Dive Review of
Caribbean Explorer II in
Caribbean (General)

Fiji, Palau, Hawaii, Bahamas, Bonaire, Curacao

Dive Conditions

[Unspecified]  

Overall Rating

Fairly new boat is very clean and comfortable.  Crew seems to turn over
frequently but traditions of service and helpfulness carry through.  When
we arrived after 11 PM due to delayed connections, the captain, hostess,
and cook were waiting up with a hot meal.  There is a divemaster in the
water every dive, with special thanks to Captain Ian who dove one-on-one
with my wife a few times to help her get comfortable.  It is interesting to
dive three separate islands, though diving at each location is more limited
than shore-based operations as boat is restricted to larger buoys.  Coral
was generally in good shape and fish plentiful;  saw sharks/turtles on 25%
of dives.  I saw several Flying Gunards, which I'd never seen on other
Caribbean dives.  Saba dives are especially dramatic, and we were glad that
conditions finally permitted Diamond Rock signature dive on last morning. 
Tradeoff for warm water was lower vis. due to algae blooms.  Food was
plentiful and tasty, though not gourmet quality (cook said he was an army
cook for 20 years, 'nuff said).  Best meal was fresh fish brought aboard by
a local fisherman.  Shore tours in place of second afternoon dives were
very interesting, especially St. Kitts' Brimstone Hill Fortress,
"Gibralter of the West Indies" and Saba's one road.  If you are
making connections to St. Kitts via Liat or Winair (preferred - more
planes), allow 2-3 hours minimum in St. Martin.  I'm glad we did St. Kitts
to St. Martin itinerary as diving got more dramatic as the week progressed
and St. Martin was an interesting location for Friday overnight.       

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