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Dive Review of Explorer Ventures -- T&C Explorer II in
Turks and Caicos

Explorer Ventures -- T&C Explorer II: "Great as always", Jun, 2016,

by Ken Giffen, ON, CA (Contributor Contributor 15 reports with 15 Helpful votes). Report 8958.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 4 stars Food 5 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ N/A
Beginners 3 stars
Advanced 3 stars
Comments A repeat visit for us (6th?) and we had another great week of easy diving.

There were only 9 divers (space for 20) so the boat was not crowded at all. Seems this was an off week (Mothers Day?) as the book was full the week before. The boat is still in good shape. One change this trip was no soap allowed on the outside showers at the back of the boat. They mentioned it as a slip hazard. I can report the room shower worked fine with lots of pressure and hot water.

They did the standard routine of 2 dive sites per day: 2 morning dives on first site, move during lunch and then 2 afternoon and 1 night dive on the second site. Weather was good and we made it to French cay once again. A DM was in the water on every dive, even the night dive that only had 3 of us diving.

We dove as a buddy team so did not follow the DM on any dives. This trip they wanted us to limit our bottom time to 60 minutes. We routinely skipped the second afternoon dive (nap time) then did the night dive each night after dinner.

We had a new (to us) chef: Jim (Stan was away). Food was awesome with a very eclectic menu. Some examples: a Basil salad, Pulled Pork pizza. All food service is buffet with a choice of at least 2 mains, 2 veggies and a salad.

We saw a good number of reef sharks, at least 1 or 2 almost every dive. An Eagle ray did a swim by and there was a handful of turtle sightings along the top of the walls. We also saw a handful of Nassau groupers this trip. We successfully found several pipefish and literally thousands of headshield slugs. We saw very few lionfish, less than 20 all week.

And a reminder that the boat swings on its mooring. Every liveaboard I have been on swings. This repeatedly caught some of the divers by surprise.

Websites Explorer Ventures -- T&C Explorer II   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 501-1000 dives
Where else diving Multiple Caribbean, Hawaii, PNG
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny Seas calm
Water Temp 80-80°F / 27-27°C Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility 60-80 Ft/ 18-24 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions Standard buddy team stuff, we had 1 solo diver who brought a pony. Dm in the water every dive but you did not need to group dive with the DM
Liveaboard? yes Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks Lots Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 4 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 5 stars Large Fish N/A
Large Pelagics N/A

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

Subject Matter 4 stars Boat Facilities 4 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 4 stars Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments dedicated camera table at the back of the boat - with room for about 5 DSLRs it would be too small if everyone had a camera. dedicated camera rinse tank and charging facility under the camera table with multiple power bars.

They also allowed in room battery charging.

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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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