Say goodbye to the Caribbean Explorer I

[robint]

hmm, so they just sent out another newsletter saying they "unexpectedly" sold the Nimrod in Australia in early October. (However does one "unexpectedly" sell a boat?) And they will have a new boat in the Galapagos the Humboldt Explorer. Now I wonder what they did with the Galapagos Eco Explorer.

yeah, I got that same newsletter today, very odd to "unexpectedly" sell you boat. Wonder what the people who had booked already thought of that! In some respects it sounds like they are downsizing, but then they talk about this new boat they are adding in 2009. Very strange.

I think it is safe to say that the economy is going to have effect on both land-based and liveaboard dive ops for the next few years. I would bet that we see several groups downsize or go under completely. :depressed:

 

[BlueWaterDiving]

This is sad I was on this boat. In July this year and had a great time. My group had the whole boat. And what a great time we had. The crew was great and I made a lot of new friends. This is sad. I guess it true all good things have to come to a end.

 

[Damselfish]

well, the Nimrod was another old one. I actually didn't get to go on it, because the darn thing broke down when were were supposed to go.

 

[scubafanatic]

yeah, I got that same newsletter today, very odd to "unexpectedly" sell you boat. Wonder what the people who had booked already thought of that! In some respects it sounds like they are downsizing, but then they talk about this new boat they are adding in 2009. Very strange.

I think it is safe to say that the economy is going to have effect on both land-based and liveaboard dive ops for the next few years. I would bet that we see several groups downsize or go under completely. :depressed:

...yeah, kinda wierd ! ...retiring their 2 oldest boats.....abandoning Australia, making Bahamas 'part-time' and doing double duty with the Saba boat...and swapping out one brand new Galapagos boat with another, different brand-new Galapagos boat...with the 'old' new Galapagos boat ending up who knows where ??? ...some of this makes sense in terms of 'downsizing' based reducing capacity in a shrinking dive travel industry....swapping out the Galapagos boats is a mystery though.....

Karl

 

[divengolf]

I'd guess that the Galapagos change has as much to do with the dive permits for 2009 as anything else. As frequent SBers know, diving in the Galapagos has been in a state of flux for the past year or so due to action by the government and park authority. I remember reading somewhere that the current Explorer boat was not expected to get a permit to include Wolf & Darwin in 2009.

I believe that the current Galapagos boat is either leased or franchised, not owned by Explorer.

I've put off a Galapagos trip indefinitely since many divers who booked in the summer of 2007 were left high and dry by the actions of the government. The Peter Hughes and Aggressor boats seem like the best bets for Wolf & Darwin, but even they were effected by the government ban on diving during part of 2007. Too many other places to go where divers are welcomed and the government doesn't have it's head up it's a**.

 

[scubafanatic]

I'd guess that the Galapagos change has as much to do with the dive permits for 2009 as anything else. As frequent SBers know, diving in the Galapagos has been in a state of flux for the past year or so due to action by the government and park authority. I remember reading somewhere that the current Explorer boat was not expected to get a permit to include Wolf & Darwin in 2009.

I believe that the current Galapagos boat is either leased or franchised, not owned by Explorer.

I've put off a Galapagos trip indefinitely since many divers who booked in the summer of 2007 were left high and dry by the actions of the government. The Peter Hughes and Aggressor boats seem like the best bets for Wolf & Darwin, but even they were effected by the government ban on diving during part of 2007. Too many other places to go where divers are welcomed and the government doesn't have it's head up it's a**.

...yeah, I'm generally familiar with the 'perils of Pauline' nature of Galapagos liveaboard diving recently....what's interesting is that, Papa Bear says CE I was sold to someone from Equador and will be operating there...so it appears that 'someone' is financially/politically 'connected' enough to just show up there and start operating dive trips in the Galapagos...while all the other 'traditional' boats are being toyed with with respect to getting the required government dive permits...interesting !

 

[divengolf]

...yeah, I'm generally familiar with the 'perils of Pauline' nature of Galapagos liveaboard diving recently....what's interesting is that, Papa Bear says CE I was sold to someone from Equador and will be operating there...so it appears that 'someone' is financially/politically 'connected' enough to just show up there and start operating dive trips in the Galapagos...while all the other 'traditional' boats are being toyed with with respect to getting the required government dive permits...interesting !

Last year it appeared that the fisherman (really "shark finners") had much more political clout and were in line to get the diving permits rather than the people/boats that actually provide diving services. I'm not sure where this ended up, but the sale of CEI may be a step toward that eventuality. Too bad. Although the boat was a little rough around the edges, it provided an inexpensive option for a great week of diving, esp. at SanSal. I had a couple great weeks on CEI.

 

[johnspierce]

They had no choice but to replace the Eco Explorer with the Humboldt because the Eco was too big for the new regulations. The Ecuadoran govt. has really tightened up restrictions for what boats can dive the islands. I heard from my LDS that only 4 operators currently have permits to do liveaboard diving there in 2009. Also, the Ecuadoran govt. has decreed an operator has to be either "land based" or "diving only", so no more land excursions from any of the liveaboards

AS to the CEX1, I've been on the boat twice, once in Saba/St. Kitts and once in the Bahamas. I really liked the boat, it had character. The Explorer crews were fabulous too. Last time I was on it was in the Bahamas in July of 2007 and I thought the diving was excellent.

R.I.P. old friend.

JP