Our Dive Trip was Dec 13-21 aboard the Undersea Hunter. This was our second time to the Socorro Islands, First being with a different live aboard. The crew was very nice, helpful, and competent in their duties. I worked for about 8 years in the industry, and have 34 years diving experience.
I feel there is a lack of communication between the main office staff, the dive shop Seecreatures, and the boat crew. Items that were stated on the pre-trip brochure were either outdated, or changed, but not all employees knew about that, nor did we. If you make changes, make sure the paying guests, website, & all employees are up to date.
The food overall I would say was average to good. Some nights dinners were better than others. Fish was excellent, but the fries that were served with the burgers were inedible. Breakfast was usual stuff, Good fruit. Good lunches.
Boat had some Generator issues on the first day, which meant for several hours no running water, toilets, lights, or AC. They were running a few things off the backup generator. Glad Omar was able to repair it. The Salon area and our cabin ( #2) was warm the entire week, AC never worked well until the last night, but then it went off again in the middle of the night. Made it very hard to sleep all week. Never got more than 4 hrs in any night because of this. I mentioned it to the Captain, but he didn’t seem to have anything to offer. Some other cabins seemed to have good A/C, so maybe there is a problem in the system?
Quoted from page 4 of our pre-trip booklet -- " We will have other stuff going on to keep you as busy as you like with kayaks and paddle boards, shoreline tours, humpback whale watching (January to April), manta ID in the late afternoon and after-dinner presentations. " There were no kayaks or paddle boards on board to use. And no shoreline tours (understandable in Socorro-but shouldn’t be in the brochure).
Communications between all about PCR test times was different depending on who you spoke with. Pre-trip Know before you go stated " We ask that you please be at the dive centre by 4pm for the pre- boarding health check", but shop staff stated to come between 4-6 for the health check. This affected our activities we had scheduled ( we arranged to be back before 4pm-based on the brochure ) and we could have planned to come back at a later time.
Lastly, Mexico has a high park fee for Socorro, ( $375 ) . When we booked our trip in June, Nautilus stated in their "know before you go" brochure that a credit towards any of the following (quoted below) would be honored. I was also told this two different times over the phone, when I called as we got closer to departure time.
“Nitrox, Rentals, Courses , Onboard Satellite Phone Calls Future Credit Towards a Nautilus or Baja Expeditions Trip. Also available at SeeCreatures dive shop up until the ship sails, Mares dive gear, Nautilus Life line, & gift shop purchases.”
Unfortunately upon arrival at the Seecreatures dive shop in Cabo, none of the employees would honor this. They stated that Nautilus was no longer allowing use of the credit towards gear or shop purchases. I was hoping to use this towards gear and a future trip. Never did I receive a phone call or email about these changes. I had purchased this trip back in June '21 with the knowledge of being able to use these credits. When I got back home I emailed the owner about this. I feel it took some pushing, but the Nautilus Staff did state they would honor the credit towards future trips. I do hope to book another trip and hopefully things will go a little smoother.
I feel there is a lack of communication between the main office staff, the dive shop Seecreatures, and the boat crew. Items that were stated on the pre-trip brochure were either outdated, or changed, but not all employees knew about that, nor did we. If you make changes, make sure the paying guests, website, & all employees are up to date.
The food overall I would say was average to good. Some nights dinners were better than others. Fish was excellent, but the fries that were served with the burgers were inedible. Breakfast was usual stuff, Good fruit. Good lunches.
Boat had some Generator issues on the first day, which meant for several hours no running water, toilets, lights, or AC. They were running a few things off the backup generator. Glad Omar was able to repair it. The Salon area and our cabin ( #2) was warm the entire week, AC never worked well until the last night, but then it went off again in the middle of the night. Made it very hard to sleep all week. Never got more than 4 hrs in any night because of this. I mentioned it to the Captain, but he didn’t seem to have anything to offer. Some other cabins seemed to have good A/C, so maybe there is a problem in the system?
Quoted from page 4 of our pre-trip booklet -- " We will have other stuff going on to keep you as busy as you like with kayaks and paddle boards, shoreline tours, humpback whale watching (January to April), manta ID in the late afternoon and after-dinner presentations. " There were no kayaks or paddle boards on board to use. And no shoreline tours (understandable in Socorro-but shouldn’t be in the brochure).
Communications between all about PCR test times was different depending on who you spoke with. Pre-trip Know before you go stated " We ask that you please be at the dive centre by 4pm for the pre- boarding health check", but shop staff stated to come between 4-6 for the health check. This affected our activities we had scheduled ( we arranged to be back before 4pm-based on the brochure ) and we could have planned to come back at a later time.
Lastly, Mexico has a high park fee for Socorro, ( $375 ) . When we booked our trip in June, Nautilus stated in their "know before you go" brochure that a credit towards any of the following (quoted below) would be honored. I was also told this two different times over the phone, when I called as we got closer to departure time.
“Nitrox, Rentals, Courses , Onboard Satellite Phone Calls Future Credit Towards a Nautilus or Baja Expeditions Trip. Also available at SeeCreatures dive shop up until the ship sails, Mares dive gear, Nautilus Life line, & gift shop purchases.”
Unfortunately upon arrival at the Seecreatures dive shop in Cabo, none of the employees would honor this. They stated that Nautilus was no longer allowing use of the credit towards gear or shop purchases. I was hoping to use this towards gear and a future trip. Never did I receive a phone call or email about these changes. I had purchased this trip back in June '21 with the knowledge of being able to use these credits. When I got back home I emailed the owner about this. I feel it took some pushing, but the Nautilus Staff did state they would honor the credit towards future trips. I do hope to book another trip and hopefully things will go a little smoother.
