Exuma Islands

Blackbeard's Cruises, July 1997, Jeff Massetti, Pittsburgh. Pa. "19 of us including my 12 and 14 yr. old daughters had a great time. Large hammerheads off Andros; 600lb loggerheads. Crew was great; quarters were tight, but that was expected. The $750 was well spent. We were required to sign a release releasing them from everything including gross negligence on their part. They did forward the releases to my dive shop prior to departure."

Cat Ppalu, Black Beard Cruises, November 1996, Roland Creaser, Largo, FL. "Catamaran live­aboard; well maintained, very good food/drink with quantity. Varied dive sites with a drift dive. Good feedback from Capt. and divemaster on underwater expectations and species. Pre & post night stay at hotel where boat docks is excellent. vis: 30­50 ft. water: 80­85 degrees. No diving restrictions enforced for diving. Good price: $1100. For advanced or beginner. Boat has 2 dive/dress platforms for entry and exit."

Cat Ppalu, Black Beard Cruises, January 1997, Carl Moore, Lake Peekskill, NY. "Air a little cool especially at night, needed jacket or sweat pants/shirt at night. Water: 74­78 degrees, so full length 3mm. vis: 40­80 ft. Crew fantastic. Capt. Mark Bailey took us to great sites (20) for everything from calm reef/wall dives to shark and drift dives. Instructor Caryn Kubichan was friendly, courteous, and knowledgeable. Taught a fish recognition course and we did a fish survey. Chef Peg Nelson created meals that received a standing ovation: French toast to Grouper to steak and lobster. Mike Wherter, the ship mechanic keep the boat tip top; one of Blackbeard's other boats blew its' generator and Mike gave them our #2 generator. Sleeping quarters cramped. Two people have a hard time standing side by side. Moderate storage (2­3 small suitcases) under the bed. (Pack light). Plenty of hot fresh water, but still conserve. Pack your scuba gear in a hard cover suitcase; leave lights, knife, whatever in it on the rear upper deck by your assembled gear. Fished: caught wahoo, houndfish and barracuda. Saw Iguana. We dove. We ate. Great crew, great value. We will be back."

Morning Star, Black Beard Cruises, July 1997, Jay and Karen Bitzer, Dallas, TX. "Water 83 degrees. Must return with 500 psi in tank. Divemaster friendly, helpful and humorous. Good briefings and planning (deepest dives first). Good, varied site selection. Nearly every night dive site was the last dive during daylight to get oriented. Trip to Orange Cay yielded beautiful, pristine sites. Drift dives were tough - had to gear up and stand on a wildly rocking boat while waiting to enter water. Crew friendly, helpful and fun, but young cook did only minimum food preparation. Third trip with Blackbeard's; great value!"

Pirate's Lady, Black Beard Cruises, April 1997, Frank Terwilliger, Pulmski, VA. "Excellent value. While 19 divers plus 6 crew on a 65 ft. schooner means a lack of privacy, we knew what to expect, so we had no complaints and neither did most of our fellow passengers. The crew was outstanding and worked around marginal weather to put us on nice dive sites. Optional shark feeding well managed; evening dive with loggerhead turtles that was outstanding. Not for those expecting luxury accommodations, but highly recommended it for value and "laid back" atmosphere. Food was a pleasant surprise."

Pirate's Lady, Blackbeard's Cruises, May 1997, Frank Farmer, Van Nuys, CA. "Booked a single. I knew in advance that this venue would be a compromise; not the best boat for sailing or live-aboard for diving. However, a superior compromise. Diving was almost unlimited on many of the best locations in Bimini/Bahamas. Only restrictions were adherence to the buddy system and depth limitation of 130 feet; vis: 50­80 ft. water: 80­82 degrees. Captain, co­captain/instructor, divemaster/instructor, deck hand, and cook all competent, knowledgeable, friendly, and accommodating to individual needs of 23 divers, young, old, male, female, novice, advanced. My only personal problem with the crew was their cigarette smoking; the equivalent of driving instructors drinking alcohol. . . . Crew's superior diving safety procedures. Two chase boats were always available to pick up down current and /or fatigued divers. Solid value at $685, all inclusive, for five days of three dives each, plus two night dives. . . . Rigid insistence on the buddy system to the extent of pairing off total strangers with unequal diving skills; a potentially hazardous practice. Divers with extensive experience and divemaster ratings are not allowed to solo dive, so it's best to travel dive with a known buddy."

Pirate's Lady, Black Beard Cruises, August 1997, Bob Gray, Duluth, GA. "Diving excellent. vis: 100-150 ft. water: 82-85 degrees. Restrictions were 500 psi; on deck except for 2 drift dives, we were "on our own". Crew excellent, food excellent. Outstanding value. Accommodations tight, but acceptable. This is "sea camping." Had a blast. All you need is a bathing suit, a tank top and SPF15 lotion. Underwear is useless!"

Nekton Pilot, February 1997, Stanley Cohen, Quebec, Canada. "Of ten live-aboard trips, this has been the best. Van picks up divers for the trip to the Ft. Lauderdale airport. A private plane takes you to Great Exuma. Sixteen of us; all but one couple had own large, comfy twin bed cabin with 3 huge windows, private shower, electric flush toilet. Plenty of hot water. Boat briefing, snack, always fruit and juice. No cokes, alcohol expensive, bring our own. Large sun deck, hot tub, enough lounges, a shaded area with table. Master chef Wade, was off. Paula did her best. Quality food. Roast beef, chicken, veggies, knew when to leave it alone and let the good food speak for itself! Healthy and satisfying. Fresh baked cookies between dives. . . . Five wall dives a day including night dive. Changed spots for afternoon dives. Night dive same spot. Most dives have swim throughs, interesting formations, hammerheads, reef sharks, large turtles, and of course "Psycho" and "Stampy" resident barracuda and three legged turtle. All dives were on healthy, pristine walls with tops filled with colorful, large, gorgonians, mating trunk fish, crab, lobster, octopi, and an assortment of larger fish. Never a ho­hum dive! Enthusiastic staff, happy to accommodate almost any request, but couldn't find a sewing kit for torn wet suit or grease for an ­o­ ring. Tanks (90's) filled from 2300 to 2700 psi when asked, I got one fill to 3000. I was given two empty (300 psi) tanks. Another diver did not check and was out of air at 70 ft. Beer and food very expensive on Great Exuma, but conch chowder is good. All in all a great trip. Judy worked long and hard to produce great video!"

Nekton Pilot, March 1997, Jim Schroeder, Dyer, IN. "Southern Bahamas itinerary. Pack light, no need for lots of clothes. Crew attention was overwhelming/excellent. Travel arrangements were excellent. Hassle­free. Tipping policy does not allow easy reward to special individuals. All moneys are combined. Nekton is convenient way to do serious diving. vis: 50­ 100 ft. water: 77­78 degrees."

Nekton Pilot, May 1997, Christopher James, Dublin, NH. "Water 80 degrees, 60-100 feet vis. Max 130 feet and must return to boat with 700 psi. Solid and rewarding for advanced divers. Accommodations comfortable and clean with private shower and head. Five dives/day possible. Aluminum 90 tanks with 3000 psi, storage, good crew and fine meals. Dive unsupervised; follow your own profiles. Adequate briefing with info on conditions and topography. Abundant life, plenty of sharks, blue holes, charming lagoon, wild dolphin and loggerhead turtles, if you're lucky. Some strong currents, diverse sites and great fun."

Nekton Pilot, June 1997, Doris & Bob Schaffer, Fallbrook, CA. "Staff friendly, competent and helpful. Rooms comfortable but the salon and eating area are uncomfortable and quite crowded. The dive deck is way too crowded. Not enough space for the 30 divers the boat carries. They should break divers into two groups and stagger the diving. Inadequate space to hang wet suits on the sun deck; relaxing there means wet suits flapping around and as the week wears on the smell gets pretty ripe! vis: 25-50 ft. water 80-83 degrees. We did not appreciate the "staged" shark feed or the "group drift dive."

Cay Sal Banks

Nekton Pilot, May 1997, Edwin L. Granite, Wilmington, DE. "Good: Blue hole diving, even at night. Bad: Poor shark, feed dive too many divers (31!) clouded water vis. vis: 20­100 ft. water: 78­80 degrees. 130 ft. restriction enforced. Occasional strong currents. Five night divers required rescue by skiffs 0.7 mile from dive boat. Excellent rescue procedure! Excellent: Crew, food, service, cabins, emergency procedures."

Nekton Pilot, May 1997, J.C. Mercer, Montgomery, TX. "My first live-aboard; great Cay Sal Banks trip. Each site was briefed and then you were on your own unless you were a beginner and then divemasters were available. I don't agree with shark feeding; we dove the same site the feeding frenzy was to be and the sharks were too "friendly". vis: 60-100 ft. water: 82-84 degrees. Later when the controlled feed was on, the half of us who did not want to attend had to stay out of the water. Staff excellent! Don't over pack. Adult beverages few in choice and quantity and expensive. Bring your own. Nekton as stable as advertised."

Sea Fever, November 1996, Ariaal Ashlie. "Photographers nightmare! Camera table at least four feet high and measured all of about 2 feet by 3 feet! There was room for my two cameras and that is about it! The dive deck met the standards of any of the Peter Hughes or Aggressor boats, so I can't complain there. Did not appreciate having to log in my times and my depths on their white board and they made a big issue of this when we didn't mark ourselves out and in. Community head for all the cabins and storage space is at an absolute premium. Fortunate to have a cabin to myself because there is no way two people could have had easy access to their stuff. I spread my gear on the top bunk. Food was pretty good; you buy beer or soft drinks, wine was on the house. Do not recommend this time of the year; wait until May or June as the weather is usually pretty trustworthy then."

Sea Fever, March 1997, Sarah Shoaf, Winston-Salem, NC."Done five trips and thrilled each time. Sea Fever is captained by Tom Guarino, who has been doing live-aboards in the Bahamas for almost 25 years. 90-foot boat originally used to rush oil rig hands in Louisiana. Refitted for diving, and serves that purpose very well. Recently refurbished dive deck to give more room and to accommodate the Nitrox system. 7 cabins, some with single or bunk type beds, others with doubles. Maximum 17 passengers, but that would be cozy. Been with 8 to 14. Two heads with showers, and sinks in each cabin. On the main deck, there is the pilot house, dining accommodations, the galley, the spacious dive deck. Above the dining room is a sun deck, with chaise lounges and tanning mats. . . . Diving simple. Place your reg and BC on a tank, and your gear in the under-seat bin. Crew fills each tank after a dive, so you never need to move your gear. Nitrox course offered. Special deals are available for a course-plus-week's-use-of-Nitrox, or pay per tank or by the week if you are already certified in Nitrox. Giant stride off side of the boat, a drop of 2 meters, or descend a ladder and go off rear dive platform if carrying cameras (or cameras can be lowered). Large camera table, camera-only rinse bucket, and pressurized air on the dive deck. Tom is a photographer, so he create a camera friendly atmosphere. E6 processing on board. Getting back into the boat is easy with two open ladders. Attentive divemasters help you on and off the boat. Fresh water rinse buckets and a fresh water hose for body rinsing. . . . C-cards are checked, and experience levels discussed prior to first dive. Every diver is issued a safety sausage in case of emergency. Because you embark in the morning and the boat is fast, Tom has you in the water by noon. First dive is easy, so everyone can reacquaint themselves with their equipment. The divemasters, Luke and Brad, do a great job of checking people out. Log-in board keeps track of who is in the water at any time. Divemasters give briefings about the area, currents, typical things at site, and suggestions for directions for dive. They do not hover over you nor insist upon herding you. Divers are encouraged to use computers diving (some available for rental) and to watch own profiles. Unless there is a problem with the weather, one can typically get 5 dives a day, including a night dive. Lights, glow sticks, boat strobes and directions are provided. A run-about is available to pick up people. . . . Tom knows how to select sites with wind direction, iffy weather, and diver skill and experience. This trip, billed to be "The Exumas," included a blue hole, a shark dive, wall dives, and shallow reef patch dives, with assortment of depths (20-125'). When winds made wall diving off Exumas dicey, Tom motored across Exuma Sound to Eleuthera to provide wall-diving while enjoying better protection. When the wind abated, we went back across the sound. . . . Mark brought a new level to the cooking: homemade soups as part of lunch, hot appetizers in the mid-afternoon, and fabulous dinners. Crab and salmon cakes and seafood pesto, with brochettes of scallops and shrimp served with a creamy pesto sauce over wild rice, were superb. Fresh salads and fruit, great desserts after night dives. If you have dietary problems, Mark works with you. Serves huge portions. Brownie with chocolate mousse to die for. Excellent crew - well-trained, pleasant, accommodating and fun. Luke and Brad take all the "grunt work" out of diving, and do everything to maximize the pleasure of being underwater. A dive video is shot during the week, and copies can be purchased. Dive sites are varied, and alive with fish, critters, and excellent coral and sponge formations. Hard not to fill up a dive log with all the interesting things seen on each dive!"

Copyright 1998 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.