Dive Review of Wind Dancer in
Trinidad and Tobago/Tobago

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Wind Dancer, May, 2005, by Edith and John Summey, IL, USA . Report 2112.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	My husband and I scheduled diving together for the first week and I remained on the boat for a second week of diving. Week one was OK to a degree, but problems were becoming apparent. Our primary interest was video and still photography. Yet, the arrangement was for "drift" diving whereby we were expected to keep up with the group. Perhaps at times there is enough current to warrant drift diving, but during the two weeks I was there, there was not enough current to affect diving. Yet the other divers swam higher over the reef and sped down the reef not allowing any time for photography. During the first week my husband and I managed to do our own dives most of the time, but during the second week, I faced a problem because even though I am a certified solo diver with my own redundant air supply and signed applicable waivers, I was told to drag a safety sausage throughout the dive. That would have been dangerous since it would have become entangled on the coral and would have interfered with my camera equipment. I had great difficulty trying to chase after the group. Furthermore, frequently my air was not pumped to working pressure causing delay and argument about what was acceptable. Lynn, the dive director, seemed to delight in finding fault and fabricating policies such as stating that it is a Peter Hughes policy not to shampoo hair on the dive deck. (Other Peter Hughes boats even provide the shampoo on the dive deck!) There was a general attitude on the boat to prevent problems by restriction rather than by solutions. The answer was not how to do something safely, the answer was to not do it at all. In general, these factors were frustrating and/or unpleasant: •Bad weather, rain, poor light •Terrible visibility on many dives, runoff from river •Exhaustion from almost constant hard swimming to keep up •Rapid use of air supply due to swimming complicated by the challenge of getting a full fill to 3000 psi •Dive sites inconsistent in terms of quality ranging from nice structure with plenty of coral and variety to devastated coral patches overturned from the hurricane, piles of junk and old tires and worn down, sediment covered coral rubble. •Warnings about strong currents as the reason for group drift diving yet they never materialized. •Often the group “drifted” up over the reef in what current existed so that they were carried along and were kicking as well, while I, down closer to the reef to take the photos of fish and other features, was out of any current and thus really left behind. The last straw was a severe admonishment from Lynn over a couple of empty shells I picked up off of the sand. She claimed that collecting shells violated the law of Tobago, export of shells was prohibited, and having shells was punishable by fine. Furthermore, she announced that the Peter Hughes policy forbade picking up anything from the sea. In fact, there is no such Tobago law at all and the written Peter Hughes preservation of nature clause restricts the taking of "any live animal, shellfish, fish, coral..." There is nothing about seashells. If you like dive director aggression and dictatorship, the Wind Dancer is the liveaboard for you.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	USA (FL, IL, NC, TX, MO, CA, Alaska), Canada(BC, Nanavut), Greenland, Carribbean(Bahamas, Turks&Caicos, Curacau, Bonaire, Belize, Mexico)Pacific(Socorro, CocosIsland , Galapagos, Tahiti, Truk Lagoon, Palau, Yap, Sipadan, Bali, N.Sulawesi, Phuket, Burma, PNG) Australia, Antartica, Mediterranean (Costa Brava, S. France, Corsica, Sardina, Italy), Red Sea
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, rainy, cloudy	Seas	calm
Water Temp	80-0°F / 27--18°C	Wetsuit Thickness	0
Water Visibility	40-60 Ft/ 12-18 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	The diving was treated as drift diving even though there was little current. Divers were herded down the reef as a group and not allowed to do their own dives. Very unsatisfactory!
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	None	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Camera table on dive deck was adequate with air pressure supplied and rinse buckets. But, dive policies were not photo-friendly in that rushing divers down the reef was not conducive to photographic activity.

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Dive Review of Wind Dancer in Trinidad and Tobago/Tobago

Wind Dancer, May, 2005,

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 Wind Dancer in
Trinidad and Tobago/Tobago