diverrick
Contributor
We got home around midnight last night, Man!!! that's a long ways to go...
We stayed on Explorer Ventures, Caribbean Explorer I. Based out of Exuma for the week we were aboard.
Water conditions:
First off I have to say I have NEVER had such perfect weather!! Water was as calm and flat as it gets. Water temps were consistanly 83 Degrees all week. Vis was excellent. We saw a lot of sharks, all Caribbean one's though. We were hoping to see our first Hammerhead. Other divers saw one far off in the deep, but we got skunked. We also wanted to see the famed Lionfish. That was no problem, as they were under almost every other overhang! By the end of the trip, we quit pointing them out to each other. They really have taken over. We dove on San Salvador Island, Conception Island, Long Island, Cat island. All the dives were really deep, and were not done progressivly at times. some dives the wall didn't start until 90 feet. One guy got into Deco mode with his Sunto Cobra during the second dive of the week, and he ignored it. That cost him 48 hours without diving, OUCH!!.(Captain's rules, not his) We think he forgot to change the computer to 31% Nitrox, from air mode, His profile was not that unusual, but either way the Captain prohibited him from diving until his Computer came back from Error mode. I thought that was kinda harsh, seeing as he could have flown after 24 hours. and it was clearly a mistake on his part. Diving Grade A+ Dive site planning adn management C-
Now the boat was another issue. When we got aboard, we immediatly smelled the strong presence of Diesel fumes in the main dining area, so bad in fact we went outside, in hopes it might clear out some, but it didn't clear for another day. When we asked about the fumes, they said "what fumes?" It was due to the tanks being full I think, as it came back at the end of the trip when they filled up again. Once the fuel level dropped down some, the fumes went away.
The boat seemed to be a bit tired and worn out over all. I think they need to upgrade to a newer boat. The hull was a dented mess, Rust on a lot of permanent stuff. Everything was older and tired looking. A lot of things were just plain broken like the BBQ.
We also had issues with the drinking water. It was very salty, even though they said it was safe to drink, it was the only option if you wanted water, as they didn't have any bottled water aboard. The only way you could drink it in any volume was to bury it in cool aid or other drink mixes. I just drank Diet coke.
Towards the end of the trip I could not even flush the toilet due to no water. The showers actually would run out of water at times all week. Completely!! Hot water in our room, was tepid at best. When I told the Mechanic on board about the water issues he said thanks, and went back to working on his computer, saying something about a piece of shXX water treatment system they had.
Our room had a terrible smell from the sewer gasses it smelld liek rotton eggs, or a volcano. We had to put down a towel along the bottom of the bathroom door to help keep the smell down, but my wife thought it might be coming through the A/C vents as well.
Sometimes when you flushed, the last persons stuff would regurgitate up into the bowl again, which was not a plesant smell/sight either! This was at all of the toilets from what we could gather from other divers comments. The rooms were small and the beds even smaller. The single blanket and sheet were just wide enough to cover the foam matress, so when you used it, someone in bed got left out from underneth it, unless you were very careful.
It room we had was a tight fit for two people. The other rooms all had bunks, so they had some room. but no head room from what they said. The A/C in the rooms upstairs would be off no and then, making the rooms very warm and uncomfortable. When we told the crew about it, They first said they would look into it, then, they said they could not run the Nitrox compressor, and the A/C at the same time, so the A/C was always off when they were running the compressor, and you know how long that takes. Grade C-
Food:
Now this is where they really dropped the ball! From the outset the food was really bad! Seems they didn't have a "real "cook, so they simply took the prep boy, and told him he was the chef. By his own admission, he didn't know how to cook. I don't think it was fair to put him into that situation, with no experience. It was food like young men ate at their bachelor pad in college. Some examples were: Chicken served with a sauce, outside was slightly cooked but still pink/raw on the outside! I had a burger that was still cold, and raw inside. Semi raw bacon, and then the next time almost burned bacon. Lasagna that still had hard noodles in it. Tacos meat swimming in 3" of grease from cooking it. He never used any spices at all. Frozen vegetables cooked to mush. For "mashed" potatoes one night he took all the leftover baked potatoes and smashed them a bit and put them in a bowl. Just potatos, nothing else.
Then the breakfasts. What can I say?
The deal with breakfast is that you can have cold food from 7AM to 7:30, then cooked meals between 7:30 and 8 AM. We got there around 7:25 only to find no hot food at all by then. When I asked about that issue, the "chef" told me I "should have gotten there earlier" Three mornings, he said he had no more food to cook for us even when we arrived, before 7:30 AM! My wife got a Bagle one morning, when there was no hot food to eat, it had mold on it, so she went and got another one, it too had mold on it! One morning they could not even make coffee for some reason.
It's a miracle no one got sick.
Grade FFF.
My wife said she was glad this was not her first EV liveaboard, as she wouldn't come back if that was her first impression of liveabord diving life.
The rest of the crew were excellelant, and did their jobs just fine.
When we got off the boat at the end of the trip I asked the others what they had thought, and it seemed everyone had noticed the same issues as we did, and had the same complaints.
Over all we were not at all impressed with the dive boats side of the trip, and considering what we paid, I was expecting more than what we got. The Turks and Caicos boat (CEX II) was in far better condition, and better operated.
I hate to bring up negative things about our dive trips, but I want to be honest about the issues, so that next person will know what they are paying for when they go. We did still have a good time through all of this, and we met some wonderful folks who were on the boat with us.
We stayed on Explorer Ventures, Caribbean Explorer I. Based out of Exuma for the week we were aboard.
Water conditions:
First off I have to say I have NEVER had such perfect weather!! Water was as calm and flat as it gets. Water temps were consistanly 83 Degrees all week. Vis was excellent. We saw a lot of sharks, all Caribbean one's though. We were hoping to see our first Hammerhead. Other divers saw one far off in the deep, but we got skunked. We also wanted to see the famed Lionfish. That was no problem, as they were under almost every other overhang! By the end of the trip, we quit pointing them out to each other. They really have taken over. We dove on San Salvador Island, Conception Island, Long Island, Cat island. All the dives were really deep, and were not done progressivly at times. some dives the wall didn't start until 90 feet. One guy got into Deco mode with his Sunto Cobra during the second dive of the week, and he ignored it. That cost him 48 hours without diving, OUCH!!.(Captain's rules, not his) We think he forgot to change the computer to 31% Nitrox, from air mode, His profile was not that unusual, but either way the Captain prohibited him from diving until his Computer came back from Error mode. I thought that was kinda harsh, seeing as he could have flown after 24 hours. and it was clearly a mistake on his part. Diving Grade A+ Dive site planning adn management C-
Now the boat was another issue. When we got aboard, we immediatly smelled the strong presence of Diesel fumes in the main dining area, so bad in fact we went outside, in hopes it might clear out some, but it didn't clear for another day. When we asked about the fumes, they said "what fumes?" It was due to the tanks being full I think, as it came back at the end of the trip when they filled up again. Once the fuel level dropped down some, the fumes went away.
The boat seemed to be a bit tired and worn out over all. I think they need to upgrade to a newer boat. The hull was a dented mess, Rust on a lot of permanent stuff. Everything was older and tired looking. A lot of things were just plain broken like the BBQ.
We also had issues with the drinking water. It was very salty, even though they said it was safe to drink, it was the only option if you wanted water, as they didn't have any bottled water aboard. The only way you could drink it in any volume was to bury it in cool aid or other drink mixes. I just drank Diet coke.
Towards the end of the trip I could not even flush the toilet due to no water. The showers actually would run out of water at times all week. Completely!! Hot water in our room, was tepid at best. When I told the Mechanic on board about the water issues he said thanks, and went back to working on his computer, saying something about a piece of shXX water treatment system they had.
Our room had a terrible smell from the sewer gasses it smelld liek rotton eggs, or a volcano. We had to put down a towel along the bottom of the bathroom door to help keep the smell down, but my wife thought it might be coming through the A/C vents as well.
Sometimes when you flushed, the last persons stuff would regurgitate up into the bowl again, which was not a plesant smell/sight either! This was at all of the toilets from what we could gather from other divers comments. The rooms were small and the beds even smaller. The single blanket and sheet were just wide enough to cover the foam matress, so when you used it, someone in bed got left out from underneth it, unless you were very careful.
It room we had was a tight fit for two people. The other rooms all had bunks, so they had some room. but no head room from what they said. The A/C in the rooms upstairs would be off no and then, making the rooms very warm and uncomfortable. When we told the crew about it, They first said they would look into it, then, they said they could not run the Nitrox compressor, and the A/C at the same time, so the A/C was always off when they were running the compressor, and you know how long that takes. Grade C-
Food:
Now this is where they really dropped the ball! From the outset the food was really bad! Seems they didn't have a "real "cook, so they simply took the prep boy, and told him he was the chef. By his own admission, he didn't know how to cook. I don't think it was fair to put him into that situation, with no experience. It was food like young men ate at their bachelor pad in college. Some examples were: Chicken served with a sauce, outside was slightly cooked but still pink/raw on the outside! I had a burger that was still cold, and raw inside. Semi raw bacon, and then the next time almost burned bacon. Lasagna that still had hard noodles in it. Tacos meat swimming in 3" of grease from cooking it. He never used any spices at all. Frozen vegetables cooked to mush. For "mashed" potatoes one night he took all the leftover baked potatoes and smashed them a bit and put them in a bowl. Just potatos, nothing else.
Then the breakfasts. What can I say?
The deal with breakfast is that you can have cold food from 7AM to 7:30, then cooked meals between 7:30 and 8 AM. We got there around 7:25 only to find no hot food at all by then. When I asked about that issue, the "chef" told me I "should have gotten there earlier" Three mornings, he said he had no more food to cook for us even when we arrived, before 7:30 AM! My wife got a Bagle one morning, when there was no hot food to eat, it had mold on it, so she went and got another one, it too had mold on it! One morning they could not even make coffee for some reason.
It's a miracle no one got sick.
Grade FFF.
My wife said she was glad this was not her first EV liveaboard, as she wouldn't come back if that was her first impression of liveabord diving life.
The rest of the crew were excellelant, and did their jobs just fine.
When we got off the boat at the end of the trip I asked the others what they had thought, and it seemed everyone had noticed the same issues as we did, and had the same complaints.
Over all we were not at all impressed with the dive boats side of the trip, and considering what we paid, I was expecting more than what we got. The Turks and Caicos boat (CEX II) was in far better condition, and better operated.
I hate to bring up negative things about our dive trips, but I want to be honest about the issues, so that next person will know what they are paying for when they go. We did still have a good time through all of this, and we met some wonderful folks who were on the boat with us.
