Blackbeard's Cruises, August 1995, Bill & Jayne Goocher, Hermosa Beach, CA. "Crew made every day fun; professional, but ready to join when the passengers decided to be a little crazy! Delivered anything you asked. . . . Bunks small but comfortable; A/C wonderful. Request the bunks not in the galley unless you want to be in the center of activity. Adequate storage, not abundant. Three full, tasty meals, fruit, snacks, plenty of juice, beer or soda (rum punch after the 3rd dive if you weren't doing a night dive). . . . Let passengers decide on many dive sites. Engine problems on the way back to Miami, but handled it like champs. Spent the week around Bimini. Sunday-Tuesday: four dives a day (one night dive every day). Last two days only one dive each day due to weather. Spent Wednesday afternoon and night in Bimini, and headed back to Miami Thursday because of storms. . . . Dives for all ranges of divers. Several wrecks, a shark dive, a wall, lots of marine life: hawksbill turtles, tons of rays, reef sharks and nurse sharks. Between lunch and 3rd dive had a couple of hours to sit on deck, go to the beach or snorkel or free dive and spear. Great trip for the money."

Blackbeard's Cruises/Cat Palu, August 1995, Mike Roe, Northwood, OH. "Great time. They adjust the trip to whether you like to dive a lot or stop off at islands, snorkeling, etc. Sites pristine. No other dive boats around. Sleeping quarters cramped, but the living area is spacious; lots of room on deck. The captain was friendly. Gourmet chef Grainer could make a road kill eatable."

Blackbeard's/Sea Explorer, November 1995, Joe Brown, Nashville, TN. "Great trip. Quarters tight, privacy limited. Crew is great. Divers do their thing or to dive with a great divemaster who was helpful to new divers. Great value."

Blackbeard's Cruises/Pirates Lady, December 1995, Alex Morton, Mt. Pleasant, SC. "Horrible weather, cold and windy, vis: 50-80 ft . Great people, great food, great diving to Berry Islands. For unpretentious divers, like camping on water! Competent staff. Hard working and laid back. Katie, the cook, made a delightful feast every morning, noon and night."

Blackbeard's Cruises, February 1996, John Moeller, Davenport, IA. "Arrived in Nassau Friday afternoon and was on the boat at 6:00 p.m. for dinner. Left port Saturday morning and returned Monday after the night dive for a Tuesday departure. . . . Diving from platform at the stern. Storage box and single tank are assigned to each diver. All tanks filled at the same time. Allowed to dive own profile but site selection, air fill availability and travel between sites limited diving frequency. Did ten day dives; three night dives were available, but enthusiasm was diminished by the 71-74 degrees water. Excellent dives around Ship Channel Cay and Highborne Cay. Similar to Belize outer reefs. Good fish population. Catamaran with a crew of four; 12 divers filled the boat. Two marine heads and two fresh water showers, but no in room showers or stools. Just a small sink. No towels, no closets or drawers, rooms not made up or cleaned, small beds, no photo processing. . . . T.V., video and stereo, radar, radios, GPS and oxygen. Boat was clean and everything worked. Crew friendly, competent and worked hard. Ample food O.K. to good. Beer, wine and liquor with the package. A good value but not luxury. . . . Paradise Island has casinos and good aquariums, lots of cruise ships, lots of small shops. vis: 50-90 ft. water: 71°-74°."

Blackbeard's Cruises/Morning Star, March 1996, David R. Lamb, Salt Lake City, UT. "Wrecks, reefs, wall, night, current, and shark dive; vis: 50-90 ft., water: 76­78. . . . Good food and plenty of it. Friendly, competent crew. A fun shore break in Bimini one evening. Great seagoing atmosphere. . . . Tight quarters. Your bunk is your closet. No privacy; don't go if you're shy! Limited fresh water showers. Gear storage on deck is tight. Rinse tank for cameras only - got pretty crummy by end of trip. Seating in galley is limited so a lot of meals were taken on deck, which is ok if seas aren t too rough. Wore a Polartec suit and hooded vest and was chilled by the end of the last dives. Got chilly some evenings. Having read your publication I knew what to expect. $679 plus $80 port tax for 18 dives, 6 nights lodging, all meals and beverages, snorkeling, fishing and shore visits to 3 islands."

Blackbeard's Cruises, May 1996, Albert Nugent, Algonac, MI. "Boats are crowded. Crew work hard. Windy, but they found places to dive that were less rough. Take ear plugs; air compressor on deck is noisy. Well run operation. vis: 70­100 ft. water: 78°­80°."

Blackbeard's Cruises/Sea Explorer, July 1996, Brooks Martyn, W. Granby, CT. "Well organized; crew polite and helpful, not intrusive. Allowed divers to use computers and set own profile. Food plentiful and well prepared. Hurricane Bertha kept us in port 2 nights and caused us to miss one day diving. Port Lucaya a neat place to hang out. Off shore reef heavily silted and covered with algae. Saw big fish and sharks and enjoyed wrecks and tunnels in coral. Missed opportunities: Didn't bring lights for night dives, but others saw huge loggerhead turtles, lobsters, sharks. vis: 40­50 ft. water: 82°­87°."

Bottom Time II, April 1995, Mark McCray, Dearborn, MI. "Ft. Lauderdale to north of Grand Bahamas, excellent price. Good-boat; clean and well maintained. Crew always there for whatever you needed. No dive restrictions. Everyone loved swimming with the dolphins. Weather got worse each day."

Dream Team, April 1995, Mike Williams, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. "Sharks daily, turtles, sugar wreck amazing dive both day and night (huge schools of fish, grunts to cudas, 2 large loggerheads at night, only 15 ft deep! Three dolphin encounters lasting 2 plus hours. Diving pristine in some locations. 10 ft. tiger shark. Too rough for two days to get up north but next three days made up for it. Excellent value."

Gulf Stream Eagle, April 1995, Jack Duff, Albany, GA. "Boat rides rough in 3-5 ft sea. Capt. pushes peddle to metal out and back (4 hrs. one way - use Dramamine). Boat rocks/rolls. Food plentiful, excellent. Quarters tight. Good leadership; dives and depths better for experienced. Interesting shark dive."

Gulfstream Eagle, November 1995, Larry Thiel, Englewood, CO. "Iguana visit on the Exumas. Black coral tree 20' tall (yes 20'). Schools of spadefish and black jacks, friendly African pompano. Great crew, knowledgeable and friendly. Second Captain Rob MacDonald is far too good a videographer. . . . Too many deep(er) dives. I prefer 30­70'. Many sites started at 70­80'. vis: 50­120 ft. water: 80°­84°."

Gulfstream Eagle, August 1996, Larry A.Thiel, Englewood CO. "Best dive deck and swim platform. Respect your ability and capability. No unreasonable rules, unwanted guidance or advice. Yet crew is knowledgeable and helpful. Mike is a great cook with a wide experience. Vis: 30­100 ft. water: 83°­84°."

Nekton Pilot, May 1995, Donald Wykoff, Inverness, FL. "Hassle free diving, accommodations, food, helpfulness of crew and office staff: all 5-star; sites 2 to 5 star. Not that many great dive sites; we may have seen the best. 4 stars to overall trip."

Nekton Pilot, July 1995, Paul Gardyn, Boca Raton, FL. "The worst divemaster. Poor service, a live-aboard from hell. I stopped diving after the 2nd day. However, good cooking and good food."

Nekton Pilot, August 1995, Kamer Vartanyan, Davie, FL. "Nice boat (though a little run down), decent food, friendly and funny crew, especially Pete and Shawn. . . . Some dive coral wasn't in good condition and some sites had poor vis. 'Big Hole' (a blue hole): saw numerous reef sharks, close encounter with an 8 ft. tiger shark at 100 ft. It circled within 15 feet, an exciting moment. Next day, we had shark dive with bait and a dozen 3­6 ft. reef sharks. Silversides Hole, an interesting swim thru cave. Drift wall dive at Elbow Cay: 200 foot vis; similar to Cozumel, with strong current. Water 84° to 86°F. Vis: 40­200 ft. You could dive your own profile. Depth restrictions were 130 ft. maximum. Pack lightly - you don't need much."

Nekton Pilot, November 1995, Bob Ewald, Louisville, KY. "Departed from Exuma; diving at Rum Cay, San Salvador and Conception Island. Dive deck, which rides well above the water when the boat is moving is hydraulic and easily lowered to water level for dive operations."

Nekton Pilot, February 1996, Irby Hartley, Hixson, TN. "Second trip. Had private cabin, diving sites varied from super walls to ho-hum. Shark feed only good for two divers who had air after 90 minutes. Bottom time at 55 ft. One big hammerhead. Vis: 60­125 ft. water: 73°­77°. . . . Chief Divemaster has an attitude problem - needs some shore duty. Rest of crew worked their butts off; anything you wanted to do was supported. Transfers to/from charter and commercial flights handled well. Would do again only if a new, more experienced diver itinerary were offered. Boat is the ultimate for a dive base."

Nekton Pilot, March 1996, Christopher James, Dublin, NH. "For advanced divers who wish unrestricted and unsupervised diving, terrific. Not a luxury craft; comfortable and ideal to dive, talk about it and go to sleep. Five dives a day, tanks (3200 psi), storage, hot showers, good food, great crew, relaxed! Stable boat; one night crossing in 12' seas; sleeping no problem. Well organized. Pristine reefs, sharks, great vis and moderate currents. vis: 60­100 ft. water: 74­77°."

Nekton Pilot, March 1996, Jeff Brundrett, Shawnee, KS. "Bad weather cancelled day of diving. Two days conditions marginal. vis: 50­100ft. water: 68­72°. 24 hour virus swept the ship, affecting 60% of crew and passengers. Cruise overall was good."

Sea Dragon, 1995, Dick Harrison, Sarasota, FL. "65 foot live-aboard; 4 twin cabins. 10­12 diving days. Unlimited nonregimented diving. Excellent food, soft drinks, and beer included. Two captains, two or three cooks. Each diver has two tanks assigned. Large dive ladders and stern platform. Captains are the owners with over 20 years experience in the Bahamas. $160/day, all inclusive except airfare to Nassau or Georgetown."

Copyright 1997 by DSDL, Inc.Publishers of Undercurrent. All rights reserved. No portions of this report may be reproduced in any way, including photocopying and electronic data storage, without prior written permission from the publisher. For more information, contact DSDL, Inc., P.O. Box 1658, Sausalito, CA 94966.