Socorro on Cassiopeia?

[hawthorne]

New update today - they are not able to fix the engine in time. So best case is a 3 day trip to Socorro. I fully understand that technical issues might occur at anytime, but it's not normal with technical issues over and over again if operational procedures and maintenance is done correctly.

As it is now, my future recommendation for Cantamar liveboard is based on what they do next, and how they handle this situation.

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

3 day trip to Socorro means 1 day of diving. Will they give you credit to a full length future trip or just give you partial credit where you have to pay to use them again? Do you whatsapp them regularly?

I am concerned about my upcoming trip on their Southern Sport boat. They were regularly posting updates in facebook, but stopped all of a sudden. I want to see postings regularly so that I know they are taking regular trips.

 

[hawthorne]

3 day trip to Socorro means 1 day of diving.

Sorry for the confusion - 3 days of diving instead of 5 days. Latest news is that missing engine parts from USA might arrive 1 day early, and we're aiming for 4 days of diving at the moment. But things can change. We will eventually sort out some options for diving from Cabo San Lucas rest of the days. Cantamar are prepping Cassiopeia at the moment.

Diving at the Sea Lion Colony (maps) with cantamar today and we will do some whale shark snorkeling tomorrow. Nice crew and dive guide, but the day trip boat was only 3 out of 6 stars if I had to review it. Diving was awesome. Gray whales watching yesterday (maps, also with cantamar) was fun.

We currently stay at Club Hotel Cantamar, but I highly recommend staying in La Paz if you need to be in the area.

We're on a private charter, and don't communicate with cantamar direcly. It's handeled via the agency.

I am concerned about my upcoming trip on their Southern Sport boat

I totally agree. I was worried about Cassiopeia for the same reason (searched all over Facebook and Instagram). We haven't seen Southern Sport around, but we're going to Cabo San Lucas - maybe it's there (or on a trip).

 

[gserranol]

Any resolution from CANTAMAR? DId they offer you credit for future trip and/or you getting compensated from your travel insurance?

I booked a liveaboard with Southern Sport as part of whole boat becoming available. Southern Sport is part of CANTAMAR. I've booked liveaboards with engine failures a couple of days before my trip while I was staying over thousands of miles away from home and liveaboard boarding location. It wasn't even a question of getting a refund, but how they were going to compensate for our stranded situation (they weren't, just offering refund or future trip credit). Only after booking the Socorro trip on Southern Sport, did I see reviews here and there about the reliability of the boat. I guess its not the boat, but CANTAMAR. I never bothered with trip insurance, but I thought it was strange that this liveaboard requires trip insurance. Now I know why.

Are the few bad reviews because of few incidences that occurred? Or are this type of situations happening regularly, with a review popping up here and there once in a while?

So they ended up offering credit for any future trip with them in the next 3 years. This is thanks to booking through Infinite Blue Dive Travel, they took care of claims and conversations, but I couldn't get ahold of anybody on Cantamar.

Watch out for small letters in travel insurance, I used Nomad/Tripmate and was confident they could cover boat problems.

I still have the credit for a future trip to Socorro with Cassiopeia, I could offer a big discount to anybody who wants to get that trip transferred.

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

This is when I wish i had billionaire friends with their own mega-yacht.

But no oligarchs, please.

 

[hawthorne]

We're currently in Cabo San Lucas, and Cantamar promise we will leave for Socorro at 09am tomorrow. They will sail from Pichilingue (La Paz) to Cabo during the night, from what I understand. Looking forward to this trip, but it's a shame we only get 3 1/2 - 4 days of diving at Socorro. According to Cantamar, they have worked very hard to get all spear parts from US, but unfortunately they are 48h behind schedule.

I will report back on the condition of this ship. Hopefully she's in a good shape.

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

So they ended up offering credit for any future trip with them in the next 3 years. This is thanks to booking through Infinite Blue Dive Travel, they took care of claims and conversations, but I couldn't get ahold of anybody on Cantamar.

Watch out for small letters in travel insurance, I used Nomad/Tripmate and was confident they could cover boat problems.

I still have the credit for a future trip to Socorro with Cassiopeia, I could offer a big discount to anybody who wants to get that trip transferred.

So Nomad/Tripmate refused the refund or did you get refund and credit?

I booked on the Southern Sport, and reading about all these stories, along with what might happen to the ship. I changed from Nomad to DiveAssure with its liveaboard coverage, which seems to be the only insurance that covers expenses for evacuations due to boat mechanical issues.

I also had the same issue when I booked on the Indo Siren and 2 days before boarding while I was already in Nusa Penida off Bali, I got the message my trip was cancelled. They initially gave us a credit for future trip, but after a bit more demands from my travel agency, I got a refund. Good thing I got the refund because the Indo Siren burned down a year later. I did find a liveaboard with Mermaid for my travel agent that was 1 day shorter and fits within my flight window to and from West Papau. Fortunately and unfortunately, a whole bunch of Indo Siren passenger also booked on that boat.

 

[hawthorne]

We're still in Cabo San Lucas, and Cassiopeia is still docked at Club Hotel Cantamar/La Paz. The engine is fixed, but there are some new issues with the fuel system. The vessel will arrive in Cabo within the next 20 hours and leave Cabo for Socorro tomorrow. So, we're currently looking at 3 days of diving in the best-case scenario.

We have good coverage and support from the travel agent, and I'm okay, but Cantamar as an operator is a no-go for all future trips in my case. At least they need to demonstrate a series of successful liveaboard trips in the coming months to even be considered. It looks like they are working hard to fix the vessel, but the proof is in the pudding. Based on what we hear from other operators/divemasters, the appearance and feel of the hotel (Club Hotel Cantamar) and overall general communication, I wouldn't be surprised if Cantamar might face a liquidity problem. But that's purely speculation.

 

[hawthorne]

Updated status from Cantamar: The trip is cancelled as they are unable to fix the engines. There are problems with overheating according to the latest info, but it's impossible to believe anything they say. This isn't caused by a random engine failure but rather an organizational issue with several problems in how they run their business. Cassiopeia has been out of operation since November, and a serious operator should have focused on getting things ready a long time ago.

Cantamar = stay away.

 

[rongoodman]

I suppose there are reasons why Agressor cancelled their contract with them. I had a trip booked back in Jan. of 2022 and when the Omicron variant surged in the weeks previous I cancelled. (At that time you still had to test negative to get back into the U.S.) I later heard that so many people got ill on that trip that they had to cancel the following one. Their attitude when I asked for a credit--"Too bad".