travels in Egypt, Fiordland, Bonaire, the Bahamas...
Our anonymous travel reviewers work hard to
provide our monthly feature travel reports, so we
really appreciate responses from our readers that
tell us we've been very accurate in our portrayal
of a liveaboard or resort trip. So, thank you Brent
Woods (Deep River, Ontario, Canada), who took
a cruise on MV Aqua Cat in The Bahamas this September, and wrote to tell us: "This was my second
liveaboard of 2016. Both trips were reviewed in
Undercurrent. I mention this because it gave me the opportunity to compare my experience with that of
the Undercurrent reviewers. In both cases my experience was similar." www.aquacatcruises.com
For another Bahamas liveaboard, Richard Jones(Upper St. Clair, PA) took a trip with Lost Island Voyages on the 60-foot (18m) ketch SY Avalon, and though he was less impressed with the vessel's
necessarily cramped accommodations, he otherwise
had a great time. "They treated us as adults,
with good briefings. You dived with a divemaster
if needed, but mostly on your own. The ship was
as comfortable as any small liveaboard can be;
the food was excellent and healthy. The crew was
helpful and made you feel relaxed and part of
the experience, and less like a customer. The diving
was some of the best I have ever done. Most
days we didn't see another dive boat, most nights
we didn't see any lights, we really were in special
places visited by only a few operators occasionally.
My suggestion: spend a few extra dollars over the
low price operators, and get lost with Lost Islands." www.lostislandvoyages.com/Avalon
Shore diving can be great if you're in the right
place, and Bonaire is one of those places. You don't
have to schlep your gear to the shallows if you
don't want to, because you can dive right off the
dock at the beachfront hotels, but most divers still
prefer the dayboats. At Captain Don's Habitat, says Irina Zeylikman (Lexington, MA), who was there in August, the "dive crew practices diving freedom
rule, dive your own profile, but come to the boat
in about 60 min. Every dive was great, and amazingly
enough, we encountered very few lionfish, but
quite a few seahorses, frog fish, and nurse shark.
The reef is lush and healthy."
She went on to add, "The last time we went
to Bonaire was in 2003, and now, 13 years later,
I realized what we were missing all these years,
incredible diving, great dive operation, friendly people, and new restaurants." So that's a result! www.habitatbonaire.com
Spring is a good time to travel to Cuba, but it can result in a culture shock because the Cubans
tend to be much more macho than we might feel
comfortable with. Steven Clayman (Toronto, ON)
discovered this to his dismay when he was diving
with the Marlin Dive Center on the small island of Cayo Largo.
"On the third day, I decided I didn't feel comfortable
diving with Marlin. I followed the dive
guide's rules as best I could, having decided to
slowly ascend from about 90 feet (27m) to 50 feet
(15m) to conserve air as my tank emptied. I always
had the group in sight and felt in control. When we
all returned to the dive boat, the dive guide chewed
me out for not following his rules. Although I signaled
my intentions to him and told him I felt comfortable
with my decision, this was [evidently] not
acceptable.
The last dive I went on, I followed the dive
guide's rules and signaled when I was down to 500
psi (33bar) while we were at about 90 feet (27m).
He gave me the 'OK' sign. At 250 psi (17 bar) and
still at depth, I went to him requesting his octopus.
He refused to hand it to me, and instead, pointed
ahead. It took a few seconds until I saw the mooring
line. He signaled for me to go to it and guide myself to the surface. I immediately did that,
arriving at the rear of the dive boat. It was windy
and I was being pushed toward some reefs. What
astonished me was the ladder was up, there was
no trailing line, and none of the crew was on lookout.
I yelled, blew my whistle and kept swimming
toward the transom. Eventually, someone came on
deck, lowered the ladder and I came on board. My
tank pressure [by then] was zero. I decided not to
return and sent a report to the charter representative." www.cayolargo.net/marina.html
It may be a long way to go, but the hundreds of
Indian Ocean islands of the Maldives feature some of the most luxurious resorts in the world, and the same can be said of some liveaboards that operate
around the many atolls. Alas, Gilbert Montoya
(Lafayette, CA) was less lucky with his choice.
He booked on an Egyptian-built Blue O Two
vessel, MV Blue Voyager, and suggested, "The experience
was less than two-star. . . . The boat itself was a
wreck. Their excuse was it had traveled from Egypt
to the Maldives in stormy conditions and different
humidity. The decking was torn up in multiple
areas, rendering the vessel dangerous to move
around on and uncomfortable. Also, the boat they
had was not the boat they advertised. They had
the nerve to say it was 'better.' We did not receive
the cabin type we had paid for. They did refund
the difference, but we had a much less comfortable
cabin than we'd planned to be in. The worst
thing was the incompetent crew. The native crew
members seemed 100 percent inexperienced and
were worse than useless. They were directly responsible for damage to my wife's brand-new Scuba Pro
BCD, rendering it unusable after day one. They
were unable to help people properly to and from
the 'mother boat' to and from 'dhoni' (the smaller
boat used for the actual dives). They were clueless
how to assist people in and out of the dhoni, both
before and after diving. . . . The instructors were
indifferent to passenger complaints. . . .They had
two 'divemasters in training' from their Egypt operation
who were sleeping in the public lounge space,
rendering it unusable for the paying guests. These
individuals were extraordinarily rude. They were
not diving in conformity with the instructor's diving
instructions and ended up ruining shark dives for
paying customers by not following the dive profile
outline."
Montoya went to the Maldives at the beginning
of the year, when the diving is high-voltage thanks
to powerful currents bringing clear water and big
animals in from the Indian Ocean. However, that
sort of diving is not to everyone's taste. He wrote: "The Southern Maldives are not a good site for
beginners, as currents are strong and depths are
deep!" (The same could be said of all the other
atolls at that time of year.) www.blueotwo.com
Egypt tends not to be the first choice of destination
for American travelers, but it cannot be denied
that the Egyptian Red Sea has some of the best and most varied diving in the world. Randall S. Preissig(San Antonio, TX) exhorts Undercurrent readers, "Do not be afraid to go to Egypt, especially for diving.
The dive areas are far removed from the tourist
areas -- and both are heavily protected and safe.
There has never been an incident related to dive
operations." He went on the Red Sea Aggressor in September.
Craig A. Wood (Radnor, PA) also embarked
on the Red Sea Aggressor, otherwise known as MY
Suzanna One, at Port Ghalib, near Marsa Alam, in
April of this year. He reported that "the boat was
clean and well cared for, and the crew was absolutely
fantastic and did everything they could to
ensure a good trip. . . .The diving was excellent.
Highlights of the southern route included beautiful
hard coral gardens at Abu Dabab Bay, large
schools of scalloped hammerheads at Daedalus
reef, beautiful caverns and swim-thrus at Cave reef
at St. Johns, and snorkeling with spinner dolphins
at Sataya reef. There were other cool encounters
with Napoleon wrasse, giant morays, blue-spotted
stingrays, with thousands of anthias all over the
reefs. Highlights of the northern route included a
few thresher sharks and a couple of mantas at Little
Brother Island, a thresher and the wrecks of the
Numidia and Aida at Big Brother Island, anemone
gardens with many anemone fish at Daedalus reef, and a good dive in brisk current with sharks at the
Elphinstone reef." www.aggressor.com
Infectious illness can strike anywhere, but when
it strikes one passenger in the confined environment
of a boat, it's often bad news for everyone
else. Deborah Berglund (Bozeman, MT) discovered
this when aboard the MV Spirit of Solomons during a trip in the Solomon Islands in May. All round, she
appears to have experienced an unhappy time.
"This is an older boat and somewhat shabby,
although everything was clean and functioned.
The crew was great, the food good and the dive
operation OK. The diving was not guided; often
I was diving alone, which I did not like. The boat
is too small for the number of divers. One person
got sick, and most of the rest of us caught it, making
it a rather miserable, crowded experience. My
roommate got sick and made it impossible for me
to sleep. I had no place to nap until I was offered a
bunk while the people in the room were diving; the
uncovered upper deck was too hot in the daytime
heat. I skipped many dives due to fatigue and sickness,
so may have missed the better diving. Space
was a huge issue. I often had to stand to put my
gear on, as there were unfriendly people taking up
the sitting spaces. About half of the available space
was taken up by camera gear." www.bilikiki.com
On the subject of health, when you are far from
home, you need to be circumspect about the risks
you might be tempted to take while diving, too. Dr.
Michael Davis (Christchurch, NZ) wrote about diving
New Zealand's South Island Fiordland in April, with the 60-foot (18m) MV Pembroke. He advised Undercurrent readers, "You are totally responsible for
your own diving safety, bearing in mind that civilization
is a long way away and there is a mountain
range between you and any medical assistance."
And, then he reports on diving where few
Canadians or Americans have been. "I have been
diving in Fiordland for 25 years, and for much of
that time on the MV Pembroke (through two owners).
For me, Fiordland is my favorite place to dive
in all the world. Both the topside and underwater
worlds are unique. Big black coral trees are everywhere,
from shallow water to disappearing into
the depths beyond diving range. Each tree is an
ecosystem in its own right. This is a truly remote
diving experience. The Pembroke is very seaworthy and cozy, but basic (with a bunk room for up to five and two tiny double-bed cabins, both accessed
through the bunk room -- therefore, privacy is at a
minimum. The water is cold and suits experienced
drysuit divers, but Dr. Davis's enthusiasm for it is
untarnished: "Water temperature is 52 - 62°F (11-17
°C), visibility often 65 feet (20m), but this fails to describe the unique environment you experience,
especially if there is a reasonable fresh-water layer
after heavy rains. This is a very special part of the
Fiordland experience." www.fiordlandcharters.co.nz
Donald A. Ricetti (McDonald, PA) was agreeably
surprised at the welcome he got from Wreck Life
based in St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. He was there, out of season, in August. He was staying
on St. John, where he'd made many dives previously,
so made the ferry journey across and was
told they would meet him at the public dock. He
reported, "To my surprise, when they showed up, I
was the only diver, and they asked where I wanted
to go. Told them the locations I definitely did not
want to see again, then said 'far be it from me to
pass up a wreck,' to which they replied, OK, General
Rogers it is. Great dive, clear water and the biggest
green moray I have ever seen -- shades of 'The
Deep' movie size. Then a shallow dive to Grass
Caye, where there were lots of fish and nice corals." www.wrecklife.com
It's not always luxury that people are after.
Hunter Smith (Melbourne, Australia) enjoyed the
rigors of an eco-resort in Papua New Guinea. He stayed at the Lissenung Island Resort, Kavieng, at the start of 2016 and was over the moon with it.
"Lissenung is simply brilliant. Never mind no hotwater
showers, this is a true eco-resort. The house
reef is superb, with a school of jacks, clown fish
of various types, snappers and all matter of other
things within 160 feet (50m) of the dive shop and
super-easy beach entry. The open water dives and
wrecks are all there." www.lissenungisland.com
Too tough for your taste? The flip side of that
coin can be provided by Dive Butler International,
and if you find mixing with ordinary divers simply
too tiresome, DBI might be the answer, although
we have yet to receive a reader's report. French
Canadian Alexis Vincent once ran the dive center
at the exclusive Rangali Conrad resort in the
Maldives and discovered his clients preferred the
use of a private speedboat with their own crew with
personal dive guide, complete with gourmet lunch,
to the usual ten-dive package we lesser mortals normally
opt for. Price was not a problem. From this
he developed the idea of the dive butler, and Dive
Butler International was born. DBI supplies services
tailor-made to suit the demands of those who rent
private tropical islands or own/charter super-yachts
wherever they might be in the world. DBI has a retinue
of suitably qualified dive guides who have fins
and will travel. The cost? It's a pittance in contrast
to the other expenses you'll encounter if you charter a super-yacht. Ask any billionaire! www.divebutlerinternational.com