Dive Review of Nautilus Swell in
The Continental USA/Alaska

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Nautilus Swell, Aug, 2013, by C Leroy Anderson, UT, US ( Contributor 13 reports with 4 Helpful votes). Report 7107.
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	Alaska has to be now classified as one of the world's great dive areas, I feel this dive trip was the equal of trips I've taken to Komodo, Cocos, Galapagos, Raja Ampat, or PNG. The trip included breathtaking colorful walls full of the greatest variety of nudibranchs, anemones, and starfish I've ever seen. The invertebrate life is simply some of the best if not the best in the world. Giant pacific octopus, wolf eels, cabezon, and giant lingcods provided great examples of wide angle large animals. Tiny crabs, lumpsuckers, and varieties of sculpins provided excellent macro photography. Swimming with salmon in gorgeous otherworldly inlets, jellyfish on many of the safety stops amongst thick bull kelp, whale and dolphin watching, as well as scrambling on icebergs added variety to the trip. Natural hot tubs in small streams adjacent to raging rivers were really fun to experience. Watching glaciers fall into the sea was breathtaking. The topside wildlife and scenery otherwise was remarkable not only for beauty but for the absence of civilization and humanity with great swaths of pristine forest and mountainous areas, including many waterfalls coming down the cliffs into the sea. The entire crew did a great job not only with the diving but with the amenities of life on a ship for 11 days. Great food. This trip is highly recommended.
Websites	Nautilus Swell
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Indonesia, PNG, Galapagos, Cocos, Hawaii, Costa Rica, British Columbia, North Carolina, Mexico, Baja, Norway, California, all thru the Caribbean.
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, rainy, cloudy, dry	Seas	calm, surge, currents, no currents
Water Temp	35-50°F / 2-10°C	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	20-50 Ft/ 6-15 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Sixty minute dive times.
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	Schools	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	None	Whales	> 2
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	They do have a charging and rinsing area for cameras. It is difficult on the skiff to find room for all the cameras.

Subscriber's Comments

By report author: C Leroy Anderson in UT, US at Sep 01, 2013 11:02 EST

I forgot to mention above, there were some really entertaining stellar sea lion dives as well. Hordes of sea lions, swimming around and with alot of physical contact with the divers. This was the most intense and entertaining marine mammal diving I've ever done. I did a video of the trip, it can be seen on youtube. Just go to "DrAdventurenut" channel or simply search for "Nautilus Swell Alaska Diving" and you will find it. Undercurrent does not allow me to provide the specific link here due to security restrictions in place for this site. Also, it is important to know you will need a drysuit of course and some good moderate to heavy weight drysuit underwear to do this trip. If you have ever wondered what the best cold water dive trip you could take would be, this is it as far as my experience goes. I hope to do this again someday.

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Dive Review of Nautilus Swell in The Continental USA/Alaska

Nautilus Swell, Aug, 2013,

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):

Subscriber's Comments

Dive Review of Nautilus Swell in
The Continental USA/Alaska