Dive Review of Nekton Diving Cruises/Nekton Pilot in
Belize/Central

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Nekton Diving Cruises/Nekton Pilot, May, 2005, by James & Kandace Heimer, TX, USA ( Contributor 15 reports). Report 1683.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	This was our second trip aboard the Nekton Pilot. We did the central Belize itinerary. We did five days on Lighthouse Atoll (walls) and one day at Turneff (sloping bottom, coral heads). The wall diving was consistently spectacular with 82+ degree water, 100 foot visibility, flat seas and warm, sunny weather. Hawksbill and loggerhead turtles, eagle and sting rays, tarpon, large grouper, baracuda, and a single manta ray were the major pelagics. Lobsters and crab abounded, plus all the usual tropicals. We were usually anchored within sight of the Belize Agressor and Sun Dancer. The Nekton has a capacity of 33 divers - we had 27. They ranged from experienced tech divers to one couple doing their open water certification. The spacious lounge accomodated us all at dinner, and the Nekton opne dive deck approach avoided crowding there as well. The dive deck opens after a morning briefing from 8 to 11:45 and you are welcome to dive any time during that period. The ship repositions during lunch, and the deck opens again from 2 to 5:45. A night dive is conducted at the afternoon location after a presentation by a crew member on a marine topic of interest - usually starts around 8:30. Diving is unsupervised, unless you request a guide by one of the dive masters, and you are free to dive your computer. Divers log themselves in and out of the dive deck on a "muster board." The food was excellent - several members noted having to add lead to their weight belts during the week. Dinners ranged from prime rib to fish to bbq ribs and chicken. Lunches included a mexican, sandwich, and hamburger buffets - soup was included at each. Breakfasts were hearty (eggs, pancakes, waffles, fruit, hot & cold cereal, home baked breads and rolls, and juice). One problem was delay in getting from the airport to the boat on the vans that Nekton provided (via a hotel stop for dinner) - crowded and ran late - we were finally bedded down about midnight Saturday. One van ran out of gas leaving the boat for the departing flights. The biggest downside is the state of the accommodations. We had a lower deck room and experienced (as did most) moisture dripping from the chilled water piping that provide AC above the ceiling tiles. This dripped on bedding and the (rather worn) carpet, leaving damp spots. The marine heads in the bathrooms in each room could have benefited from stick up deoderizers. The boat repositions for Ft Lauderdale at the end of May with a stop in the shipyard - hopefully some upgrading of the rooms will occur. In any event, we liked the upper deck rooms from our first trip better.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Tahiti, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, Hawaii, Mexico (E & W Coasts), Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Aruba, Bonaire, N & S California, St Maarten, St John
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm
Water Temp	82-84°F / 28-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness	2
Water Visibility	80-120 Ft/ 24-37 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Max depth 130 feet; "back on board" times specified at each location while dive deck was open, e.g., dive deck opened at 8 am with back on board time of 11:45
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	1 or 2
Dolphins	Schools	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Separate rinse tanks for cameras maintained and enforced on dive deck and near camera tables one deck above; camera tables spacious with carpet surface; well set up for digital photography: 42 inch flat panel screen with computer hook-up to review photos, including video; limited software for photo enhancement available; no E6 processing; photo contest at weeks end (fun event, we were all amatuers).

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Dive Review of Nekton Diving Cruises/Nekton Pilot in Belize/Central

Nekton Diving Cruises/Nekton Pilot, May, 2005,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Nekton Diving Cruises/Nekton Pilot in
Belize/Central