Dive Review of S/V Promenade in
Virgin Islands/British Virgin Islands

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S/V Promenade: "Wonderful and relaxing way to enjoy a dive trip", Feb, 2015, by Veronica Harding (Mistrot), FL, US ( Reviewer 3 reports). Report 8133.
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
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	S/V Promenade is a great way to experience the best of US/BVI diving. She’s a very comfortable 65’trimaran. Promenade features five passenger cabins for a total of 10 passengers. Two cabins have their own head/showers but the three aft cabins share two head/showers between them. However, each of those cabins has its’ own sink ensuite so sharing the two heads was never a problem. The beds are very comfortable but the cabins are small (Not a problem since you're not in them except to sleep.) The public areas such as the cockpit and salon are large, airy and well appointed. Meals were wonderful. Mo, our French crew member with a British accent, was frequently but not always the chef extraordinaire. Other crew members also cooked up their specialties as well and meals were always delicious. You will never go hungry on this boat regardless of what your dietary requirements and preferences are. They aim to please. We were fortunate to have 5 – 7 crew members (depending on the day) for only 7 of us passengers. Talk about personalized service! Every crew member except one was an instructor. The crew member who wasn’t an instructor was a dive master. One passenger didn’t dive at all but the rest of us passengers were a mix of beginner to a one passenger doing her 1000th. They accommodated us all. They always had two instructors/guides in the water to ensure the experienced divers didn’t have to come up early due to low air. Once they saw that some of us were experienced, competent divers, we could have gone off on our own but WHY would we want to when we had a local guide who lead but let us go entirely at our own pace. Lobstering was my husbands focus early in the trip, and Captain Chad got us to a spot which yielded enough lobster for dinner for the entire boat. It’s a point of pride of his to find spots that are seldom or never dived by others which made for some very pretty and interesting dives. All dives were done from the Promenade and they had an excellent set up for suiting up and entry. With three of us on either side of the center hull on the aft deck, we could suit up while seated, stand up and immediately giant stride in. One of the easiest boat entries I’ve ever seen and we dive frequently. The exit is set up nicely as well with the ladder extending far down into the water. Even with 3+ foot seas, the stable boat made it easy to get back aboard. I have bad knees so the crew insisted on taking my gear once I was on the swim deck so I didn’t have to climb higher. This boat is all about service! My husband and I prefer to set up our own gear but they will do that for you if you prefer. The BVI is generally NOT about big animals though we did see a couple of whales breaching while we were under sail. Undiscovered spots aside, we did dive the iconic RMS Rhone. I dived it a few years ago and was unimpressed because so many divers were in the water and it was a silted up mad house. NOT this time. While there were many boats on the site, we didn’t get in until the other divers were out of the water. It was AMAZING. A turtle inside the wreck was just munching away on a sponge and did so with us watching for 15 minutes totally undisturbed by our presence. Unless you charter the boat for a group of dedicated divers, you’re not going to get 5 dives a day as you would on a standard live aboard. But for those who wanted them, the crew made sure that at least three daily dives were available, including a night dive. The other available entertainment options are numerous and varied. Floats, kayaks, trips to uninhabited islands, fishing, dingy ashore to visit iconic bars, you name it…. It was all available and the crew made every attempt to please every passenger. All in all, this was a wonderful dive trip/experience. It’s one we can’t wait to do again. Generally, you won’t see big stuff but there is still plenty to see. Our vis was anywhere from a mediocre 30' to crystaline 100’. I dove with a 5mm but I get cold easily. The water was never below 79 degrees.
Websites	S/V Promenade
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	All over Florida, North Carolina, and many different islands in the Caribbean.
Closest Airport	Beef Island, Tortola	Getting There	Either fly to Beef Island (very easy connections from San Juan) or fly to St. Thomas and ferry to Tortola.
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy	Seas	calm, choppy, surge, no currents
Water Temp	79-80°F / 26-27°C	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	30-100 Ft/ 9-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	They preferred you go with their guide but it was required after the check out. Common sense applied.
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	no
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	1 or 2
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

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Dive Review of S/V Promenade in Virgin Islands/British Virgin Islands

S/V Promenade: "Wonderful and relaxing way to enjoy a dive trip", Feb, 2015,

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 S/V Promenade in
Virgin Islands/British Virgin Islands