Dive Review of Caribbean Explorer II in
Caribbean (General)/Saba

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Caribbean Explorer II: "Old Boat with Great Crew", May, 2022, by Jeffery E Snyder, DE, US ( Reviewer 6 reports with 9 Helpful votes). Report 11916.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Had to fill out a form to enter St. Maarten about Covid vaccination and purchase Covid insurance for $15. Needed a negative Covid test for the boat but not to enter St. Maarten. Boat was built in 1978 and refitted to use as a dive boat. Everything was old on the boat which rocked side to side all week. My room was in the bow of the boat which only had 9 guests out of a capacity for 18. Thankfully it was not a full boat. We had a space between each diver to suit up. I can’t imaging what a full boat would be like. However the crew was great. They had a great attitude, very friendly, helpful and funny. The captain was from England, one dive master was from Jordan, another from England. The purser was from the US, the engineer S. Africa and the cook from Scotland. Diving was okay. It was volcanic rock and gray, brown sand which was different for me. There was not a huge amount of fish but there were large lobster, plenty of green turtles and huge French and grey angel fish but also many lion fish. Some of the biggest lion fish I have ever seen. The lion fish are not hunted in the park except by the rangers from Saba who apparently haven’t been culling the fish for a while during Covid. All dive briefings are done from the upper deck that also serves as the outside lounge and salon. The dive deck below also had a few cabins. My cabin was on the lower deck. You had to descend a ladder, go forward towards the bow, then go up a few steps to the forward cabins. There were 2 single beds that were anything but comfortable. Diving was a giant stride about 8’ above the water, midship. Then you pull yourself along the tag line to the bow in order to descend the anchor line. But with the wind, waves and surge and the tag line tied off to a bow cleat, you were pulling yourself into the rocking boat. We did that the 1st day, then just descended about half way to the bow and swam for the anchor line. The food was good and plentiful and as I said the crew was very friendly. The boat arranged a Covid test for $100 to get us back into the US and transportation to the airport for $10. Nitrox fills were between 32-33% and cost $135 for the week. There was a $125 (I think) park fee as well. All in all a very efficient operation on a very old boat with an excellent crew. However the diving was average a best, we did not get to St. Kitts because their Covid protocol wouldn’t allow us to dive their waters. I’m glad I went but would not hurry back.
Websites	Caribbean Explorer II
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	New Jersey, North Carolina, Caribbean, Costa Rica, Fiji, Truk Lagoon, Red Sea, Cozumel
Closest Airport	Princess Julianna airport, Simpson Bay, Sint Maarten	Getting There	Philadelphia to Atlanta to St. Maarten Flight home on Delta from Atlanta to Philadelphia was cancelled. Delta put us on American Air the next day however our bags went to Minneapolis then Philadelphia. We had to go back to the airport to pick up the bags.
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy, rainy	Seas	choppy, surge
Water Temp	80-81°F / 27-27°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	20-60 Ft/ 6-18 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	[110 feet, 60 minutes
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

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Dive Review of Caribbean Explorer II in Caribbean (General)/Saba

Caribbean Explorer II: "Old Boat with Great Crew", May, 2022,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Caribbean Explorer II in
Caribbean (General)/Saba