Tjack
Contributor
- Messages
- 998
- Reaction score
- 191
- # of dives
- 500 - 999
Turks and Caicos Explorer II, Oct. 8-15 2011 Dive Notes
Just back from a week on Explorer Venture’s Turks and Caicos Explorer II Live aboard and I thought I’d share some info. This was an excellent trip, banging out 26 dives in 5 and a half days, yee haa. We dove Provo, West Caicos and French Key. For fish life and behavior Caicos is tops I’ve seen in the Caribbean region. There was some debate regarding weather or not this is technically Atlantic diving? We saw Caribbean Reef sharks on every dive! If you want to dive with Caribbean Reef Sharks out in the wild, not on a feed, this has got to be one of the best locations. Schooling Horse eye and Black Jacks were likewise in abundance. The diving consists exclusively of wall dives, no wrecks, drifts, shallow dives to speak of. I am a big fan of wall diving so not a problem there, but a wreck or two would have been nice.
Water Temperatures were from 81-84 degrees Fahrenheit, a 3 mm full suit was ideal for me, some were diving beanies and one diver was happy in shorts. I brought an extra 3 mm so as to have a dry wet suit to don for night dives which was a nice luxury. The boat has heat from the compressor room venting where you hang your wet suit so they actually were dry and toasty much of the time.
Visibility ranged from 60 - 80 feet, but this is just a guestimate, how do you actually measure Vis? Currents were light to non existent, and no drift dives were offered. Tidal action of 3 feet does exist out here in the Atlantic so it does affect both visibility and current.
TCEII’s zodiac tender is for emergency use only, and no one needed a pick up on this trip. I have been on other live aboards were tender pick up was an accepted policy, and Explorer Ventures might consider this option. I’m sure there are viable locations for drifts out there as well.
Boat policy is maximum bottom time of 60 minutes, returning to the boat with no less than 500psi. This was monitored by the dive crew, but not strictly enforced. There was a gentle reminder given when some dives went in to the 70 minute range. Maximum depth is 130’ for air and 110’ for Nitrox. Nitrox is pumped from a membrane system at 30% O2. Voodoo gas for the week will run you US$150.
The trip costs $1895 low season and goes up from there depending on three classes of cabin available. On top of this you will be dinged for $ 210 in fuel surcharge and hotel tax which is a hidden fee and should be part of the initial quote, not hidden in the fine print and charged on the boat at the end of your trip. Considering the distances covered and the limited time spent underway the fuel surcharge seems excessive.
The diving was scheduled for 2 dives in the morning after breakfast, then lunch, 2 dives in the afternoon, the late afternoon dive being excellent for fish behavior, then a night dive offered every night after dinner. The first 2 dives would be on the same site, then the last three on a second dive site of the day. Often the second dive site was one or two moorings down from the first so variety of dive sites was somewhat lacking. On the other hand the dive sites overall in west Caicos seem quite similar so the familiarity instilled by multiple dive on a site aided in navigation and provided a certain comfort level.
On the final day we did a dawn dive and then a post breakfast dive before heading back to harbor. This was the one occasion when we were asked where we wanted to dive. One of my favorite dives was the dawn dive on the last day, starting out as a night dive the ambient light gradually increased during the course of the dive, looking up at the coral landscape just as the dawn light began to illuminate the reef, a big 5’ reef shark came cruising over accompanied by a squadron of rainbow runners. Sweet.
The dive sites were all walls, typically consisting of a sand bottom at 60 feet leading to some spectacular walls most of which were steeply sloped down to well over 200’ some must have been over 1000’ as no bottom was visible. Dramatic shelving hard corals with overhangs and small plateaus were typical. French Key was the best diving with abundant hard and soft corals as opposed to sand flats below the boat at 50 feet. G-spot at French Key had some of the best color I have ever seen on the vertical portions of the wall at around 90 feet. Also at French Key, Double D consists of two coral hills at the edge of a sloping wall, with an amazing coral garden under the boat. The names of these sites, G Spot and Double D were fodder for some hilarious dive briefings.
Two Dive masters alternate leading the dives for those who chose to go guided. Both Lynne and Tim were superior DMs, They were some of the most enthusiastic divers on the boat, often coming back from the dives totally psyched by some fish encounter or behavior observed. Tim found Pipefish and Octopus, his psychedelic light show on the night dives a highlight. Lynn found us a Long-horn Nudibranch, and her diving skills were exemplary with perfect trim in the water.
The reef overall is typical of the region with an abundance of algae and few urchins. Hurricane damage is evident in the shallows, but healthy colonies of hard corals could be fond deeper down the walls. Macro life was quite good, with myriad strange things to be found in the nooks and crannies of the reef. We had great fish encounters with curious reef sharks coming to within 4’ of divers at times. Attempting to photograph these beauties was like a game of hide and seek. I would find a coral head to hide behind and pop out to get a shot, attempting to predict the timing of the sharks passes, as often as not they would sneak around behind me as if to say haa haa got you. I guess the bubbles from my reg. were a dead giveaway. The nigh dives were a hoot with Black Jacks hunting amongst the divers like a gang of hooligans. Likewise Nurse Sharks were out and active, one swam right between my buddy Sue’s legs, yikes. Big Nassau Groupers would swim right up to you and give you a nudge, they seemed to like being scratched under the chin by divers.
The Crew of 6 was excellent, one of the best I have had the pleasure to dive with, Stanley the Chef is the longest standing member and provides what I would describe as American comfort food, with a turkey dinner on the last night. Nothing fancy but good sustenance, and excellent banana bread between dives. Mark, the engineer from Jamaica is a great guy who can fix just about anything. He kept us in unlimited hot water for the week, what a luxury. Dan was our captain for the week filling in for the regular cap. He is an old hand in the Caribbean even though he hails from Idaho? Sandra the purser, a real sweetie, looked after everyone with genuine kindness and goes above and beyond her duties. Sandra is married to Tim DM extraordinare, and soon to be Captain of their sister boat the Caribbean Explorer II. Lynn, the other DM extraordinare, would not even let me carry my bags, she is on top of things at all times. These guys are working non stop.
And now for the boat itself, built as a ‘corporate yacht’ this is a big boat at 124’ long. More a floating hotel than a dive boat IMHO. One peculiarity of this boat is that it swings on its mooring continuously even in the lightest wind. This provides for some added challenges while diving. At a length over 100’ plus 100’ of mooring line out it covers a large area. Finding the boat was a challenge at time as it never stayed put for long. Often you would locate the boat at the end of the dive to have it take off on you. You would be left waiting on the “Crazy Bus” to come back along eventually. Once on the boat it is spacious with comfortable cabins all having private baths and ample room for your stuff. The flying bridge is equipped with a stereo system that you can plug in to, and a beer fridge which is constantly stocked with cold beer and pop. We had a great time trying to drink the boat dry the last night while in port.
Overall I had a great trip, some awesome diving, and good times with my fellow divers. We were fortunate to have the best crew, and a fun loving batch of divers from Corpus Christie, Pittsburgh, Denver and St. Louis. Special thanks to the St. Charles (not a bunch of Mormons) dive club, and my insta buddy Sue. I hope this report provides some helpful information. I welcome comments and questions.
Photos are @ Turks and Caicos, October 2011 - ScubaBoard Gallery
Just back from a week on Explorer Venture’s Turks and Caicos Explorer II Live aboard and I thought I’d share some info. This was an excellent trip, banging out 26 dives in 5 and a half days, yee haa. We dove Provo, West Caicos and French Key. For fish life and behavior Caicos is tops I’ve seen in the Caribbean region. There was some debate regarding weather or not this is technically Atlantic diving? We saw Caribbean Reef sharks on every dive! If you want to dive with Caribbean Reef Sharks out in the wild, not on a feed, this has got to be one of the best locations. Schooling Horse eye and Black Jacks were likewise in abundance. The diving consists exclusively of wall dives, no wrecks, drifts, shallow dives to speak of. I am a big fan of wall diving so not a problem there, but a wreck or two would have been nice.
Water Temperatures were from 81-84 degrees Fahrenheit, a 3 mm full suit was ideal for me, some were diving beanies and one diver was happy in shorts. I brought an extra 3 mm so as to have a dry wet suit to don for night dives which was a nice luxury. The boat has heat from the compressor room venting where you hang your wet suit so they actually were dry and toasty much of the time.
Visibility ranged from 60 - 80 feet, but this is just a guestimate, how do you actually measure Vis? Currents were light to non existent, and no drift dives were offered. Tidal action of 3 feet does exist out here in the Atlantic so it does affect both visibility and current.
TCEII’s zodiac tender is for emergency use only, and no one needed a pick up on this trip. I have been on other live aboards were tender pick up was an accepted policy, and Explorer Ventures might consider this option. I’m sure there are viable locations for drifts out there as well.
Boat policy is maximum bottom time of 60 minutes, returning to the boat with no less than 500psi. This was monitored by the dive crew, but not strictly enforced. There was a gentle reminder given when some dives went in to the 70 minute range. Maximum depth is 130’ for air and 110’ for Nitrox. Nitrox is pumped from a membrane system at 30% O2. Voodoo gas for the week will run you US$150.
The trip costs $1895 low season and goes up from there depending on three classes of cabin available. On top of this you will be dinged for $ 210 in fuel surcharge and hotel tax which is a hidden fee and should be part of the initial quote, not hidden in the fine print and charged on the boat at the end of your trip. Considering the distances covered and the limited time spent underway the fuel surcharge seems excessive.
The diving was scheduled for 2 dives in the morning after breakfast, then lunch, 2 dives in the afternoon, the late afternoon dive being excellent for fish behavior, then a night dive offered every night after dinner. The first 2 dives would be on the same site, then the last three on a second dive site of the day. Often the second dive site was one or two moorings down from the first so variety of dive sites was somewhat lacking. On the other hand the dive sites overall in west Caicos seem quite similar so the familiarity instilled by multiple dive on a site aided in navigation and provided a certain comfort level.
On the final day we did a dawn dive and then a post breakfast dive before heading back to harbor. This was the one occasion when we were asked where we wanted to dive. One of my favorite dives was the dawn dive on the last day, starting out as a night dive the ambient light gradually increased during the course of the dive, looking up at the coral landscape just as the dawn light began to illuminate the reef, a big 5’ reef shark came cruising over accompanied by a squadron of rainbow runners. Sweet.
The dive sites were all walls, typically consisting of a sand bottom at 60 feet leading to some spectacular walls most of which were steeply sloped down to well over 200’ some must have been over 1000’ as no bottom was visible. Dramatic shelving hard corals with overhangs and small plateaus were typical. French Key was the best diving with abundant hard and soft corals as opposed to sand flats below the boat at 50 feet. G-spot at French Key had some of the best color I have ever seen on the vertical portions of the wall at around 90 feet. Also at French Key, Double D consists of two coral hills at the edge of a sloping wall, with an amazing coral garden under the boat. The names of these sites, G Spot and Double D were fodder for some hilarious dive briefings.
Two Dive masters alternate leading the dives for those who chose to go guided. Both Lynne and Tim were superior DMs, They were some of the most enthusiastic divers on the boat, often coming back from the dives totally psyched by some fish encounter or behavior observed. Tim found Pipefish and Octopus, his psychedelic light show on the night dives a highlight. Lynn found us a Long-horn Nudibranch, and her diving skills were exemplary with perfect trim in the water.
The reef overall is typical of the region with an abundance of algae and few urchins. Hurricane damage is evident in the shallows, but healthy colonies of hard corals could be fond deeper down the walls. Macro life was quite good, with myriad strange things to be found in the nooks and crannies of the reef. We had great fish encounters with curious reef sharks coming to within 4’ of divers at times. Attempting to photograph these beauties was like a game of hide and seek. I would find a coral head to hide behind and pop out to get a shot, attempting to predict the timing of the sharks passes, as often as not they would sneak around behind me as if to say haa haa got you. I guess the bubbles from my reg. were a dead giveaway. The nigh dives were a hoot with Black Jacks hunting amongst the divers like a gang of hooligans. Likewise Nurse Sharks were out and active, one swam right between my buddy Sue’s legs, yikes. Big Nassau Groupers would swim right up to you and give you a nudge, they seemed to like being scratched under the chin by divers.
The Crew of 6 was excellent, one of the best I have had the pleasure to dive with, Stanley the Chef is the longest standing member and provides what I would describe as American comfort food, with a turkey dinner on the last night. Nothing fancy but good sustenance, and excellent banana bread between dives. Mark, the engineer from Jamaica is a great guy who can fix just about anything. He kept us in unlimited hot water for the week, what a luxury. Dan was our captain for the week filling in for the regular cap. He is an old hand in the Caribbean even though he hails from Idaho? Sandra the purser, a real sweetie, looked after everyone with genuine kindness and goes above and beyond her duties. Sandra is married to Tim DM extraordinare, and soon to be Captain of their sister boat the Caribbean Explorer II. Lynn, the other DM extraordinare, would not even let me carry my bags, she is on top of things at all times. These guys are working non stop.
And now for the boat itself, built as a ‘corporate yacht’ this is a big boat at 124’ long. More a floating hotel than a dive boat IMHO. One peculiarity of this boat is that it swings on its mooring continuously even in the lightest wind. This provides for some added challenges while diving. At a length over 100’ plus 100’ of mooring line out it covers a large area. Finding the boat was a challenge at time as it never stayed put for long. Often you would locate the boat at the end of the dive to have it take off on you. You would be left waiting on the “Crazy Bus” to come back along eventually. Once on the boat it is spacious with comfortable cabins all having private baths and ample room for your stuff. The flying bridge is equipped with a stereo system that you can plug in to, and a beer fridge which is constantly stocked with cold beer and pop. We had a great time trying to drink the boat dry the last night while in port.
Overall I had a great trip, some awesome diving, and good times with my fellow divers. We were fortunate to have the best crew, and a fun loving batch of divers from Corpus Christie, Pittsburgh, Denver and St. Louis. Special thanks to the St. Charles (not a bunch of Mormons) dive club, and my insta buddy Sue. I hope this report provides some helpful information. I welcome comments and questions.
Photos are @ Turks and Caicos, October 2011 - ScubaBoard Gallery
Last edited:
