Dive Review of
Nekton Pilot in
Belize

Caymans, Roatan, Utila, Maldives, Cooks, San Diego

Dive Conditions

rec limits of 130ft  

2 camera tables with blowers, 2 large dive buckets on dive deck. Lots of
macro to shoot  

Overall Rating

We were recently booked on the Nekton Pilot for Oct 20-27 and were very
dissatisfied after having such a great time on the Nekton Rorqual in the
Caymans last Aug. 
The boat was delayed from leaving port on the 20th and left on Mon the 22nd
in the evening. They were waiting on being inspected and after hearing a
lot of different stories from what we were told and what the crew was
saying the Belizian govt was suppossed to inspect on Sat morning but
because of political redtape changed it to Mon. 1 crew member told us that
they had been sitting in port for weeks so I don't understand why they
didn't get inspected right away in case there was a problem. 
They did put us on a day boat that took us to some sites that were pretty
far so we could only do 2 dives a day for Sun and Mon. Our lunch on the day
boat, prepared by the Nekton, consisted of unmade sandwichs, which is not a
big problem, but the meat and cheese was frozen solid.  2 rooms had
overflowing toilets for 2 days. There were cockroaches in the salon,
kitchen and in our room. It was a full boat with a great group from
Missouri who were a lot of fun. But I don't think they will book again.
The captain, Grant, never really addressed the group accept for 1 time and
he spoke so quietly that no one could hear him. We asked him to speak up
and he handed the floor over to John who was great. I'm not sure what role
John had but he seemed the most helpful and professional. Unfortunately we
heard a rumor that after our trip he immediately quit the Nekton and walked
over to the Aggressor. Plus 3 other crew members quit. 
The food wasn't nearly as good as the Rorqual which was good in a way
because we didn't gain weight on the Pilot.
When closing out with the purser the day before the trip finished we were
strongly encouraged to turn in our tips right then instead of the last day.
Tipping was mentioned repeatedly. 
Nothing seemed very organized. They didn't even list the dive sites on the
board that was there. It was such a dissapointment compared to the the
Rorqual under Captain Nelson and his crew. I think this crew was overloaded
with too many special projects plus we also heard the Nekton crews are paid
the least out of all the liveaboards in that area.
They did give us a free dvd for the delay on leaving port. 
We had never dove Belize. Water temps were about 82F with some steep
thermoclines, vis ranged from 10-60ft with an avg being 40ft. Lots of macro
life and tropicals, a couple of turtles, eels, and a few rays. For that
area we liked the Caymans better. For future liveaboards we will only book
with Nelson's crew or with another dive company, which maybe more but it's
worth it to leave on time and not miss out on dives. 
Yes, I did send Nekton an email with our complaints 

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