St. Maarten Saba St. Kitts Liveaboard?

[keesmon]

We have the chance to hop on the southbound St. Maarten, Saba, St. Kitt's live aboard in March.
We've been to Curacao, Bonaire and Cozumel extensively, but am looking for something else for a week long trip. We've previously only liveaboards in Thailand and the Philippines.
Has anyone been on the Caribbean Explorer 2 and done this trip?
Any insights to the quality of diving would be great. Alternatives welcome as well.
The flights into St. Maarten and out of St. Kitt's are easy for me (out of NYC), and doable for my dive buddy fling in from The Netherlands.
We're both 300+ divers and like long dives.
Thanks in advance.

 

[drrich2]

I have not been on it. From some Searching just now, I turned up:

@Damselfish shared some feedback in this post - Liveaboard choice: Turks and Caicos or St. Kitts & Saba?

@Jayfarmlaw shared a trip report in 2022 - Trip Report - Caribbean Explorer II, St. Marteen, Saba, St. Kitt

When I've read about this trip in the past, it was my understanding they only dive in St. Kitts and Saba, not in St. Maarten. If you want to do a few dives in St. Maarten (whichever half, French or Dutch), you could stay a couple of extra days and do it with a land-based outfitter.

The Caribbean Explorer II tends to be one of the less expensive liveaboards, which is part of why it caught my eye.

 

[keesmon]

I have not been on it. From some Searching just now, I turned up:

@Damselfish shared some feedback in this post - Liveaboard choice: Turks and Caicos or St. Kitts & Saba?

@Jayfarmlaw shared a trip report in 2022 - Trip Report - Caribbean Explorer II, St. Marteen, Saba, St. Kitt

When I've read about this trip in the past, it was my understanding they only dive in St. Kitts and Saba, not in St. Maarten. If you want to do a few dives in St. Maarten (whichever half, French or Dutch), you could stay a couple of extra days and do it with a land-based outfitter.

The Caribbean Explorer II tends to be one of the less expensive liveaboards, which is part of why it caught my eye.

Thanks! I'm fine with not diving St. Maarten. The trip itself is plenty of dives, and there must be a reason why all the dives are done near Saba and St. Kitts. Will review the previous trip reports now. Flights into St. Maarten and out of St. Kitts are very reasonable on JetBlue, and the actual live aboard prove seems reasonable as well.

 

[The Chairman]

We have the chance to hop on the southbound St. Maarten, Saba, St. Kitt's live aboard in March.
We've been to Curacao, Bonaire and Cozumel extensively, but am looking for something else for a week long trip. We've previously only liveaboards in Thailand and the Philippines.
Has anyone been on the Caribbean Explorer 2 and done this trip?
Any insights to the quality of diving would be great. Alternatives welcome as well.
The flights into St. Maarten and out of St. Kitt's are easy for me (out of NYC), and doable for my dive buddy fling in from The Netherlands.
We're both 300+ divers and like long dives.
Thanks in advance.

Been there, done that, and I loved it! Explorer Ventures is an awesome ride and your time around Saba is remarkable. I hear they've taken Statia off the list of dives, but that's a wonderful experience. See if you can get them to stop there for a day.

EDIT>>> Don't miss out on the Guavaberry rum in Sint Maarten. Bring me back a bottle, please!

 

[bmag78]

We have the chance to hop on the southbound St. Maarten, Saba, St. Kitt's live aboard in March.
We've been to Curacao, Bonaire and Cozumel extensively, but am looking for something else for a week long trip. We've previously only liveaboards in Thailand and the Philippines.
Has anyone been on the Caribbean Explorer 2 and done this trip?
Any insights to the quality of diving would be great. Alternatives welcome as well.
The flights into St. Maarten and out of St. Kitt's are easy for me (out of NYC), and doable for my dive buddy fling in from The Netherlands.
We're both 300+ divers and like long dives.
Thanks in advance.

Hi just saw this post. I hope you've chosen to go
If it's diving you want it's the best "bang for your buck" in the entire Caribbean and it couldn't be easier from NY. JetBlue flies into St Kitts now and of course St Martin. I just paid $139 to St Martin.
Excellent variety of dives and the diving is fabulous. The boat , tho not luxurious is a great comfortable dive platform and the food is always excellent. Done this trip many times.
Guarantee you won't be disappointed. Lots of great reviews on Trustpilot and other review sites

 

[keesmon]

Hi just saw this post. I hope you've chosen to go
If it's diving you want it's the best "bang for your buck" in the entire Caribbean and it couldn't be easier from NY. JetBlue flies into St Kitts now and of course St Martin. I just paid $139 to St Martin.
Excellent variety of dives and the diving is fabulous. The boat , tho not luxurious is a great comfortable dive platform and the food is always excellent.
Guarantee you won't be disappointed. Lots of great reviews on Trustpilot and other review sites

Thanks! We will go on this trip eventually, but decided to go to the Red Sea this time instead (My dive buddy is in the Netherlands, and he is short on time). I'm definitely looking to do this trip in the future though.