Blackbeard's, Cat Ppalu, December 1997, Steve Neal, Fairfield, TX. Rainy and windy from Nassau to Exumas. Usually 20-22 dives in six days; I only did eleven, but declined a few because of chop and cold wind. Other dives canceled because of bad weather. Played a lot of cribbage. Enjoyable crew and chartermates. Vis: 40-60 ft. Water: 73-75 degrees. Dive restrictions: 130 ft. max; dive with buddy and 500 psi return. Saw two reef sharks, monster eagle ray, one small and one huge nurse shark, three southern stingrays, several yellow spotted stingrays, a few lobster and eels, large groupers and horse eyed jacks, a remora that kept trying to attach to divers. Many shrimp on night dives. Great live-aboard. Maximum twelve divers and four crew. Boat is 65' x 31' catamaran. (Ph: 800-327-9600 or 305-888-1226, e-mail: blackbrd@fla.net)

Blackbeard's, Morning Star, March 1998, S.A. Robnick, Oxford, OH. Best deal in Caribbean! Captain Steve Clark told God he wanted decent weather and when God said no, Steve said I have to work harder to make sure my divers have a great time. Each night he and the crew pulled all nighters and moved the boat to insure we were in the lee of some island for a great day of diving. The Good: Food was superb. Great variety, buffet style, nobody went hungry. Dan Concannon is a great cook. Dive site selection was weather dependent, but Captain Steve and the crew were devoted to the promise of 18 great dives in 4 and one-half days of diving. Diving restrictions: follow the safe diving practices of your certifying agency. We made 17 and all agreed to pull anchor early and skip an 18th dive because the weather out in the Gulf Stream was looking nasty for the crossing back to Miami. The rest of the crew, Jimmie Wheelis, John Skey, Randy Burris and Chris Doolin said "yes" to all requests. Heads always clean. Great night dive sites with loads of Southern stingrays and huge turtles. The Bad: When diving on a budget, I sometimes do not plan for a large tip. These guys worked hard and my tip was barely adequate. They deserved more. . . . Like camping on the ocean. No privacy and if you are a long, hot shower freak you are going to be a pain in the butt. If you want to dive, eat, dive, eat, dive, eat dive, drink and then sleep times four and all for $699 plus $55 to get into the Bahamas, then do it. The crossing was wet, cold, rough and most got seasick. Take a warm rain parka. Take some pills and don't complain. It's not consistent with the vision of Hemingway on the Bahamas' horizon. Great father/son trip. However, when my son got home he told my wife that she should write Dan the cook to learn how to make a decent meatloaf. Really bad move.

Blackbeard's Cruise, Morning Star, June 1998, James and Jon Fritch, Citrus Hts, CA. Some of the best diving I've seen in the Caribbean. Gingerbread Grounds: a bank of coral heads east of Bimini. Captain Steve discovered several spectacular, pristine, dive sites and installed moorings. With four dives a day, depths from 25 to 100+ feet, and currents 0-4 knots, there was something for every level of proficiency. Nurse sharks, reef sharks, turtles, eagle rays, usual reef fish. Divemaster Emo Moore gave colorful briefings of the history and mystery of these Bermuda Triangle wrecks. My eleven-year-old son was treated well. He is an accomplished free diver and they made every effort to meet his needs. A young Brazilian with his family, was injured during a night dive, apparently stung on the back of the tongue while clearing his regulator at depth. He was having difficulty breathing and started to panic. Captain Steve administered oxygen, Benadryl and ice. Within hours, he was resting comfortably and later resumed diving. . . . Generator had to be shut down three times, leaving us without air conditioning, hot meals, water maker, or power to charge batteries. Preventive maintenance is not the practice at Blackbeard's as the Morning Star apparently is only dry-docked one week a year. . . . If you're not fussy about privacy, food, or saltwater showers, Blackbeard's delivers the biggest bang for the buck: spectacular diving and excellent service. Vis: 75-120 ft. Water: 78-83 degrees. Restrictions: 130 ft.

Gold Coast Charters/Shear Water Adventures. April 1998, Steve and Kathie Payne, Richland City, IN. Booked a winter special; 2 days of diving, 3 nights on the boat, to get a taste of live-aboard diving before committing to a longer trip. Terrific. Crewed by Mike, the captain, Julie, the cook, and Marty, the deckhand/divemaster, or, as he phrased it, "your girl Friday." The seas were rough-6-10 feet-for most of the trip, diving awesome. Leaves Friday evening for the west end of the Bahamas and anchors until immigrations opens Saturday about 9 o'clock, then heads off to our first dive; wet within the hour. Dive all Saturday and Sunday, return and anchors until US immigration opens at 8 a.m., clears and you're ready to unload by 8:30. 13 opportunities to dive; more if you had wanted to dive the same site more than once. Dive your own profile; no restrictions. Crew asked where you wanted to dive. Terrific dive on Mt. Olympus. Drift-dive, perfect current. Sugar Wreck at night full of rays, turtles, octopus, shrimp, eels. Only 20 feet. Incredible. A couple of sites had ripping current. Vis 60-100 feet. Sharks most dives; once they chummed and brought in 4 or 5 reef sharks. Water 76-80. Julie kept cookies, fruit, chips, dip, candy out all the time. Caught supper; hogfish and lobster every night. Meals great. Boat isn't fancy, but adequate. 65 foot, custom holds 12 divers. Forward cabin with 6 bunks, and three cabins with 2 bunks apiece. They place couples in small cabins. Two marine heads with showers. Not the most pleasant. Salon spacious; t.v., vcr, movies. Plenty of room for everyone. Crew made sure everyone had a great experience. Dive deck gets crowded if everyone is trying to get ready; but you don't have to be in any hurry because there is ample time and opportunity to dive! Great value. (Ph: 1-800-226-3483 or 516 842-6356, Website: http://www.gate.net/-gccscuba/)

Gulf Stream Eagle, April 1998, Bill Myers, Pittsburgh, PA. Four day trip aboard the Gulf Stream Eagle in Palm Beach Florida well exceeded all expectations. Our destination was the reefs and sea mounts 40 miles north of West End, Grand Bahama Island. The GSE has been owned and operated by Mark Rose since 1975. Mark (and Tom Guarino of the Sea Fever) pioneered live-aboard diving in the Bahamas. They assume everybody is a capable diver and do not baby sit. Captain Rob states max 130 ft., avoid deco dives, and if anybody wants to do something that exceeds that they can discuss it with Mark. The sites are only visited by a few live-aboards and Mark has a few secret ones. These areas are close to the Gulf stream and Big tiger, bull and hammerheads can be encountered. On my trip they spotted a 14-ft Tiger, but I missed him. Lots of reef sharks, large amberjacks, huge schools of African pompanos and other reef fish. Mark states this area is the Bahamas second best, next to Cay Sal, which they do in the summer. The food is good and service fantastic. My buddy is a left leg amputee, beginner diver, who was well-taken care of. The last day includes a shark feed at Sherwood Forest off West End, followed by a second nonfeeding dive. The area attracts about a dozen reef sharks. The dive is nice but nothing compared to the beauty other sites 30 miles north. Capt Mark likes to do much 3-5 day trips to this area year round. 1-800-488-DIVE. (Ph: 800-488-3483 or 561-575-9800,

Fax: 561-743-5747, e-mail: gseagle@gulfstreameagle.com, Website: www.gulfstreameagle.com)

Nekton Pilot, October 1997, Rick Tuss, Wilmington, DE. No sea sickness. Maximum speed about 7 knots. The boat was roomy, but dive platform was crowded with 30 people gearing up. The crew was friendly and qualified. Wade did an exceptional job cooking. Corals were healthy and large. Dived and snorkeled with wild dolphins and mantas. Saw more sharks on multiple dives than I can count; 4-5 dives a day. Vis: 40-100 ft. Water: 79-82 degrees. No diving restrictions. Weather wasn't cooperative, but it was a good trip. Steel 95's are primary tanks. Good fills. (Ph: 800-899-6753 or 954-463-9324, Fax: 954-463-8938, e-mail: nekton@gate.net, Website: www: nektoncruises.com)

Nekton Pilot, October 1997, Jeff Griest, Cinnaminson, NJ. Good diving value: great staff and captain, fine food nicely served, stable boat albeit slow due to unique design, an interesting shark feeding in a blue hole, and easy travel since the boat leaves from Ft. Lauderdale-they pick you up at the airport. Dive deck is tight and crowded since the ship has rooms for about 30 divers. Rooms are adequate size with a bath in each. The lounging area, sun deck, dining room are comfortable. Pretrip information was inadequate. Nekton Pilot dives in the afternoon on Friday. I had a Saturday early air flight so had to miss Friday's diving. Vis: 70-120 ft, water: 70-80 degrees.

Nekton Pilot, April 1998, Mark & Claudia McEvers, Lilburn, GA. Outstanding. Spacious, well maintained and stable. New dive deck was excellent and the steel 95's made it possible to dump most if not all of the weight on your belt. Crew was marvelous. Consistently friendly and upbeat, they satisfied any request. Beautiful walls and clear water but the itinerary might be a little deep for beginning divers. Water: 67-73 degrees. Water was cold, bring plenty of rubber.

Nekton Pilot, May 1998, Richard Lehach, Larchmont, NY. Comfortable boat. Best on-boat a/c. Decor Spartan. Meals nothing to write home about. Diving good but mostly beginners. Most dives shallow under 40', some under 20'. Vis: 80-120 ft. Water: 79-81. Crew usually helpful and held slide shows every night. Steel 95's. Wife complained of little assistance in getting up ladder.

Nekton Pilot, May, 1998, Brent Davis, Oakdale, CA. First live-aboard. Fantastic crew made it a fun trip! Cabins spacious, each with a private bath. Food great; chefs accommodated special diets. Dive your own profile, no decompression diving. Safety conscious, crew members always on deck watching for divers who might get in trouble. Nightly seminars, photography, fish, ID, coral ID. Diving great though Cay Sal Bank, with its Blue Holes, is not a good itinerary for beginners. Vis: 10-100 ft, water: 79-81 degrees. No Sunday morning dives due to clearing customs. This could be avoided by leaving at 6:00 pm Saturday instead of 11:00 pm. That seems to be the routine so that guests can eat dinner ashore Saturday evening. Not sure why as most people would have preferred more diving.

Nekton Pilot, May 1998, Steve Luethje, San Jose, CA. Outstanding crew, professional and accommodating. Well-run dive operation, first class boat. No rolling or pitching, full size showers and restrooms. Vis: 80-150 ft, water: 78-85 degrees. Unlimited fresh water, tanks for cameras. Continuous snacks and excellent meals. They accommodate special diets.

Nekton Pilot, June 1998, Don & Meredeth Parker, Las Vegas, NV. You can get sea sick on the Nekton! It may not roll much, but in rough water, it has a strange herky-jerky pitch. They do not try to find the lee of an island in bad weather. Some sites had significant current, and the Nekton is not set up for drift diving. They have a skiff in the water during dives, but they intend it for emergencies only. Dive staff underestimated the strength of the current and most divers could not swim against the current to get to the dive site. . . . Thirty two divers max (we had 29) make for a crowded dive platform, borderline cattle boat operation. Assigned scheduling would help. Divers were on their own to stagger dive times and if all divers were to be in the water simultaneously, as on the dolphin snorkel, there was no way that it could be readily accomplished. Linens, carpets, dishes, flatware, towels, is pretty threadbare. . . . Easy trip to a live-aboard; save $300-$400 by avoiding travel to the Caribbean. Fills usually 2700 pounds, the standard for steel 95 tanks, giving about 20% more air and 5 pounds less weight. Vis: 40-50 ft. Water: 88-89 degrees. Dive restrictions: 130 ft. depth. Cabins comfortable, a/c and toilets worked! Decent and interesting dives (mostly). Food was usually quite good and Jarra made a good effort to provide low fat meals; meals buffet, some on paper plates and plastic tableware. Boat is "No Smoking" except one corner on the sun deck. Adequate camera tables for photographers. Adequate hanging space for drying wet suits. Wish we had known that diving was offered all day on Friday. We would have scheduled our return flights later on Saturday to allow for 24 hour surface intervals. Water was 88 degrees. Nekton furnishes an air/water temperature guide, but they could easily advise customers of current conditions in their week before, are you coming? telephone call. We took Polartech suits that were not needed.

Nekton Pilot, July 1998, Tony Eldridge, Tupelo, MS. Service excellent; quick to lend a light, mask, etc. Food plentiful and tasty, if not gourmet. Accommodations adequate, not plush. Boat very well laid out for diving. The main asset was the people, friendly, helpful, courteous. Vis: 80-100 ft. Water: 81-88 degrees. Dive restriction enforced were less than 120 ft and no alcohol for divers.

Nekton Pilot, July 1998, Clay Coleman, Baton Rouge, LA. Trip was to the Cay Sal bank through Scubadventures of Atlanta. Delta lost video equipment from New Orleans. Captain Ephey delayed departure for 30 minutes to give me a chance to find the lost luggage (in vain). Great diving at Tuna Alley off Cat Cay. Crew was outstanding. Came up with a video rig for me to use in lieu of my own. Worked our way down through the Bahama Bank to Cay Sal, great diving all the way. Cay Sal diving was in various blue holes-low vis. Reef and bull sharks on several dives in the holes. Nurse sharks and turtles on the reefs above the holes. Shark feed near the end of the week. Flooded my strobe (SS200) midweek. Crew went back to work and came up with an SBI05 for me to use. Vis: 40-150 ft. Water: 80-85 degrees. 130 ft. depth limit. My wife made it through the week with a scop patch-a testament to the stability of the boat. Private heads with showers, plenty of water, private temp control in stateroom, queen-sized bed. Good food, interesting presentations each night, good E-6 daily.

Nekton Pilot, Nekton Diving, July 1998, Amy & Dave Foler, Buffalo Grove, IL. Excellent service, friendly crew. Excellent food. Cater to dietary needs, informative slide shows/videos on marine life in the evenings. We were new divers andit was possible to have a divemaster accompany us. Took an Advanced Open Water class (through PADI). Instructor was very good, helpful, patient. Excellent experience for our first dive trip ever. Pristine reef on the drift dive. Shark feeding rather silty. Vis: 50-100+ Water: 84-87 degrees. Dive restrictions: depth limit 100-130 ft., return with 500 psi.

Sea Explorer, October 1997, Chris and Sooty Knallay, Monroeville, OH. Great time. Crew friendly and helpful. Sleeping quarters cramped, not much privacy, but we knew that before hand. Great shark dive at Bull Run. Dove at least 3 times a day, usually 4. Vis: 50-100 ft, water: 82-84 degrees. Anchored off the wreck Sampona and swam to it, climbed up to the bow and jumped! 42'! Two days we swam with dolphins. Huge loggerhead turtles. (Ph: 800-327-9600 or 305-888-1226, e-mail: blackbrd@fla.net)

Sea Fever, May 1998, John Kontnik, Lakewood, CO. Probably the biggest bang for the buck that I have experienced in my years of diving. The wild life was outstanding: nurse sharks, reef sharks, a hammer head, lots of turtles, rays, schools of big midnight blue parrot fish, plus all the other reef fish. Vis: 60-80 ft. Water: 79 degrees. Sugar Wreck I could do over and over again both day or night. The dive profiles are great and liberal if you are diving a computer; you can dive your brains out if you wish (they do impose basic limits). . . . Boat is comfortable and they limit the number of divers to 14, a workable number. The rooms are small but nice and the food great. No one should ever go hungry and the meals were healthy. . . . Captain Tom and Rene were great. They both know their stuff. The rest of the crew was just as accommodating and friendly. . . . And, the dolphins, fabulous. The real deal, true interaction with wild dolphins, not just once but 6-7 dedicated dolphin snorkel experiences. A life time memory. (Ph: 800-443-3837 or 954-202-5608, Fax: 954-351-9740, e-mail: seafever@seafever.com www: seafever.com)

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