Trip report and photos: Turks and Caicos Explorer 2, May 2018

[Erwin Poliakoff]

My wife and I went on a nice trip on the Turks and Caicos Explorer 2 in May 2018. We had been on this boat in 2011 and had wanted to repeat the trip for some time. It is a good boat with an excellent crew, and I would recommend it highly. The diving was good, but perhaps not quite as good as I remember. This could be because some of the dive sites were not as accessible because of relatively choppy seas (the wind was blowing pretty hard during the beginning of the trip). The reefs were still in relatively good condition; the sharks and rays were there in abundance; the variety of fish life was excellent. There were lots of turtles, which always makes the dives memorable. The boat is comfortable and makes for very easy diving. The dive staff were all very good and extremely helpful. Another aspect that is worth mentioning in that the cook, Stanley, has been on this liveaboard for many years, and his cooking is far better than most. The food was really good.

Here is a link to all of the photos from the trip: 2018 Turks and Caicos Explorer 2 photo album

and here are a few representative shots from the trip

02_DSC_9301 by Erwin Poliakoff, on Flickr

62_DSC_9122 by Erwin Poliakoff, on Flickr

21_DSC_9036 by Erwin Poliakoff, on Flickr

03_DSC_9135 by Erwin Poliakoff, on Flickr

24_DSC_9267 by Erwin Poliakoff, on Flickr

14_DSC_8907 juvenile spotted drum by Erwin Poliakoff, on Flickr

04_DSC_9148 by Erwin Poliakoff, on Flickr

Erwin

 

[tkaelin]

Thanks for the report and nice pics.

 

[dsfw62]

Great photos! What kind of camera are you using?

 

[Erwin Poliakoff]

Great photos! What kind of camera are you using?

Thanks very much. I use a Nikon D7000 in a Nauticam housing. For wide angle, I usually use a Tokina 10-17 zoom, but on this trip, I tried out a new lens, a Nikon 10-24 zoom (works pretty well, but each has their pros and cons). For macro, I usually use a Nikon 85mm. I also have two Inon Z240 strobes.

 

[drrich2]

Wow, you do take nice shots. Last week of April on the Aggressor II, all the turtles I saw where hawksbills. Did you see any other species of turtle? I heard greens are sometimes seen. Just curious.

Richard.

 

[Erwin Poliakoff]

Wow, you do take nice shots. Last week of April on the Aggressor II, all the turtles I saw where hawksbills. Did you see any other species of turtle? I heard greens are sometimes seen. Just curious.

Thanks so much, Richard. Very nice of you. I was so excited to see large, interesting turtles that I neglected to see what kind they were. Good question, though.

 

[Brodydog]

All the photos in your album are excellent! Thanks for sharing. We must have just missed you. We just got off the boat on 5/19. This was our 4th trip on the boat with the last trip being in 2015. My husband and I also thought the quality of diving in the area has declined. The winds were too high for us to make it over to my favorite area, French Cay, but according to JF and others we weren't missing out on much due to the storms that came through last year. And we were pleasantly surprised to see Stan still on the boat as we'd read here that he was gone. Even though his food is a bit spicier and kicked up my heartburn I couldn't resist eating more.