I was a little leery of booking this trip because the Nekton Pilot carries so many passengers (32). As it turned out, the only crowded part of the boat was the dive deck, and in the overall scheme of things, this did not matter one iota.
This site is quite comprehensive and also quite accurate. The itinerary posted for the Bahama Adventure pretty well reflects what we actually did.
The website describes the boat quite accurately. I found it to be quite comfortable. The rooms were spacious by liveaboard standards.
Now, about this SWATH technology. Yes the boat was stable, but the seas were also calm, so the technology was not put to the test - or so we thought. At one of the dive sites, another liveaboard, the Pirate Lady, was moored a few dozen yards in front of us, and it was rolling a good 30 degrees from straight vertical. Some of our passengers mentioned getting seasick from simply looking at this boat. There was no detectable motion in our boat at the time. It appeared that the swells were about 1 foot high.
As has been the case on every liveaboard cruise I have been on, (this was #11), the food was simply marvelous.
The diving was excellent. The currents were less than I had expected. Water was ~80 F and the viz varied from 40 => 140 ft. For most dives it was about 100 ft.
For one of the best in-water experiences, we did not dive at all. This was the dolphin snorkel. Major coolness happening here. The first pod we spotted contained four dolphins and we swam with them for 5 or 10 minutes before they left. So back on the boat we went, and looked for more. Then we encountered a group of about a dozen dolphins, including a couple of babies. We swam with them for over an hour. It was simply incredible. Mind you, I wished my freediving skills were better. I could only get to about 20 ft or so before clearing my ears caused me to lose all my breath. Generally speaking, the longer you stayed underwater, the more fun it was. Therefore, anyone who is planning to take this cruise should practice freediving. If you can't practice freediving, practice underwater swimming. If you can't practice underwater swimming, practice breathholding, it will be worth it.
Another interesting dive site is called Shark Junction. The Nekton Pilot moors about 50 yards away from where two of the Freeport dive shops conduct shark feedings. On our first dive at this site, one of these feedings was in progress. I have never seen anything like this before. At one point the guy with the food grabbed a large ( 7 or 8 feet ) shark by the nose, and lifted it into an inverted vertical position - and the shark just let it. Never spoke to the guy, but he is either very smart, or very dumb. The sharks at this site are noticeably more corpulent than sharks you see anywhere else.
My favourite site was the one with the worst visibility. It is called Rocky Mountain High and it is in the Gingerbread Grounds. The poor viz is caused by all the floating nutrients which, in turn, lead to an exceptionally healthy reef. The corals, sponges, tunicates, etc at this spot are noticeably prettier than at others. It was at this site that I encountered my Highlight of the Trip. There was a family of yellowheaded jawfish, two adults and two younguns. The two younguns were competing for the same hole in the sand, which was quite funny to watch. However, it was not nearly as funny as the adults - one of them was digging this huge crater, and the other was filling it in with mouthfuls of sand. Not sure what the plan was, but it was certainly a hoot to watch. I laughed so hard my mask flooded.
Shore excursions were available to Freeport and Bimini. I had been to Freeport before - it is a cruise ship town. This did not interest me so we stayed on the boat and went diving. Having never been to Bimini before, we scoped it out. Seemed to be a watering hole for sport fishermen more than anything. It was a nice side trip.
The crew had this very well organized. By running continuous shuttles with one of the chase boats, maximum flexibility was available to schedule diving and/or runs ashore.
There was a virtually unlimited supply of fruit juices, lemonade, iced tea, and gatorade available. There were no soft drinks ( Coke, Pepsi, etc ), or alcoholic beverages available on the boat, even in exchange for cash. Passengers could bring their own, and some did. In fact, the shuttle van even stopped at a liquor store on the way to the boat so people could stock up. Also, there was a cooler on board designated for drinks that passengers brought with them. Anyone planning a cruise with the Nekton Pilot, and really wants to have beer, wine, ginger ale, or whatever, should keep this in mind.
It seems that no dive trip would be complete without at least one thing going wrong. On this trip, it was the wife's turn. A lot of our equipment on this trip was brand new, including her gauges. As soon as we jumped into the water, her brand new depth gauge flooded. Fortunately, over the years, I have accumulated a backup set of gauges, so I was able to put another depth gauge on her console. Nice to have backup.
| Trip Dates2000-05-20 to 2000-05-27 | Trip Report Index |