Nekton Pilot Trip Report

[almitywife]

thanks for the report!

i have liked this thread to another Nekton report so those fretting about the Nekton can get some more recent info

cheers

 

[Darnold9999]

Thanks for one of the better reviews I have read - and from a first timer and someone who is not just new to the board. This very accurately describes the Nekton Pilot that I travelled on - twice in the past 2 years. I have also done the PH boat out of Belize 4 months ago. Nicer accommodations, just a little bit nicer not a lot. Better looking boat(not a condominium on floats but a real boat), slightly better food, free booze (who cares not too many divers are going to be drinking a lot), service is a little more personal e.g they wrap a warm towel around you as you get out and you get a short shoulder massage. Luxury touches that you won't see on the Nekton.

PH dives the Blue Hole, mostly Nekton does not. I would rather have skipped this dive, but that is a personal choice. PH dives three sites a day to Nekton's two. This is both a plus and a minus as they move the boat between the two afternoon dives while Nekton stays in a single location for the afternoon dives and the night dive. If you want you can squeeze in an extra dive on Nekton. Have never done it but some have.

If you are at all suceptable to seasickness the Nekton wins hands down. The PH boat has just slightly more pitch than the Pilot but WAY more roll. The Pilot has almost no roll in even moderate weather. Wind Dancer rolls to some degree in almost all sea conditions. From just slightly in calm seas to significantly in weather. As does virtually any similar boat. This is not to be critical - single hull boats roll the Swath design boat does not until you get really ugly weather.

Both are great boats, would dive either of them again in a moment. Probably have a slight preference for Nekton as I get seasick if I don't pay attention and keep my focus outside of the boat. IF I didn't get seasick and the price was the same PH would be my choice. As the price is different you need to determine how important the added luxury touches are and how much you are willing to pay. If the luxury touches were important on a vacation then I would pay the extra $ for PH or Aggressor.

 

[Shasta_man]

"an image person"?! always these feelings of inadequacy.

 

[rossandmaureen]

Darnold9999 is probably quite correct in assessing the Blue Hole dive as being one he would have taken a pass on and I have read similar comments on this board before. Having said that, I guess that I am happy to have done it (blame Cousteau for making it famous) and having it in my log book. While not even near the best dive I have have ever done, it was fascinating and impressive...although much more so from 1000' feet in the air like the picture on my computer's desktop. Call me stupid (and many people have) and even after knowing what the dive is like, I would still endure the two hour bumpy ride from Caye Caulker to do it....but only once. As it turns out I managed to do it twice since Nekton squeezed it in for us on this trip.

I don't, however, think that I am alone in having had this perverse desire to do the Blue Hole and I think this might cost Nekton some business from people who also want to log a "trophy dive". If they had faster skiffs they could offer it and I would venture to suggest that it would pay dividends in increasing their customer count. Other than this dive, Nekton seems to pretty much mirror the sites done by PH and the Aggressor and they all just play musical moorings during the day.

 

[robint]

Darnold9999 is probably quite correct in assessing the Blue Hole dive as being one he would have taken a pass on and I have read similar comments on this board before. Having said that, I guess that I am happy to have done it (blame Cousteau for making it famous) and having it in my log book. While not even near the best dive I have have ever done, it was fascinating and impressive...although much more so from 1000' feet in the air like the picture on my computer's desktop. Call me stupid (and many people have) and even after knowing what the dive is like, I would still endure the two hour bumpy ride from Caye Caulker to do it....but only once. As it turns out I managed to do it twice since Nekton squeezed it in for us on this trip.

I don't, however, think that I am alone in having had this perverse desire to do the Blue Hole and I think this might cost Nekton some business from people who also want to log a "trophy dive". If they had faster skiffs they could offer it and I would venture to suggest that it would pay dividends in increasing their customer count. Other than this dive, Nekton seems to pretty much mirror the sites done by PH and the Aggressor and they all just play musical moorings during the day.

I believe I was told (2-3 years ago) by an employee of the Nekton that they used to do the Blue Hole but it turned out the guests weren't that interested. They found that most guests had done it already and would rather do 2 dives at another site than the 1 dive at the BH. So that is why they dropped it from the itinerary.... don't know if it's true, but I can see it.

Also, since the Nekton does Cay Sal Bank in the Bahamas - anyone wanting to do Blue Holes and see really cool stuff, should do that! We loved it.... we did 5 different Holes and they were very different in size and topography, some covered with life and some just big holes with sharks darting in and out. A few even had long swim-thrus from +90' depth up to surface! I would highly recommend this trip to anyone looking to experience Blue Holes. It is a great trip with 3 FULL days of diving Blue Holes and the other 2.5 days doing other reefs.


robin

 

[rossandmaureen]

Robin on our sailing I think that there was only one or two passengers who didn't care one way or the other about doing the Blue Hole and the rest were pleasantly surprised when it was announced that we were going to do it. I think that it is more the Nekton "party-line" to suggest that most people aren't interested in doing it but the reality is more due to logistics. While the Pilot doesn't draft any deeper than PH or the Aggressor, its beam is considerably wider making it impossible for the boat to navigate into the hole. Even on the skiffs we had to zig-zag our way in.

In a perfect world the Nekton would probably do better in terms of business to have a couple of faster skiffs and offer the Blue Hole as an optional dive site (at an extra cost because of the $40.00 U.S. park fee) and then moor at another site some distance away where guests, choosing not to do the Blue Hole, could stay and dive. There is no question that doing the Blue Hole meant that only one dive rather than two were done that morning but I think that most of us were willing to accept the trade off. Even myself, having dove the Blue Hole out of Caye Caulker the week before, was quite happy to be able to do it again...but I wouldn't bust my butt to go another time.

I do hope to be sailing the Nekton on a few of the Bahamas itineraries in the near future and try out and compare their various blue holes. I know that I look forward to reading your trip report in a few weeks.

Ross

 

[Darnold9999]

Can definately see this - the BH dive on the PH boat replaces two dives on the day that you make the trip. So instead of two 1 hour dives on the reef you get 1 20 min dive to the Blue Hole and most of the 20 min is spent returning along the rim of the hole back to the boat. You get about 5 min bottom time. My computer told me I was at 136 feet - interesting rock formations, but no life at all and the trip back to the boat along the rim of the hole was particularly uninteresting as well. Virtually no life at all - when compared to the reefs.

It is a "trophy dive" but the trip there and back or the flight over is much more interesting. I wouldn't do it again and given the choice wouldn't lose two dives on the reefs to do it.

 

[cappyjon431]

I believe I was told (2-3 years ago) by an employee of the Nekton that they used to do the Blue Hole but it turned out the guests weren't that interested. They found that most guests had done it already and would rather do 2 dives at another site than the 1 dive at the BH. So that is why they dropped it from the itinerary.... don't know if it's true, but I can see it.

Also, since the Nekton does Cay Sal Bank in the Bahamas - anyone wanting to do Blue Holes and see really cool stuff, should do that! We loved it.... we did 5 different Holes and they were very different in size and topography, some covered with life and some just big holes with sharks darting in and out. A few even had long swim-thrus from +90' depth up to surface! I would highly recommend this trip to anyone looking to experience Blue Holes. It is a great trip with 3 FULL days of diving Blue Holes and the other 2.5 days doing other reefs.


robin

RobinT--As a long time former employee of Nekton, I can tell you that you are 100% correct about the Blue Hole/Nekton. I was on the original mooring trip to Belize and worked on the Pilot for Nekton's first four seasons in Belize (captaining the boat for my last two years). Originally we started out doing the Blue Hole, but the guest response was overwhelmingly negative. Guests strongly resented us plugging the BH dive and felt their time would be better spent diving more reef dives. It showed up week after week in our comment cards so we decided to discontinue doing the dive. I am glad to see that they are offering it as an option, because there are those that still want to get this dive in on their visits to Belize, but hopefully they are not pushing it to the point of getting negative feedback about the site. I think faster skiffs would be an improvement, but no matter how fast the skiff, an excursion to the BH would still be one dive at the expense of two (better) dives.

Personally I never enjoyed this dive for all of the reasons cited earlier in this thread. Short dive, not much life, etc. Another reason I dislike the BH is that the top of the hole has a lot of broken up coral. Because the top of the hole comes so close to the surface, sea conditions tend to break a lot of the hard corals up. Granted, it's a natural phenomenon, but it is still distressing to see.

The Blue Holes of Cay Sal are much nicer. Because the rims of these holes are 25-35 feet below the surface, wave action doesn't destroy as much of the coral around the rim. I also like the fact that the circumfrences of the cay Sal holes are smaller, allowing several circumnavigations on one tank at multiple levels, making for 45-60 minute dives (vs. 10-15 minute dive in Belize's Blue hole).

 

[rossandmaureen]

Cappyjon431...I stand corrected. Obviously with your background you are in a position to know. I should also correct the perception that it is being offered as an option....I don't believe that they have gone to that extent although I personally feel it might be a good business move. The reason it was done on our sailing was that a pair of European guests had come expecting to do the Blue Hole and the office asked Captain Grant to try to include it if possible.

Best of luck to you in Panama...it is on my list so perhaps one day.

Ross

 

[cappyjon431]

Ross, I do tend to agree with you--a faster skiff and providing the option would be in Nekton's best interest. The Blue Hole gets such publicity that there are those who really look forward to this dive. If you have the ability to provide the service, why not? I guess my biggest concern is that if the Pilot "pushes" the dive too much divers come back complaining that "it wasn't worth it" and it reflects badly on the company. On the other hand, if you inform the divers that some are not crazy about the dive and they still elect the option, hopefully everybody is happy.