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Dive Review of Nekton Dive Cruises in
Virgin Islands/St. Croix

Nekton Dive Cruises, Dec, 2007,

by Bob & Carolyn Smith, MA, USA (Reviewer Reviewer 3 reports). Report 3764.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 4 stars Food 4 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 4 stars Shore Diving 3 stars
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ N/A
Beginners 4 stars
Advanced 3 stars
Comments This was our fifth trip with Nekton Dive Cruises. As usual, we had a great time. Captain Nelson oversaw a top-notch crew, who all went out of their way to make sure everyone had a great week of diving. The boat was fully booked, but except for occasional congestion on the dive deck, we did not feel overcrowded.

Puerto Rico/St. Croix is a new itinerary for Nekton. Except for the last day, all of the dives were done at St. Croix. They were still installing new moorings, so not all sites were available, and the weather further limited where we could dive. The itinerary suited all levels of ability, with a mixture of gently sloping reefs and walls. Due to surge that week, there was a lot of sand in the water, limiting visibility (one morning there was almost zero viz, so they moved to another site). We found the dive sites to be overfished, seeing only one barracuda, small groupers (rock hinds, etc.), few eels or large parrot fish; however, we still managed to spot four species we had never seen before. A manta ray passed by the reef twice, thrilling those who saw it (we didn’t!).

The Fredriksted Pier was the highlight of the trip. The pier is so long it would take several days to thoroughly explore the whole thing. The growth on the pylons was colorful, camouflaging seahorses, frogfish, octopus, decorator crabs, a bat fish, and on and on, the ultimate diving scavenger hunt! We would have been happy just diving the pier all week!

The last dive site of the itinerary was at Vieques Island, Puerto Rico, which we found to be devoid of almost everything. We would have preferred to spend the last day at St. Croix.

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 251-500 dives
Where else diving Belize, Bonaire, Caymans, Turks & Caicos, Bahamas, Roatan, Florida, New England
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, windy, rainy, cloudy, dry Seas choppy, surge
Water Temp 81-0°F / 27--18°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 0-100 Ft/ 0-30 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions Dive within recreational limits; leave water with minimum of 500 psi
Liveaboard? yes Nitrox Available? N/A

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas 1 or 2
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 3 stars Tropical Fish 3 stars
Small Critters 3 stars Large Fish 1 stars
Large Pelagics 2 stars

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 There was room for all the cameras on two large tables, although the boat was fully booked. Three dedicated fresh water tubs. Photo contest at the end of the week was fun, and everyone encouraged to enter. This is a great trip for macro photography.
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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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