Dive Review of
The Juliet in
Bahamas

Alaska, Hawaii, Florida Keys, Jamaica

Dive Conditions

No solo diving allowed. 130 ft max depth. All divers must have time piece
and pressure gauge. Computers optional. Buddy teams of 3 divers OK. Not
time limits on dive. Dive your profile.  

[None]  

Overall Rating

The Juliet is a 104 foot 3-masted sailboat that sails out of the port of
Miami. The normal sailing route during the summer months is to Bimini and
then straight down towards Cuba. Unfortunately, due to a tropical storm we
had to take a different route. We dove off Bimini the first day and then
went to Nassau, Andros Island, and Cat Cay for the rest of the week. The
diving was fantastic with lots of wreck dives, deep wall dives, and a
couple of incredible night dives with strong currents. Every day was hot
and sunny and only the first day did we have overcast skies and some slight
showers. but that was due to the edge of the storm being so close to us.

The Juliet only takes a maximum of 12 passengers and the service is
personal. You get to know the crew very quickly. Captain John is a very
experienced captain with a great crew. They work very long days and always
seemed happy to be there. The cabins are small as is expected on a
sailboat, but my husband and I never felt cramped. We only went to the
cabin to change clothes or sleep. The bed was very comfortable and the
rocking of the sailboat during the night crossings rocked us all to sleep.
It was the best night's sleep I'd had in months! Even during the one night
when we had rough seas, the rocking motion was so gentle it was soothing.
Nobody complained of sea sickness although we were all taking Bonine just
in case.

Nitrox 32 is available for $100 extra and the tanks are filled using a
membrane. Very quick and the tanks were always filled by the time the
surface interval was over and we'd moved to a new site. Dive briefings were
thorough and pictures of unusual critters were passed around for easier
identification. There is a large hang bar at around 15 feet that some
divers used. Since we do several deep stops below this depth we chose to do
free ascents and never used the bar. The food was wonderful and plenty of
it for seconds. Soda, water, and alcohol are all included in the price.
Snacks are available all day. There are showers downstairs by the cabins
but most of us used the on deck shower between dives and at the end of the
day. Plenty of hot water and no rationing.

Several of us had Hogarthian configurations of our gear including long
hoses and backplate with wings. The crew was very accepting of all
technical looking gear and techniques. In fact, two of the divers with us
routinely dived with pony bottles on the deeper wall dives. Minimum deco
stops (DIR technique) with free ascents were OK to do and we did them on
every dive. Every dive for us was about 1 hour and some were a little
longer. No pressure to dive shorter times.

The night dives were sometimes on new sites that we had not dived during
the day. The currents were almost always strong on these sites. There were
some divers who opted out of all the night dives for various personal
reasons. Usually it was just 4-6 of us who did the night dives. These were
fantastic and challenging as the vessel only has 1 bright overhead light
and no hull lights. Excellent navigation skills are a must as are good
strong lights. 

This was a fantastic trip and we plan to return. Maybe next time we will
have better weather and be able to do the planned itinerary. The Juliet
sails in Turks and Caicos during the winter also. I highly recommend this
liveaboard to anyone looking for a laid back trip. Just be aware that you
do not have dive masters leading you around therefore you need to have
excellent navigation skills and confidence in your abilities. The dive
masters will dive with you if you ask them but only if their other duties
permit. The expectation is that all divers are competent and able to plan
and safely execute their own dives. You can find out more through the
website www.sailjuliet.com 

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