Trip Report: Caribbean Explorer II - St.Kitts/Saba/St.Maarten January 14 - 21, 2017

[EVMia]

Trip Report: Caribbean Explorer II January 14 - 21, 2017
Our week started off under the showery skies of St Kitts beginning with a couple of dives on the River Taw. Visibility has been relatively good here over the last few weeks and this day was no exception. Divers saw a few of our resident Turtles and lots of larger Rays around the wreck site during the night dive. We’re finding more giant Tritons and there are an abundance of Hermit Crabs of every shell description jostling for positions around the debris fields. An Octopus was spotted on the bow section and a Mantis Shrimp caught our eye and gave divers the stare down before hunkering down into its hole. The next morning we didn’t need to venture far for our two morning dives; Exploring the wreck and surrounding area of the Corinthian and then a reef dive at Ye Ol’ Anchor. There are always interesting things to find where reef meets sand. A lovely Green Moray was spotted which will turn out to be the first of three this week - an unusual occurrence. During lunch we started our trek north along the coast to our anchor drop at Old Road Bay. This site never disappoints, with large schools of Chromis and Creole Wrasse, huge Porcupine Fish and Trumpetfish, and a vast reef system full of healthy sponges and soft corals. The night dive was particularly satisfying. We spotted our second Green Moray of the week, a Chain Moray, and a Sharptail Eel skirting along the edge of the reef in the sand. The visibility was fantastic and the lights from the vessel provided just enough of a glow to give the dive site some mood lighting at 50 feet of depth. We are really enjoying showing our guests what winter in the Caribbean is really about!

 

[drrich2]

Sounds like a good time. What do you consider the major selling points of choosing the CE II vs. other Caribbean live-aboard destinations?

I ask since these threads sometimes inform people trying to choose amongst alternatives. In the past when I've checked, the price was quite competitive; the annoyance of flying into one island & out of another is probably minor, but there.

I'm hoping to try the CE II someday; seems like my dance card stays pretty full from all the options out there. What one of my favorite teachers years ago would've referred to as a 'happy problem.'

Richard.

 

[EVMia]

Hi Richard!
The CEX2 itinerary is super unique. After being on the admin and social media side for quite some time (and having experience as crew on TCEX2), I was excited to head over to CEX2 and check it out - and I was floored! While the scuba diving is topnotch with a wide variety of marine life, unusual underwater topography, cool historical wrecks/anchors, and a bunch of thriving artificial wrecks, there is just so. much. more. on this trip than your standard liveaboard.

Although we only scuba dive in Saba and St.Kitts and dock in St.Maarten, your passport actually receives 3 stamps as you transit three breath-taking countries in one week. Topside, St.Maarten is a modern and fun place if you like shopping, dining, nightlife, beaches and watersports; Saba, the opposite of St.Maarten, is the "unspoilt" queen, where you step into the most serene of island lifestyles; and St.Kitts oozes Caribbean vibes and a fascinating history. For those who are interested in exploring the topside as much as the scuba side, you are given the opportunity to skip Dive 4 (the one before dinner) and head to shore when we are diving just off of Saba and then again in St.Kitts. A taxi picks everyone up and explains the heritage and history and drops you at a UNESCO world heritage site, a walk along a rainforest covered mountain trail, and of course for a little local shopping before heading back to the boat.

Okay, so the diving is awesome and the land trips are fun and interesting, but the experience aboard the Caribbean Explorer II will also be a part of the whole package! And the CEX2 has as much character as the crew! The dive deck has lots and lots of space with a great big camera table and there's something that just feels "like home" when you're on board the Caribbean Explorer II. We've got a great crew these days with a combination of years and years of experience who love to share stories with everyone alongside our newer crew who always have a fresh perspective to bring into the mix and always keeping safety a top priority. And, at some point, you will hear about Cathy's cooking - she's a legend! Offering a wide variety of dishes that are healthy and hearty with desserts that NO ONE can say no to! lol

As you can see, I could go on and on...It will be so great to have you on board one of these days! Hopefully it becomes a reality sooner rather than later!

As always, I'm very happy to answer any questions or offer any insights

PS If you aren't already a subscriber to our EV newsletter, I recommend you do so as we are prepping one to go out soon that talks about this itinerary and why we've been doing it for the last 30 years!

 

[t-mac]

Hi Richard. We did CEX2 over Thanksgiving. We selected primarily because of Saba, though we were certainly also pleased by the minimal budgetary impact.

We were very happy with the choice. The boat is perhaps a bit dated, but obviously well maintained because everything worked as it should. That said, I know the boat was recently hauled and I presume good things happened. Crew was great, though it was Jim, not Cathy cooking - but I'm sure she does a great job too! Food was awesome and plentiful. Actually, it bears saying again - the crew was great!

The diving was overall very good. Lots of critters - octopi, frog fish, seahorses, batfish and much more. Saba was definitely worth it, though we had a fair amount of wind, which creates funky currents and roving silt clouds that forced us to adapt. We did St Kitts to SXM and I think that is probably the better itinerary because the St Kitts diving was a nice warm-up for the more challenging dives on Saba. Did the nitrox upgrade, which was well worth it considering up to 5 dives per day. Never got anywhere near NDL.

If you're thinking about it, I can only encourage you.

Cheers,

T

 

[t-mac]

I should also say that we did the Saba excursion and, having been to many Caribbean islands, I can confirm it is truly unique and I highly recommend that part of the trip. I was wishing I had a couple of days there to hike and explore.

 

[drrich2]

I used to hear Saba spoken highly of on the forum pretty often, both the diving and the laid back, rustic 'Caribbean of days gone by' vibe with beautiful tropical rainforest hiking available (watch the altitude after diving, IIRC?).

Dominica, which is a lot bigger, seems to've stolen some of that topside niche mindshare. Historically the 2 days required to get there & back were a barrier, but in another thread, it was indicated that's not as true as it once was.

But the underwater pinnacles of Saba sound like a very different kind of diving from what I read about with Dominica, and CE II is the only live-aboard serving that route, so I guess your main competition is land-based such as Sea Saba. With the live-aboard route, one also gets to dive St. Kitts, and the 'turn key' simplicity of a high-dive volume trip with everything but air travel wrapped into one package deal has appeal.

The issue of which island you start on affecting the trip is interesting. If someone starts on St. Kitts, or St. Maarten, if weather cooperates, how many of the dives will be on Saba? Does it differ by island you start from?

Richard.

 

[KeithG]

I used to hear Saba spoken highly of on the forum pretty often, both the diving and the laid back, rustic 'Caribbean of days gone by' vibe with beautiful tropical rainforest hiking available (watch the altitude after diving, IIRC?).

Dominica, which is a lot bigger, seems to've stolen some of that topside niche mindshare. Historically the 2 days required to get there & back were a barrier, but in another thread, it was indicated that's not as true as it once was.

But the underwater pinnacles of Saba sound like a very different kind of diving from what I read about with Dominica, and CE II is the only live-aboard serving that route, so I guess your main competition is land-based such as Sea Saba. With the live-aboard route, one also gets to dive St. Kitts, and the 'turn key' simplicity of a high-dive volume trip with everything but air travel wrapped into one package deal has appeal.

The issue of which island you start on affecting the trip is interesting. If someone starts on St. Kitts, or St. Maarten, if weather cooperates, how many of the dives will be on Saba? Does it differ by island you start from?

Richard.

In our experience it more depends upon weather patterns than trip origin. We have done the old St Maartens to St Marteens trip several times as well as the "new" one way trips in both directions. Weather (swells and wind) have had a very minor effect (1 day extra here of there).