Dive Review of Nekton Pilot in
Belize

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Nekton Pilot, Oct, 2007, by Maria Brinson, CA, usa ( Reviewer 3 reports). Report 3708.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	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
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	51-100 dives
Where else diving	Caymans, Roatan, Utila, Maldives, Cooks, San Diego
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	windy, cloudy	Seas	choppy, surge
Water Temp	80-82°F / 27-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	10-60 Ft/ 3-18 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	rec limits of 130ft
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	2 camera tables with blowers, 2 large dive buckets on dive deck. Lots of macro to shoot

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Dive Review of Nekton Pilot in Belize

Nekton Pilot, Oct, 2007,

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 Nekton Pilot in
Belize