Charles21093
Registered
I just got back (to 21 degree weather) from a wonderful week on the Turks and Caicos Explorer II. We knew we were going to have a great time when we were met at the airport by Dawn, one of the DMs from our trip last year on the CEXII in St. Kitt's.
As three of our party of nine started out with travel issues, the crew was working hard from day one to make sure everything ran smoothly. As the rest of our group arrived (one on Sunday and two on Tuesday), the crew tweaked schedules and sites so that our diving proceeded as planned and the late arrivals could get right into the swing of things.
The boat had a refit a few years back and is due out of the water this spring for paint and other touch-ups. Still, the engineer, Bill (another crew member we met in St. Kitt's) and Captain Ken had everything running smoothly when we arrived. There were no major issues while we were there and the minor niggles were handled swiftly.
The boat's chef, Stan, kept us well-fed with a steady stream of hearty meals and between-dive snacks. The New Year's Eve turkey and ham dinner rivalled anything that I have had elsewhere.
Two other DMs, Liang and Joe, and the purser, Sandra, took great care of us the entire week. We were constantly being asked if we needed anything or if there was anything on a dive that we wanted to look for. The macro-life that they were able to spot strained both my eyesight and my camera's magnification.
But we were there for the diving, which was phenomenal. We dove Northwest Point, West Caicos and French Cay during our stay. Sharks were well represented with black-tipped reef, gray and nurse sharks on the bottom and along the walls. Stingrays were seen on almost every dive while we had to wait to get to French Cay to see spotted eagle rays (one easily 6 feet from wingtip to wingtip). Throw in an octopus on the first night dive and a plethora of other fauna everywhere we went and there you have it.
Sadly, hurricane damage was evident at the sites as well. Despite Scuba magazines glowing write-up in their December issue, the 11-foot sponge that gives the Elephant Ear Canyon site its name is no longer there and the Dome from the 70's French game show is now strewn about the bottom in pieces. Another site named for a large barrel sponge, Brandywine, is also missing its namesake.
We spent two and a half days at French Cay and I would gladly return. If someone had told me that I would dive the same site five times on this trip I might hve balked. We did just that at G-Spot and it was different every time thanks the the schedule the crew put together. We did this site as a daytime dive (twice), a night dive (ringing in the New Year at 60'), a dawn dive and a drift dive (our last dive of the trip).
The captain and crew were very receptive to our request for a midnight dive on New Year's Eve (and Dawn had been with us last year for the same dive), as they were with our other needs and requests. Our divers were at all skill levels and several individual firsts were recorded on this trip. The weather cooperated and when the currents kicked up, the captain openly discussed our options when planning the next anchorage.
We were also privvy to the process of bringing on a DM new to the boat. I have to say that I was impressed by the level of detail and oversight that was given to Tim throughout the week. He came up to speed very quickly and was the leader on our drift dive.
All in all it was a very, very nice trip from all angles and one I would highly recommend.
As three of our party of nine started out with travel issues, the crew was working hard from day one to make sure everything ran smoothly. As the rest of our group arrived (one on Sunday and two on Tuesday), the crew tweaked schedules and sites so that our diving proceeded as planned and the late arrivals could get right into the swing of things.
The boat had a refit a few years back and is due out of the water this spring for paint and other touch-ups. Still, the engineer, Bill (another crew member we met in St. Kitt's) and Captain Ken had everything running smoothly when we arrived. There were no major issues while we were there and the minor niggles were handled swiftly.
The boat's chef, Stan, kept us well-fed with a steady stream of hearty meals and between-dive snacks. The New Year's Eve turkey and ham dinner rivalled anything that I have had elsewhere.
Two other DMs, Liang and Joe, and the purser, Sandra, took great care of us the entire week. We were constantly being asked if we needed anything or if there was anything on a dive that we wanted to look for. The macro-life that they were able to spot strained both my eyesight and my camera's magnification.
But we were there for the diving, which was phenomenal. We dove Northwest Point, West Caicos and French Cay during our stay. Sharks were well represented with black-tipped reef, gray and nurse sharks on the bottom and along the walls. Stingrays were seen on almost every dive while we had to wait to get to French Cay to see spotted eagle rays (one easily 6 feet from wingtip to wingtip). Throw in an octopus on the first night dive and a plethora of other fauna everywhere we went and there you have it.
Sadly, hurricane damage was evident at the sites as well. Despite Scuba magazines glowing write-up in their December issue, the 11-foot sponge that gives the Elephant Ear Canyon site its name is no longer there and the Dome from the 70's French game show is now strewn about the bottom in pieces. Another site named for a large barrel sponge, Brandywine, is also missing its namesake.
We spent two and a half days at French Cay and I would gladly return. If someone had told me that I would dive the same site five times on this trip I might hve balked. We did just that at G-Spot and it was different every time thanks the the schedule the crew put together. We did this site as a daytime dive (twice), a night dive (ringing in the New Year at 60'), a dawn dive and a drift dive (our last dive of the trip).
The captain and crew were very receptive to our request for a midnight dive on New Year's Eve (and Dawn had been with us last year for the same dive), as they were with our other needs and requests. Our divers were at all skill levels and several individual firsts were recorded on this trip. The weather cooperated and when the currents kicked up, the captain openly discussed our options when planning the next anchorage.
We were also privvy to the process of bringing on a DM new to the boat. I have to say that I was impressed by the level of detail and oversight that was given to Tim throughout the week. He came up to speed very quickly and was the leader on our drift dive.
All in all it was a very, very nice trip from all angles and one I would highly recommend.
