T&C Explorer II

[supra9059]

Just got back from a great week of diving with the Turks and Caicos Explorer II. Wonderful crew and beautiful dives, 26 total. My first liveaboard trip and wow was that a lot of diving. I have been to resorts in Cozumel with 2 or 3 dives a day, but diving 5 times a day is almost work (not really). I loved it, couldn't get enough. Many thanks to the crew, and our group from TX.

[Illini_Fan]

Very cool -- I looked at that trip but decided on their Bahamas trip over new years, but it is still on my list to do T&C.

What was the water temp?

[CaribbeanDiver]

was that with explorer ventures?

[supra9059]

Water temp was 80*, very nice.

It was with explorer ventures, very well run ship.

[CaribbeanDiver]

thanks Supra, I did the Blackbeard Bahamas liveaboard twice. As you know, Blackbeard has great service, great diving but is not exactly what anyone would call comfortable living.
I heard Explorer Ventures is terrific and a steal for the price. Stories like yours has me convinced that next year, I will try Explorer Ventures for my Bahamas trip.
Now Supra, I believe you owe us a detailed trip report with pictures so we all can oooohh and aaaaaahhh and envy you.

[scuba_guy62]

Any chance you could expand a wee bit on your trip, ie: getting there and back (did you spend any before or after trip days on the islands) and a few highlights of the trip. The reason I ask is that it is on my short list of liveaboards for the near future so the more current the info. the better. Thankx....

[supra9059]

Here are some images one of the shutterbugs in our group took.

gene27152 - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Lots of beautiful reef and wildlife.

[supra9059]

The most time I spent on the Island was on Friday night, the day before we left to go home. We flew in to Provo on Sat. at 2 pm and on the boat by 4 pm. Ship would have set sail Sat night but some of our group were held up in Miami, so we left port Sun Morning. All of our time was spent on the ship and they treated us well, very comfortable. Then its Dive Dive Dive. Till Fri morning and you head back to port. By lunchtime you are back at the shipyard. Some took a taxi into town to shop for a couple of hours and others waited a little longer to go in and just eat dinner. Not a lot of Island time at all. Less ways to spend money.

[jwdizney]

Supra, wife and I are considering joining our local dive training org. (not an LDS, they don't sell equipment, but full service PADI training) on this trip next october. i'd love to hear more details about your experiences(as would others, we live our lives vicariously through each other).... like, accomodations, daily 'routines' , food, services, and most of all , details of the diving locations! (above and below conditions, depths, scenery, etc....) if that's something you don't mind doing.....

[supra9059]

No problem.
The crew was great, they handled everything for you, kept you informed of the days activities, times to eat, dive. Food was very good, typical fare for anyone, not really different from anything I would eat at home.
The diving is what set it apart from a landlocked vacation. All your gear stays in place, you don't even take off your BC, and the crew fills the tanks right there. About 15 steps from the cabin and it’s in the water for some very nice diving. Visibility was good, anywhere from 50' to 75' most of the time. Some sites had a little less vis, but mostly from lack of sunshine and some current/surge stirring up sand. The reefs are very lush. It seemed very healthy, giant sponges and sea fans. A lot of Groupers, some reef sharks, even a couple of Lionfish. Most of the dive sites had very little if any current at all, so most of the time it was swim till 1800 psi and turn around back to the boat. As the boat is moored to a long line it swings with the wind and sometimes the boat wouldn't be in the same spot, but if you just waited for 5 min or so it would show up. As far as the locations, we wouldn't dive a spot more than 3 times usually. The first 2 dives in the morning, move, 2 afternoon dives and a night dive then we'd move to the next site for morning.
One warning, the pre dawn dive on Friday morning is kind of boring. Most creatures don't start moving till the sun comes up, like humans. But if you want to do all the dives you can squeeze into a vacation you can do it, I did.
Unfortunately, my wife didn't go so I don't really have a woman's view on it. I didn't hear anyone complain about the accommodations at all. The food was great and the crew was friendly and helpful. With lots of great diving this is the best way to enjoy a week full of as much water time as you can handle. Believe me you will be worn out by the end of the week. It's great.
While on this trip we had the discussion of resort diving compared to Live aboard diving. While some like to just wake up and dive others enjoy a little land and beach time. It really is up to you, I can say I've done the live aboard thing and I really like it, but as a couple I don't think that my wife would enjoy it. Our next vacation will probably be at a resort.

I would highly recommend the crew and accommodations aboard the T&C Explorer II. It was a great week that I won't forget.
Hope this helps