Caribbean Explorer II, Aug, 2007,by L. Smith, MA, USA ( 2 reports). Report 3474. |
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No photos available at this time | |||
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best): |
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Accommodations | Food | ||
Service and Attitude | Environmental Sensitivity | N/A | |
Dive Operation | Shore Diving | ||
Snorkeling | N/A | ||
Overall Rating |
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Value for $$ | N/A | ||
Beginners | |||
Advanced | |||
Comments |
Room and bed comfortable, food good - great chef! Plenty of hot fresh water for rinsing and showering including a shower on the dive deck. A/C a bit aggressive, not adjustable, but not causing rain in the room, either. Quick tank refills between dives. Hot water poured down suit, hot towels, and hot chocolate after night dives were very nice. Daytime current tended to quiet down at night, making night dives much easier. Boat motion fairly minimal and journey times usually quite short except for transit between St. Maarten and Saba. A good mix of wreck and reef diving - walls and pinnacle at Saba are particularly impressive. Good dive briefings helped with navigating the sites. Guided dives always an option for each dive. Smokers were permitted on both bow and stern, which engulfed the whole boat in the stench of tobacco smoke when the smokers were upwind (usually the bow). Yuck. The dive sites tended to be deep - not very good for repetitive air profiles, particularly with a fairly tight dive schedule. Might want to do a nitrox course at home before booking this trip (can do onboard, but it's a waste of vacation time). A diver using their rental gear experienced an inflator hose failure. Also seemed to have received incomplete instruction on use of rented computer - got it locked out. We had not thought to bring camera cable to connect to their TV but one of the staff offered the chance to see our pictures on his own computer. Dives at Statia are all "guided dives" to comply with Statian marine park rules - not so good for diving at own pace and apart from the crowd. Statian marine park ranger a great guy - very aware of what was going on. |
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Reporter and Travel |
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Dive Experience | 101-250 dives | ||
Where else diving | Cape Ann, MA - Florida Keys - Bali - San Salvador - Northern Bahamas - Aruba - Hawaii - Saba (land-based) | ||
Closest Airport | Getting There | ||
Dive Conditions |
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Weather | sunny, windy, cloudy, dry | Seas | currents, noCurrents |
Water Temp | 84-86°F / 29-30°C | Wetsuit Thickness | 2 |
Water Visibility | 40-100 Ft/ 12-30 M | ||
Dive Policy |
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Dive own profile | yes | ||
Enforced diving restrictions | 130 ft for air, 110 for Nitrox, 70 minute dive time, 500 PSI, no planned deco. Pressure remaining and Max depth recorded after each dive. Light and marker light for night dives. | ||
Liveaboard? | yes | Nitrox Available? | N/A |
What I Saw |
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Sharks | 1 or 2 | Mantas | None |
Dolphins | None | Whale Sharks | None |
Turtles | > 2 | Whales | None |
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best): |
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Corals | Tropical Fish | ||
Small Critters | Large Fish | ||
Large Pelagics | |||
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best): |
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Subject Matter | Boat Facilities | ||
Overall rating for UWP's | Shore Facilities | N/A | |
UW Photo Comments | Good setup with two dedicated camera buckets and a dedicated camera table with LP air hose and camera-only towels. Charging station near camera table. The position of the mask rinse buckets was such that some slop of mask soap into camera buckets seemed likely. The crew tended to pile all the cameras into one bucket most of the time rather than distributing them between buckets. |
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