Nekton Mayaguana Trip Report

[Damselfish]

What else we were going to do while our gear dried?

I nurse the gear so it dries better, get my other stuff ready to go, read a book, nap - plenty of things I'd rather do than a forced land tour.

 

[DiveMaven]

Agreed. I'd rather hang out on the sun deck relaxing, work on the laptop on photos, read....anything else but being forced to do a land tour. That's pretty close to a deal breaker in many respects for me.

 

[diverdoug1]

I am going on this itinerary in a few weeks, and was wondering if the crew will try to force you off the boat for the excursion? When we did the Nekton Caymans itinerary, we were required to leave the boat for refuling, and spend the day on Cayman Brac. Did you feel that it was an option to stay on the boat if you were OK with not getting served dinner?

 

[ncchuck]

I am going on this itinerary in a few weeks, and was wondering if the crew will try to force you off the boat for the excursion? When we did the Nekton Caymans itinerary, we were required to leave the boat for refuling, and spend the day on Cayman Brac. Did you feel that it was an option to stay on the boat if you were OK with not getting served dinner?

Why not get an official answer from Nekton and let us know what they say.

 

[Rand]

Did you feel that it was an option to stay on the boat if you were OK with not getting served dinner?

I felt that the shore excursion was mandatory. First, it was listed in the brochure as scheduled for Friday afternoon, and they specifically reminded you to bring the $25 cash for it. Second, when we initially boarded Saturday evening for the start of the trip, the purser collected everyone's excursion money along with waivers, etc.

I did not think I had the option to skip the trip, however I didn't ask to skip it, so I can't tell you for sure if it was in fact an option. All passengers on our trip boarded the skiffs and went on the island tour, none remained on board.

In an effort to help Nekton improve this itinerary, I'm going to be contacting them with some suggestions. With regard to the shore excursion, I think with a few tweaks, they could make it an interesting trip. I understand this is new to the island and new to Nekton and can completely understand if things aren't perfect during the first few weeks. I will post up any replies I get from them.

 

[thnarcedout]

My wife and I also were on the Mayaguana trip (Nekton Rorqual); I think Rand and RudyMC1977 captured everything accurately. While we did have some weather related adventure, it never compromised the diving. We thought we lost 2 cameras in the broken mooring line adventure; but the crew did a great job in keeping that from happening. Worse case was getting back on the boat was at times interesting. The underwater topography was incredible and the real draw to this location. The immensness of it all was at times humbling. On the fringe of the wall the coral life was good, but getting further away from it living coral was scarce. Crew was top notch in every way, food was good and there was plenty of it. We did 20 dives; we did just about all the day dives and one night dive. The only issue with night dives were that some deeper than I would like for the 5th dive of the day, and I didnt want to deal with difficult boat re-entry due to rough seas. Got some great pics, had an awesome time. Look forward to another trip with them in the future. As far as the island tour; pay the $25 to the island as a tax and stay on the boat for maybe an afternoon dive or drinks in the hot tub. I'm new to this site, so I'll upload some pics when I figure out how.

 

[robint]

thnarcedout - I think you need at least 10 posts in order to post/link photos, but not sure. Also, you can start your own photo album here on SB with your favorite trip photos, too.

thanks for adding to the information on the trip, and welcome to ScubaBoard!

robin

 

[Sevrum]

I was on this itinerary on the previous week (Feb 13-20).

It sounds like a couple of the kinks from the first week were ironed out for the second week, but you got a couple of your own. I agree with the posts about the useless shore excursion, the reason for it were never explained. On the previous week it wasn't mandatory, and less then half the passengers went (I was 1 that did).

Hopefully the itinerary continues to improve, and they manage to keep the good staff they have. Honestly, the loss of Jonathon to the Kona Aggressor just means I'm taking that boat off my list of possible vacations, since I have no desire to deal with him again.

 

[Doc]

Honestly, the loss of Jonathon to the Kona Aggressor just means I'm taking that boat off my list of possible vacations, since I have no desire to deal with him again.

Great first post! Good to hear from the frozen great white North

Therein lies what makes the world go-round.... We thought Jonathon did a great job when we were aboard~ he seemed to hold the show together quite well. Whatever- if you didn't like him, good thing he managed to grab that job on the Kona Aggressor.

 

[deepstops]

They also were running on only one engine to save fuel costs.

I believe it was the Rorqual that was kept at the dock in San Juan, PR a year or so ago (leaving some unhappy customers) when a spot inspection by the USCG found one engine inoperable. Reportedly, it had been that way for months.

Did they run on two engines at all?