Dive Review of
Caribbean Explorer II in
Turks and Caicos

Cozumel, Belize, Saba, Statia, St. Kitts, Florida

Dive Conditions

No decompression diving, 130 feet or less, back to boat with 500 psi, dive
with buddy unless solo certified, no diving after drinking.  

The two top level and five dive deck level rooms have desks with chairs,
which would be great for laptop and camera work area.  The four bottom
level rooms don’t have desks, but the dresser tops in those rooms could
suffice for camera work area, though you’d have to work standing up as the
dresser tops in those bottom rooms are too high for a chair.  

Overall Rating

Good Caribbean diving off Providenciales, West Caicos, French Caye, and
West Sand Spit, all completed from moorings except for one drift dive off
the main boat at Smokestack Reef.   The last two Friday morning dives of
the trip were cancelled due to rough seas.  Captain JF did super job at
consistently getting us to the best dive sites available according to the
weather.  All sites we visited had great coral walls in good condition with
areas above the walls in the 40-60 foot range to muck around.  Reefs were
healthy though some coral bleaching was present.  Sharks, eagle rays,
turtles, and one manta with assortment of tropicals, smaller critters, and
macro subjects present.  Solo diving allowed if you are certified.  Back to
boat with 500 psi.  No decompression diving.  No diving greater than 130
feet.  Five dives each day.  First dive of the day was after breakfast. 
Night dives were after supper.  A crew member recorded each divers depth
and remaining air on a hand held board.  One of either dive master Angelie
or Graham were in the water giving a guided tour at each site or dive on
your own.  Angelie did great job finding and pointing out macro life. 
Minimum of one hour was always provided between the morning dives with a
longer interval between the two afternoon dives.  Tank fills were
consistently at 3000 psi or better.  Nitrox ranged between 30 and 32%. 
Dive platform was ideal, at one foot or so above water level.  Two hot
water showers on dive platform.  Camera rinse tank was large.  Good sized
camera table with camera towels.  Enclosed area under the large camera
table for battery charging.  The boat was in good shape and clean.  Rooms
were good live-aboard size, clean, and with adequate storage and good
lighting.  Bathrooms have adequate shelf area for toiletries, etc.  Room AC
control worked well.  Hot water was dependable.  Rooms were cleaned while
you ate breakfast.  Towels were changed mid-week.  The two top level and
five dive deck level rooms have desks with chairs, which would be great for
laptop and camera work area.  The four bottom level rooms don’t have desks,
but the dresser tops in those rooms could suffice for camera work area,
though you’d have to work standing up as the dresser tops in those bottom
rooms are too high for a chair.  Comfortable salon area had a large
television stocked with DVD’s.  There are two levels for outdoor lounge
space.  Food and between dive snacks by Stan were very good.  Coffee, tea,
pop, red and white wine, along with some hard liquor and several types of
beer were available.  No diving after drinking.  Mario was the engineer. 
There were only three other divers aboard this week.  The crew had a good
attitude and seemed to enjoy their jobs.  This combined with the diving,
food, and boat all combined together to make this an excellent week of
live-aboard diving.  (Unfortunately our four checked bags never arrived
with us on the island Saturday morning.  Captain JF assisted with wetsuits
and BCD’s  as well as arranged for our luggage to be delivered to the boat
Monday morning at West Caicos.)                       

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