Have Fun & Dive Safe! :14:

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Thanks for that. Have done the Bahamas itin twice and Belize twice. You're gonna like them both !!

Just hope the weather cooperates !!

 

[Footslogger]

I am doing this trip in July - don't steal all the memories!

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You got it. From what I've heard there are plenty of memories to go around.

I plan on taking pictures and leaving bubbles ...

 

[WarrenZ]

I am going on Saturday.

 

[WarrenZ]

Let me first say that the diving was great and most things went smoothly onboard. On my trip I was traveling with a fair sized group from our local dive shop (11 of 22 people onboard). We had the opportunity for over 25 dives while we were there.

I was able to do 19 due to a case of the skin bends that came up in the middle of the week. You should be aware of your bottom times and depth as well as staying properly hydrated. Some of the dive sites were not planned in the proper order in my opinion ( a deep site in the morning and an even deeper site in the afternoon but what do I know).

If you go keep in mind that the rooms will be very small in my case the beds were smaller than a twin and there was only about a foot between the beds this making the room cramped; And if you have long legs you should be prepared to sit sidesaddle on the head if you want to get the door closed. But guess what about the only thing that you will do is sleep in the room so its small size probably wont make that much of a difference to you except for the mornings as you and your roommate move around at the same time or you and/or your cabin mate are an athletic sleeper (read into that what you may). I found that if you or your room mate gets ready for the day or night first while the other stays in the bed or somewhere else it makes the process easier than if you both are in motion.

But it seemed that anytime the boat got near shore things went haywire. When we arrived we were left hanging in front of a liquor store for over 1 hour without being told it would be over an hour and we would have time to go get food as none was served on board that night other than some veggies and a little dip. The shore excursion to Cayman Brac also was a joke when we had to go to the government dock in morning on the east end of the island it made it difficult to get the cars from the other side of the island. It wasted about 2 hours of our available time to see the island by the time you get picked up to go get the cars drive to the other side of the island do paperwork drive back to the boat pickup passengers then drop them off and take the cars back. A lot of things on the island open late by the way but we got the beer cooler restocked just the same.

 

[Mad Scientist]

I have to agree with Warren, the logistics on land were horrible. One group got left at the liquor store for an hour, one group got left at the grocery store for over an hour. The Cayman Brac trip was useless. Now anyone can say this is an isolated case, but while we were at Sunset House on Saturday, while in the lobby we heard a guest who was going to the boat complain about the Nekton being over 2 hours late to pick them up. Sounds like they need to work on this a bit....

 

[Darnold9999]

I would agree that the Cayman Brac trip is annoying. Would rather be diving. I gather there is some politics involved here so that they have to make the stop to be allowed access to the marine park - or something like that.

Also completely agree that the "on shore" side of the Nekton operation leaves much to be desired. (Not the head office - have had great service from head office) Waited more than two hours past the time for pickup on one trip. The phone number provided did not work - myself and the other two divers waiting were well past concerned when they finally showed up. The only saving grace was the desk at the hotel which assured us that this was "normal" and that they would be along shortly.

However - once you get on the boat everything changes. In the three Nekton trips I have done everything went very very smoothly. I have had three great trips and will have many more in the future.