Trip Report and Pics, St. Croix 10/3-10/10

[chinacat46]

Just spent a week on the Nekton Rorqual diving in St. Croix. The boat left from Puerto Rico and we flew from Denver to San Juan thru Atlanta. On arrival in San Juan we were picked up at the airport and 8 of us were transported to the Puerto Del Rey Marina near Fajardo with a stop along the way to pick up some liquid refreshments for the week as the boat does not provide alcohol or carbonated beverages. The boat itself holds 34 divers but this week we only had 22 divers on board and a crew of I think 12. The boat felt quite full with 22 guests and I hate to think what it would be like with 34. There were a few extra crew some from the Pilot including Bryce the Captain. Since the boat wasn't full I got my own room as did most except the couples. The boat itself is a bit run down and could use a litte TLC especially the Nitrox compressor. Other then looking a little rough though it is quite functional. I've been on a lot of live aboards and we had a fairly young but very engergetic crew and they were fun to be with and worked hard. The food was okay but nothing special except maybe the fresh cookies we had between morning dives. I've been on some live aboards where the food was gourmet but this wasn't one of them. The vegtables were served in steam trays and were very mushy and over cooked in my opinion. Meals were buffet style and there was plenty to eat. Deserts after dinner seemed to always be cake with canned iciing except for one meal where it was build your own sundae. You won't go hungry on this boat but you won't be wowed by the food either. That being said I don't go diving for the food I go for the diving.

The diving in St. Croix was nothing special either. I prefer the Indo-Pacific but I still enjoy diving just about anywhere. Earlier this year I spent a week diving Grenada and SVG off the Wind Dancer. The viz was better in St. Croix but the diving was better in Grenada and SVG. Over the years I've seen a decline in the marine life in the caribbean and it was definitely noticable in St. Croix. I remember when I use to see big schools of grunts and tangs and jacks and other fish but these days seem to be gone. Yes we did see those fish but just not the numbers I remember. I was happy though that I didn't see one lionfish all week. The water temp was pretty much 84 on every dive except one where it dipped to 82. I thought the selection of dive sites could have been better as well. We did a few dives which I thought were just a waste of time like Armageddon where they dumped the scrap from the old Fredriksted pier. We did two dives there and one was more then we needed. I did enjoy Cane Bay and North Star as well as the Fredriksted pier but I think their selection of sites could have been better. I saw the usual caribbean fish, angels, butterfly, grunts, wrasse, jacks, groupers, bass, squirrel, surgeon, snappers, filefish, trigger fish, drums, morays, rays as well as various shrimp, crabs, lobsters, squid, octopus and turtles. I did find a nudibranch, 2 lettuce leaf slugs, frog fish, seahorses, flying gunards and a very tiny juvenile trunk fish to name a few hilites. On one dive after my buddies went up I found a very playful octopus and we spent over 10 mins entertaining each other. It was a real ham and I took 37 pics of it.

On Wednesday the day we dove the Fredriksted pier I woke with a bit of a scratchy throat and headache. I dove the pier all day as well as the night dive and by the end of the day was feeling quite sick. That night I was up most of the night with the chills and my throat got worst, my head was stuffed up and I ached all over. I had come down with the H1N1 flu as did a few others on the boat including the cook. Thursday I barely left my room but thanks to the generosity of one of the other passengers who gave me some meds I felt a lot better on Friday and did the two morning dives(probably should have skipped). We dove North Star that morning and it was a very nice site with nice reefs and lots of juvenile fish. Friday afternoon I was feeling crappy and passed on the two afternoon dives which was a repeat of Cane Bay. All told I did 20 dives and missed out on 5 on Thursday and 2 on Friday so I would have done 27 if I hadn't got sick. Today(Wednesday) a week later I'm still sick with congested lungs and a nasty cough. I saw the Doc yesterday and he gave me some meds to hopefully speed my recovery. Once I feel better I will start going thru the pics and post a few for you all. Overall I had a good time but I doubt I will ever return to St. Croix. I'm not a huge caribbean fan but think Little Cayman, Bonaire or even SVG are much better choices. One thing I felt was a real negative was the Nitrox. I paid $200 for unlimited nitrox and they advertise a 29% mix. First off it was overpriced at $200/week as most boats charge $100 or at most $150 for a week. Second off it was never 29% but more like 27% when the compressor was working. A few times I went to dive they said it would be at least 20 minutes as there were compressor problems. I would usually have them just top it off with air. The reason they advertise 29% instead of 32% is because they can't give you 32% or 29% for that matter. If you go on a Nekton I recommend you pass on the Nitrox. It might make a few of your dives shorter but you won't feel like you wasted $200. Another negative was at the start of the trip they collected DAN and C cards. At the end of the trip they had lost my DAN card. They said this had never happened before. Am I supposed to feel better it never happened before? As I mentioned earlier I'll post some pics once I start feeling better and get a chance to go thru them.

[scubarobin]

We have been on 2 Nekton trips and they never asked us for DAN cards. I am pretty sure the waiver form asked if you had DAN but that was the only time mentioned. I wonder if that is a new requirement for St. Croix?

thanks for the report, can't wait to see your pictures!

[chinacat46]

They collected some peoples DAN cards and others they did not. Seems like they didn't need to. I had just renewed my card so I told DAN I hadn't gotten it yet and they are sending me another.

[Travelnsj]

Originally Posted by chinacat46

Thursday I barely left my room but thanks to the generosity of one of the other passengers who gave me some meds I felt a lot better on Friday

And you should of bought that very generous passenger a nice lunch in Puerto Rico!...but since that did not happen....someday if they make it to Denver a nice Dinner at the Flagstaff restaurant in Boulder

[CompuDude]

All said, considering you got the pig flu it sounds like the trip could have been a lot worse! 27 dives is better than 20, but again, it could have been a lot worse.

Thanks for the review... I think I'll definitely cross this ship off my list of options. I can put up with a lot, but bad Nitrox compressors, poor site selection and mediocre food is not something I'll put up with for the cost of a LOB. (well, maybe mediocre food, but not if there are better options that are similar in price)

Feel better soon!

[chinacat46]

Originally Posted by CompuDude

All said, considering you got the pig flu it sounds like the trip could have been a lot worse! 27 dives is better than 20, but again, it could have been a lot worse.

Thanks for the review... I think I'll definitely cross this ship off my list of options. I can put up with a lot, but bad Nitrox compressors, poor site selection and mediocre food is not something I'll put up with for the cost of a LOB. (well, maybe mediocre food, but not if there are better options that are similar in price)

Feel better soon!

We actually got a great price on the trip $999 but all the diving can be done land based so I'm with you. I don't think we could have done the trip from land though for the price we got.

[CompuDude]

Originally Posted by chinacat46

We actually got a great price on the trip $999 but all the diving can be done land based so I'm with you. I don't think we could have done the trip from land though for the price we got.

Well, for that kind of money it's probably worth it. (Although I assume it was more like $1200 once you added Nitrox?)

I would consider making them pro-rate your Nitrox cost under the circumstances, though... worth a shot. Or perhaps, if you dive with them again, get some sort of written assurance (or promise of a partial refund) beforehand.

[mitsuguy]

Originally Posted by chinacat46

We actually got a great price on the trip $999 but all the diving can be done land based so I'm with you. I don't think we could have done the trip from land though for the price we got.

for $900ish per person here at Cane Bay, you get a private cottage 100 feet from the beach, 10 dives from our boat and unlimited shore diving (which, as you noticed, you can get to almost all of the dive sites from shore), but there are some that are nice to do from a boat, like Salt River, Vertigo, the wrecks, and some of the sites are really nice as drifts as well... So, better deal, thats up to you... one of my favorite parts about diving and traveling is spending some time on land exploring - the island really is beautiful all around with all sorts of history (Columbus landed here in 1493 on his second voyage this way)... And it's $8 or $10 per tank extra for nitrox, up to 40% (we'll blend whatever you want given the correct cert cards)...

[chinacat46]

Originally Posted by CompuDude

Well, for that kind of money it's probably worth it. (Although I assume it was more like $1200 once you added Nitrox?)

I would consider making them pro-rate your Nitrox cost under the circumstances, though... worth a shot. Or perhaps, if you dive with them again, get some sort of written assurance (or promise of a partial refund) beforehand.

Actually with shuttle fees, fuel surcharge and a few other fees they don't include it's more like $1400 with Nitrox.

[chinacat46]

Originally Posted by mitsuguy

for $900ish per person here at Cane Bay, you get a private cottage 100 feet from the beach, 10 dives from our boat and unlimited shore diving (which, as you noticed, you can get to almost all of the dive sites from shore), but there are some that are nice to do from a boat, like Salt River, Vertigo, the wrecks, and some of the sites are really nice as drifts as well... So, better deal, thats up to you... one of my favorite parts about diving and traveling is spending some time on land exploring - the island really is beautiful all around with all sorts of history (Columbus landed here in 1493 on his second voyage this way)... And it's $8 or $10 per tank extra for nitrox, up to 40% (we'll blend whatever you want given the correct cert cards)...

Thats not bad but does that include RT air from San Juan to St. Croix and food? Plus if I hadn't got sick I would have done 27 dives and considering $8 a dive for Nitrox that is another ~$200 so it appears the Nekton is a better deal when you add in food and transportation too!