Opinions on Nekton Belize

[Darnold9999]

Re going when there is a "special" on. Two possible reasons. Slow time for tourists or lousy diving. If it is lousy diving (weather, vis etc.) then I would much rather spend the $ and go when the diving is best. If it is because a slow time for tourists then it becomes much more attractive to me because those weeks are good times to go diving for me and the boat is less likely to be full.

Unfortunately asking Nekton may not get me what I want to know. Not too many operators are going to tell you "the diving is lousy that week so we have to discount our prices to fill the boat". They might, but most wouldn't. So I ask here.

 

[Footslogger]

Unfortunately asking Nekton may not get me what I want to know. Not too many operators are going to tell you "the diving is lousy that week so we have to discount our prices to fill the boat". They might, but most wouldn't. So I ask here.

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Well ...I've never done a December Nekton trip so I can't quote you from experience in that regard. But December, in and of itself, is NOT a bad time to dive in the Caribbean. The weather can be dicey, but you could say that about all the seasons.

Lousy Diving ?? It'd have to be just about unbearable to be classified as "LOUSY".

There are no guarantees when it comes to weather but all things considered, I'd focus on the positive side ...that the boat might not be at max capacity.

'Slogger

 

[Damselfish]

Not sure about Belize specifically, but some parts of the Carribean it seems you can't rely on the weather quite as much starting in early December. Usually it's just as nice as most of the year, but you can get more cloudy/rainy/stormy times. You're (usually!) past hurricane season which is good but approaching the winter which does have its "weather" sometimes even there.

I still believe it's more a matter of timing though, and what's going on where people are coming from, not down there. I think it goes like this - a lot of people from the US like to travel for Thanksgiving week, but after that people seem to think more about getting ready for the holidays and stuff. Then it picks up again over the holidays as some people like to travel for those. Right after the holidays seems to be slow again for a bit, then by late Jan the northern folks get sick of cold/snow and want to head south.

 

[Darnold9999]

Right after the holidays seems to be slow again for a bit, then by late Jan the northern folks get sick of cold/snow and want to head south.

Thanks for the input all. Being from even further north Thanksgiving is earlier and by December I am already sick of cold and rain (almost no snow here) so a holiday pre Xmas works for me.

 

[jaydub]

So has anyone been aboard the Nekton for their souther belize itinerary in december? Any comments on the diving, such as viz...dive conditions...dive sites visited?

 

[NWDCGUY]

Hi all -

I just did Nekton Pilot Belize in April, we dove the northern Turneffe and Lighthouse.

From what I was told by the 4 divemasters the best diving in belize is around Lighthouse. The Southern Itinerary is not any better (reef conditions, big animals) than Lighthouse, and is in some ways a marketing tactic to differentiate them from the Aggressor boat. Not that it's bad, it's just not any better to justify the increased distance to get there.

That being said - it's a good trip. The boat is huge with nice big rooms, a great sun deck and excellent facilities for diving. Dive deck, camera table, huge television with a computer for photos and watching movies. Very experienced, friendly, and knowledgable crew.

Not likely to see sharks, but very likely to see octopus (night), turtles, tarpon, rays, and huge grouper.

The only complaint I had is that they needed to make more stops, deserted beaches, islands, ports, whatever to help break up the week. Also they do not do the Blue Hole, which I would have liked.

 

[dleiss]

My snorkeling wife and I have done the Nekton twice, once in Belize and had a great time on both trips. I wrote a lot about the experience in previous posts, but to summarize: great food; staff; boat layout; nice hot-tub; no chase boats needed because of fantastic dive deck design; and no boat rolling, even in a night storm in Belize.

I'm glad we didn't do ports-of-call or beaches. I was there to dive and be on the open ocean.

We will return when time permits. We chose the Nekton specifically because my wife only snorkels and she got PLENTY on each of our two trips.

 

[peterbj7]

I'm not an expert on the Nekton, but I do know it's the only cat liveaboard and they always make much better dive platforms. I've been near the Nekton lots of times, and it's so pig-ugly I'd much rather be on it so I can't see it.

As to December diving, it's entirely to do with tourist numbers. Dive quality at that time is excellent.

As to location, Glover's Atoll is reputed to offer the best diving anywhere in Belize, closely followed by Lighthouse. So I'd go for the southern itinerary.

As to the Blue Hole, I recommend skipping it unless you are familiar with that sort of diving and really want to do it. Then dive it with a twinset and a deco bottle and have a decent dive in it, not a 25 minute bounce.