Caribbean Explorer II Liveaboard

[Colin]

My wife and I just got back from a trip aboard the Caribbean Explorer II liveaboard. For those who are not familiar with this boat, it sails in the Eastern Caribbean around St. Maarten, Saba, St. Eustatius (Statia) and St. Kitts, and it also has a unique schedule, in that passengers have the option of picking up the boat in either St. Maarten and leaving in St. Kitts, or vice versa. We decided to join the boat in St. Maarten, because of the easier flight schedule.
We started by getting down to St. Maarten on Saturday, the 15th. We had super flights from Milwaukee to Charlotte, then direct to St. Maarten. 5:30 am out of Milwaukee, and arriving in St. Maarten around 3 in the afternoon.
The boat carries a maximum of 18 divers, but we were fortunate, in that there were only 5 divers last week! Talk about sweet! No crowds under water, plus once the crew saw how we dove, they usually would let us dive our own profiles as along as we came back aboard with 500 psi, etc. etc.
The crew was going through a bit of change....there was a new captain aboard for his first week, but he was supervised by the fleet captain from Explorer Ventures, the parent company. Also aboard were three instructors/guides, the chef, engineer, and the purser, who unfortunately couldn't dive due to a hand injury. All very nice people, experienced divers, and excellent naturalists.

Ok, let's talk about the dive procedures first.
When arriving, you are greeted by a member of the crew, who shows you to your cabin, and from there on, you are at home. You are assigned a dive station, where you gear is kept for the entire week. Under your station there is a large storage locker for extras like fins, lights, etc. Your BCD never comes off your tank for the week. Once you exit from a dive, you simply take your first stage off, and the crew then knows to fill your tank from whips that are above your station. They cap the tank after filling, and when it's time to dive again, you just have to put your first stage back on, and turn on the air. Really simple.
Every day there are 5 dives planned....two AM, two PM and one night dive after dinner. The first dive briefing was usually around 8:15 am, with the dive right after. Second dive around 10:30 and then lunch at noon. Afternoon dives were at 1:30 and 4, and the night dive typically around 7pm  or so.  Before each dive, we were given a very thorough briefing inclusing what to expect as far as conditions, reef structures, marine life, and even whhat type of photo gear to use (wide angle, macro, etc.)
The dives are all guided, if you wish; certainly the newer diver would appreciate that.

[Colin]

Now for the dive conditions:
Since this part of the Caribbean is very volcanic, the hardest thing for us to get used to was the color of the sand.....kind of a brown/grey color. At first I though it looked a lot like the silt we encounter around here, but since it's sand, it settles very quickly. Due to the warm water temps all season (we had 86 degree water all week), there was evidence of coral bleaching on the hard corals. Visibility ranged from 100 feet + to about 40 on one of the night dives. This lower vis day was very windy and stirred things up a bit.
The surface conditions ranged from 2-3 foot swells to flat calm, depending what dive site we were on. As with most liveaboard boats, they always moored for the night or during meal times in protected areas to minimize the rocking. Mild current was present on almost every dive, with only one dive cancelled because of strong currents. I splashed on this particular dive, and before I knew it I was about 40 feet behind the boat. I managed to grab the weighted safety stop line at the stern, and proceeded to get pulled up the the surface in the current. A 35 foot dive for 3 minutes.....you should see the profile from my computer.....
Marine life was plentiful.....lots of tube and barrel sponges, soft corals, but was most interesting was the amount and variety of fish life. Nurse sharks, turtles, crab, lobster, octopus, along with the usual macro suspects, like arrow crabs, cleaner shrimp, corkscrew anemones.
Dive sites ranged from pinnacle dives to over 100 feet, to shallow reef/night dives in 40 feet or less. 

[Colin]

And then there's the food!

Tony, our chef was great! Meals ranged from deli sandwiches on the first day, the Mexican, Chinese, Greek, and Italian cuisine. All melas were served on the upper deck/salon area. What made it even nicer was that the crew took their meals along with us, so we got to know them very well. All meals are served buffet style, so you can eat as much as you wish. Breakfasts consisted of assorted juices, cold cereals, various breads and bagels, and every day there was a different hot entree. Sometimes French Toast, eggs of varying sorts, breakfast burritos, etc.
After each dive, there would be some type of snack.....brownies, freashly baked cookies, cheese and crackers, Mozarella sticks and dipping sauce.
Lunches usually consisted of a soup, hot entree like burritos, tacos, salads.
Dinners were even better. Since there is a gas grill on the sun deck, we had steak one night, bar-b-que ribs (unbelievably good), grilled fish, as well as lasagna, and even a turkey dinner with all the fixins'.
All beverages (sodas, beer, wine, hard stuff) were included in the price, and only a few glasses of wine and a few beers were consumed the entire week, since once you take a nip, you're not diving any more that day, as is the rule on liveaboard boats.

[Colin]

Additional photos:

[Colin]

Additional photos:

[Colin]

Additional photos:

[Colin]

Additional photos:

[stevenq99]

sounds like fun to me!  Great pictures.

[mrclean]

Great pictures and descriptions.  Now only 9 weeks until I sail off on my first Blackbeard Liveaboard excursion.

[schultz]

Great pictures man... Curious if you did any photoshoping on the Turtle... it looks like the red channels are a little too much to be natural.