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Scuba Forum / Scuba Locations / September 2004Nekton Pilot Belize trip
I'm looking for opinions on the Belize itinerary for the Nekton Pilot. I've been on their Bahamas trip twice so am familiar with their operation. How is the diving- do they go to the same sites the land (island) based operations go to, or to other more remote sites? What is the water temperature in October and November? How is the boat holding up? Thanks > I'm looking for opinions on the Belize itinerary for the >Nekton Pilot. I've been on their Bahamas trip twice so am familiar [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >How is the boat holding up? >Thanks Not quite responsive, but I would appreciate your input re Nekton's Bahamas trip. I am thinking of going by myself late July-early August. Thanks. Ken > > I'm looking for opinions on the Belize itinerary for the > >Nekton Pilot. I've been on their Bahamas trip twice so am familiar [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Ken I have been on both ships, on several of the various itineraries. Both ships set a standard by which you may compare any other Caribbean Live Aboard vessel. I have been aboard most Caribbean dive boats, some as a guest, some as a looky-see visitor. I'll put my money on Nekton. The Belezian tour? Live aboard is really the only way to see this marvelous treasure. The Nekton does not do the Blue Hole, the value of this dive has been discussed here endlessly, most admitting its a "have your ticket punched" kind of dive. My SO is trying to find the time to join me on her first live aboard experience, and after maybe 17+ vacations on Caribbean boats, starting with the Isla Mia, I'm taking her aboard the Nekton. NEVER a disappointment. Doc. Robert "Doc" Adelman, C.I.D. wrote: > "cagey" <cagey91@hotmail.com> wrote in message > The Belezian tour? Live aboard is really the only way to see this marvelous > treasure. The Nekton does not do the Blue Hole, the value of this dive has > been discussed here endlessly, most admitting its a "have your ticket > punched" kind of dive. I was diving the Blue Hole in January from Ambergis Caye and could have sworn we saw the Nekton there. Or is there another catamaran? > I was diving the Blue Hole in January from Ambergis Caye and could have > sworn we saw the Nekton there. Or is there another catamaran? Are you sure you saw the Nekton at the Blue Hole? Or did you see the Nekton on your followup dives, near Halfmoon Caye? The Nekton certainly does the area, but AFAIK they don't do the Blue Hole. Too big to get in anyway, I think. >I was diving the Blue Hole in January from Ambergis Caye and could have >sworn we saw the Nekton there. Or is there another catamaran? The Nektons (Pilot and Rorqual) look more like a building on legs than a catamaran. There are photots at www.nektoncruises.com. They've gotta be the ugliest boats in the business. But they easily make up for it in comfort.  SignatureRemove preceding and trailing X from username for replies (Sorry, but I'm SICK of spam...) > >I was diving the Blue Hole in January from Ambergis Caye and could have > >sworn we saw the Nekton there. Or is there another catamaran? [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > They've gotta be the ugliest boats in the business. But they easily > make up for it in comfort. You may also note that under its Belize itinerary, there is no mention of the Blue Hole, only the Lighthouse and Halfmoon Atolls. If the Blue Hole was one of its stops, I believe that it would say so. I've seen it out at the Atolls plenty of times, but never at the Blue Hole. I think you're right about it being Halfmoon Caye. I guess I was anticipating those Belikans on the trip back to Ambergris Caye. >>>I was diving the Blue Hole in January from Ambergis Caye and could have >>>sworn we saw the Nekton there. Or is there another catamaran? [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > I've seen it out at the Atolls plenty of times, but never at the Blue Hole. > I think you're right about it being Halfmoon Caye. I guess I was > anticipating those Belikans on the trip back to Ambergris Caye. Maybe you'd already had a Beliken or two? ;^) What a day that trip is though, hunh? Fabulous. The trip out was a little rough, but I can't wait to get back there. Next time I'll probably stay on one of the cayes that are further out and closer to the best diving. >>I think you're right about it being Halfmoon Caye. I guess I was >>anticipating those Belikans on the trip back to Ambergris Caye. > > Maybe you'd already had a Beliken or two? ;^) > > What a day that trip is though, hunh? Fabulous. > The trip out was a little rough, but I can't wait to get back there. > Next time I'll probably stay on one of the cayes that are further out > and closer to the best diving. I've been out quite a few times, and it can be rough, but out of the 10 or so trips, only one was *really* bad. And it used to be worse before Amigos got the Pro48. :^) At least nowadays there's a head available. Used to get kinda painful after a few Belikens on the return trip. Generally, they'd have to stop somewhere near Caye Caulker and everyone would jump in for a swim. I've also considered staying out at the Atolls to be closer to the better diving, but I know I'd miss the shore life at San Pedro. On this trip out Amigos said fasten your seat belts and don't go get off the bench. Of course we didn't drink any Belikens on the way out... The ride home was much smoother and the head was open. >>The trip out was a little rough, but I can't wait to get back there. >>Next time I'll probably stay on one of the cayes that are further out [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > I've also considered staying out at the Atolls to be closer to the better > diving, but I know I'd miss the shore life at San Pedro. > They've gotta be the ugliest boats in the business. But they easily > make up for it in comfort. Through all my years of diving at a variety of locations, I can't recall a single time when I actually cared how ugly the boat was - but comfort is another kettle of fish altogether. :) Signaturejer email reply - I am not a 'ten' "All that we do is touched with ocean, yet we remain on the shore of what we know." -- Richard Wilbur Nwxt month I will be doing my 6th trip with Nekton (July 31 Pilot ). This will be the Cay Sal dices, having previously done Cay Lobos, Southern Bahamas, NW Bahamas, Belize and Mona Island. I return to them because the do a great job, The cre is friendly and helpfull. The boat is spacies and well equipt. Thwy do what they are supposed to do, and I ger plenty of diving. As for Belize vs. Bahamas, the diving in Beleze is spectacular. I think it was supperior to the Bahamas. The definitly go to the remote sites. I can't remember sseing another boat, except the Agressor. > > > I'm looking for opinions on the Belize itinerary for the > > >Nekton Pilot. I've been on their Bahamas trip twice so am familiar [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] > > Doc. yes, but how many people do they put in the water at one time? Is it 40 or 50? > Nwxt month I will be doing my 6th trip with Nekton (July 31 Pilot ). > This will be the Cay Sal dices, having previously done Cay Lobos, [quoted text clipped - 42 lines] > > > > Doc. Daniel Kessler <dkessler@pop.cybernex.net> pounded away at his keyboard resulting in: :yes, but how many people do they put in the water at one time? Is it 40 or 50? No more than the 32 passengers that are on board. I have been on two Nekton trips (trip report links) http://www.pathcom.com/~bracuk/Trips/NektonPilotNorth.htm http://www.pathcom.com/~bracuk/Trips/MonaIsland.htm On both occasions the number of divers was a bit of a detriment. If everybody is on the dive deck at once, it gets crowded, plain and simple. On both of our trips, the divers figured this out quickly and started to spread themselves out. On the 2nd trip, the number of divers made the live dives a bad idea. However, if there are no live dives on the Belize itinerary, this won't be an issue. Dan Bracuk If at first you don't succeed, you run the risk of failure. The Best of rec.scuba http://www.pathcom.com/~bracuk/RecScuba/ What seems to happen is the first dive everyone jumps in at once. After that people seem to stagger their entries. Works out fine. >Daniel Kessler <dkessler@pop.cybernex.net> pounded away at his >keyboard resulting in: [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] >http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! >-----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =----- DId the Cay Sal Bank ittinerary a year or so ago. Was very please with the operation. We did Belize on the Wave Dancer a while ago, the year before it was hit by the storm. Vis was not great ( less than 100ft) but enjoyed the trip. A liveaboard is the way to go for that area. BTW blue holes seem to be sujective. I can take or leave them, some people love them. > I'm looking for opinions on the Belize itinerary for the >Nekton Pilot. I've been on their Bahamas trip twice so am familiar [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >How is the boat holding up? >Thanks >> I'm looking for opinions on the Belize itinerary for the >>Nekton Pilot. I've been on their Bahamas trip twice so am familiar [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >>How is the boat holding up? >>Thanks Diesel fumes exit on the port side - try to keep your dive station on the other side. Also the shower rinse is there - you will experience run off from others showering! I did it in January. I wore a short 3mm - only because we did some much diving I wanted to lessen the accumulative water cooling core temperature. I could have down it in just a skin, but the short worked out great. Many wore the beanie hats - just to help in heat loss. Had I had one - i would have used one. I never got cold. >Diesel fumes exit on the port side - try to keep your dive station on >the other side. The exhaust is from the generator. There is one on each side, they are run on an alternate basis. On the next trip they may be running the starboard side during the day. >Also the shower rinse is there - you will experience >run off from others showering! On the other hand things are a little less crowded on the port side of the deck. And if you want to exit off the side to hit the granny line (big help in strong currents) the port side is the place to be. Anyway if the boat is full you won't have any choice, since the bins are numbered by cabin. People in cabins on the upper deck tend to end up on the port side. SignatureRemove preceding and trailing X from username for replies (Sorry, but I'm SICK of spam...) >>Diesel fumes exit on the port side - try to keep your dive station on >>the other side. [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > are numbered by cabin. People in cabins on the upper deck tend to end > up on the port side. Never noticed it on the other side thanks for the info! It's been a few years since I went on the Belize itinerary, so some of this is NOT current. We've been on the Northern Bahamas (2003), Cay Sal Bank (2001) and Belize (2000) Nekton trips and the Belize diving is much better than the Bahamas. They go to more remote sites than the island operations and the reefs are in much better shape due to remoteness and warmer water. Of the three trips, I'd rate Bahamas as the lowest, Cay Sal Bank and Belize best, with Belize just edging out Cay Sal Bank. If you do go, be sure to book a few days on land to see the Mayan ruins. jjc > I'm looking for opinions on the Belize itinerary for the > Nekton Pilot. I've been on their Bahamas trip twice so am familiar [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > How is the boat holding up? > Thanks >It's been a few years since I went on the Belize itinerary, so some of >this is NOT current. We've been on the Northern Bahamas (2003), Cay Sal [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > >jjc +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Also, I think the Southern Bahamas trip was nearly as good as the Belize diving. > It's been a few years since I went on the Belize itinerary, so some of > this is NOT current. We've been on the Northern Bahamas (2003), Cay Sal [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > warmer water. Of the three trips, I'd rate Bahamas as the lowest, Cay > Sal Bank and Belize best, with Belize just edging out Cay Sal Bank. There was a time when Cay Sal was the very finest * known* diving in that part of the world. The only boat running to it on a regular basis was Dan Wagner's Impossible Dream. It took an eon for that old boat to make the trip (and in those days you cleared customs at Cay Sal, not Bimini). While Paul Tzimoulis was rambling on about Grand Cayman and the Super Bowl of SCUBA there was a active cadre of divers (most from Florida) who knew Cay Sal offered more and better. It had huge schools of pelagic fish, armies of sharks, a massive invertebrate population, crystal clear water and no crowds at all. A simply splendid dive destination. I imagine Reef Fish made that trip in those days, it seems he's been an active liveaboard diver for a long time. But those good days came to a screeching halt the night Dan decided to run the I.D. into a solitary beacon buoy in the Berries. Of course, like the majority of great diving areas, it has gone downhill since the late 70's, but it's nice to hear people speak highly of it and enjoy it. It would be great to believe it is on the road to reclaiming it's past glories. |
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