Dive Review of Explorer Ventures/Turks & Caicos Explorer II in
Turks and Caicos

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Explorer Ventures/Turks & Caicos Explorer II, Mar, 2009, by Don and Marilee Hughes, Mn, USA ( Reviewer 4 reports). Report 4664.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Excellent communication is provided from the main office in Texas before, during, and after the booking process. Boat is in good shape and well maintained. The two upper cabins and main deck cabins all have good space for a live-aboard, including desk with chair, much appreciated for working with photos on a laptop, etc! I didn’t see inside the lower deck cabins this trip, but in 2007 those rooms didn’t have the desk and chair. I’d call and ask about the desk and chair should you desire that room feature. Beds were made and room touched up during breakfast, with turn down service during supper. Towels were changed out mid week. There was always instant hot water in the bathroom. Bright lighting in the bathroom, appreciated for shaving, etc. Good lighting in the remainder of the cabin also. Plenty of storage space in our main floor cabin, more than adequate even with a full compliment of photography equipment. Charging of equipment is okay to complete in the cabins, very convenient. The sun deck has 10-12 or so lounger chairs. Above that deck is the fly deck with shade from the sun, complete with a refrigerator stocked with pop and beer. Wine stocked in salon refrigerator. Both the beer and wine were better quality than other live-aboards we’ve been on. Hard liquor was also available. Stan wasn’t cooking this trip, but Dave did a super job as cook this week. His between-dive snacks were the best we’ve had on a live-aboard. His meals were also of the same high caliber. Each diver’s depth and remaining oxygen were recorded after each dive. A dive master is in the water on each dive providing a tour of the reef. No decompression dives. Nitrox fills were consistently 32%. Tank fills were 3000-3300 psi. The boat had 19cu ft pony bottles for rent. It would be great if more diving facilities would provide this service, a much needed savings with check-in luggage weight allowances when traveling. The crew worked well together. They seemed to enjoy their jobs. Five dives offered each day, one of which was a night dive. Four dives during the week were done drift style from the boat due to windy conditions throughout the tail end of the week. There’s a large camera table with a large camera rinse tank, excellent for photography gear. Crew kept the tank water very clean and the camera table clear of non-photography items. Camera equipment was handled with care. Two dive gear rinse tanks with detergent added were changed twice each day, another job well done here. Two warm-water showers are on the dive deck. The diving gets better as the week progresses, ending with dives on the awesome walls in French Key. The boat will have a cab pick you up at your hotel or airport location the Saturday of departure. Depending on tide level, it’s possible you’ll be transported to or from the boat on the dinghy. A cab is provided and paid for to take guests into town Friday evening for dinner and back to the boat afterwards. We’ve stayed twice at Comfort Suites at Grace Bay prior to boarding the boat. This is good basic accommodations at a fraction of the cost of other hotels on the island. We also stayed once at Sibonne which is also very good place to stay at a higher price, but still much less than the other island hotels.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	Solomon Islands, Cozumel, Turks & Caicos, Bahamas, Saba, Statia, St. Kitts, Mexico, Belize, Little Cayman Island, Florida.
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy, cloudy, dry	Seas	calm, choppy, currents
Water Temp	75-76°F / 24-24°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	50-125 Ft/ 15-38 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	No decompression diving. 130 feet on air, 110 feet with nitrox. Solo diving with certification.
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	1 or 2
Dolphins	None	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	[None]

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Dive Review of Explorer Ventures/Turks & Caicos Explorer II in Turks and Caicos

Explorer Ventures/Turks & Caicos Explorer II, Mar, 2009,

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 Explorer Ventures/Turks & Caicos Explorer II in
Turks and Caicos