Trip Report Velocean 1/8-1/16/2025

[Bookworm11]

Thanks for that, Dan. I won't be back to Raja for some time because I'm going to go to the Philippines in 2026.

 

[Bookworm11]

What's worst about my trip on the Velocean was my experience with the All Star management. Mind you, the Velocean can hold 18 guests and their trips run 6 to 12 nights. 6 of us got extremely ill out of 18. That is 1/3 of the passengers. I was sent a request for a review, which I promptly filled out. I got a stock response which made it obvious no one read my review. I then got a second request for a review and then 10 days later , a third request. So they can't be bothered to log in the guests who sent in reviews, even though there aren't that many.

They don't list their reviews on their website or on their Facebook page. For an award winning company, that's a little suspect. I never got any reply to my review until the shop owner talked to someone and told him about the problems on the trip. He emailed me and then we talked. It became obvious he never read my review during our phone conversation. Any first class operation would prepare for a talk by reading my review to see the problems I'd had. Right away, he denied telling the shop owner that there was Norovirus on the yacht. I don't know him and I know the shop owner for 3 years, so I know who I believe. Then he denied my three dive problems were dangerous. I never got any sort of apology from him. When the third email to write a review came, I wrote back and said I responded already. Then that man said the other had been trying to call me ( so he had no idea we had already spoken.) Nobody discusses anything with each other there.

My trip had issues. But usually management attempts ( and with first class resorts), succeeds in resolving them. Here, all that happened was that I got more upset with their utter disregard and contempt of the problems on my trip. They acted like they didn't exist at all! That's not how you treat major problems on an $8000 trip. I don't regard diver safety as a non issue. And if someone gets sick enough from their ship that the person loses 27 pounds, that's a big deal. But the management didn't care at all. So I will let everyone know about my experience and I won't ever sail on an All Star Live aboard.They didnt have to do much. But they had to do something, and they chose to do nothing. They could have refunded $300 for the meals I didnt eat. They could have offered 10& off on a future booking. They did nothing.

 

[brownie]

On the first, we all got into the water. I was the last in. We immediately hit super strong current. Everyone took off right away. I started swimming and got stuck and went nowhere. For 4 and a half minutes, I went nowhere. I couldn't see the group after a minute. Nobody came back. I used up 500 psi. At that point , I decided to go up. (In retrospect, I know I shuld have gone up sooner.) Right when I was going to go up, one of the divers came back for me. After the dive, I asked him if they saw me. He said they saw me the whole time, but just waited for me. So they watched me go nowhere for 3 and a half minutes! The DM knew that another diver and I were the two divers that used up air the quickest.

Hello @Bookworm11 In reading your Trip Report entries, you have referenced the challenges you experience when trying to swim directly into a current. I can relate to that!

I am wondering if some adjustments in your position in the water might help you to gain some traction. For example, years ago I was advised to lower my head slightly in the water column. So I would establish a path of direction, lower my head, and pump with my legs. Occasionally I would raise my head momentarily to confirm correct direction, then lower my head and pump away. This has helped me to propel myself through strong currents.

Another suggestion: perhaps your fins might be holding you back, or your fin stroke needs to be analyzed for more powerful finning. Maybe pool time with a swim/dive instructor might help.

Sounds like many parts of your trip were wonderful--glad you have those special memories!

 

[Bookworm11]

I have fins that are much better in current ( my Scubapro Novas). I didn't bring those, however as they are positively buoyant and I got new fins that were negatively buoyant. (RDK 3 HD ). They were better for my buoyancy, but much less efficient in strong current. I didn't realize quite what kind of strong current Raja had. If I had, I would have brought my Scubapro fins. I thought it would be more like Cozumel strong current, which I'm fine in. I thought it would be go along and drift dive in strong current, not swim directly into strong current for extended periods! I should have researched more. But thanks for the advice!!

 

[Cali_diver]

I am just trying to understand what you are looking for here. Please don't take it wrong I am not trying to diminish what your are feeling or what you went through. I have been on many many liveaboards and have had many different types of illnesses go through the guests. 99% of the time this is due to one passenger who gets on board sick but doesn't want to miss out on things so they give every excuse in the book (allergies, tired, cheese allergies etc.) They in turn get another sick and it just starts to roll. We have come down with Covid 3 times on LOBs. We have had stomach viruses etc. but I never blamed the actual boat. So I am curious why you think this is Velocean's fault or why you want them to admit an actual diagnosis that probably can't be proved (you said you didn't test positive for it either). Don't get me wrong I am not a fan of Velocean (for reasons) so I am not coming to their defense, but I don't think these operators can prevent illness when people insist on traveling when sick.

Not sure what your dive briefings were but did they check the current before the dive briefing? If so did they explain that you might have to swim fast down to the site and if your miss to resurface for a redrop? There are many times when we are told as divers that we will need to swim as quickly as possible to the bottom... if you miss the site you come up and redrop or call the dive. I definitely think a private guide is in your best interest when you have a group of 4/5 divers, especially if you use up air quickly. When we dive with divers who breath heavy they will always stay shallower, or deploy their SMB and go up early without the guide. If you don't feel comfortable doing this I would highly recommend a private guide because it is hard to find an insta buddy in indonesia who wants to call their dive early on LOBs. I would have discussed the mismatch with the Cruise Director and Trip Leader ASAP to see what can be done to fix the situation. If you did that (and it sounds like you did) and they were not responsive to your feelings then maybe they had set groups of friends or similar dive experience. If this wasn't the case and the trip leader just didn't want to help you (trip leaders usually decide dive groups) then maybe you should avoid diving with this group. There are many dive groups and single diver groups out there! If you go back to Raja... stay shallow. It is so much more beautiful in the shallows.

As for the current I am surprised that you didn't know that Raja (Indonesia in general) would have stronger currents than Cozumel. People are constantly warning newer divers that this area can be crazy. The worst down currents I have seen have been in Raja (and I have been to Alor many times) mostly because they aren't as common there as other areas. Don't give up on liveaboards and don't give up on Indonesia because you had a bad experience just try to figure out what you need to make your trip safe and happy! Best to you...

 

[scubadada]

Perhaps you were not fit and competent to do the dives on this trip. I have done dives in the Red Sea, Cocos, Galapagos. Revillagigedos, and Malpelo. On most of these trips, there were individuals who were not acceptably skilled or experienced to do some of the dives. This placed the other divers at risk for suboptimal dives or even unsafe practices.

 

[Centrals]

Kicking against the current is to be avoided at all time if that is possible. Fins could only help to a certain degree and physical strength is the deciding factor.

 

[scubadada]

Kicking against the current is to be avoided at all time if that is possible. Fins could only help to a certain degree and physical strength is the deciding factor.

Sometimes it is necessary.

 

[Centrals]

Sometimes it is necessary.

I assumed you are talking about kicking against the current. It is unavoidable in some cases but never ever exhausted oneself or depleted the breathing gas to an alarming level.
Under water conditions can change without any warning.
Know ones limit and choose the site carefully.