Dive Review of Explorer Ventures -- T&C Explorer II in
Turks and Caicos/Caribbean

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Explorer Ventures -- T&C Explorer II: "Good boat, great crew, meh diving (except for the sharks, maybe)", Nov, 2019, by Mark Kimmey, NY, US ( Contributor 13 reports with 4 Helpful votes). Report 11686.
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	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	The Turks & Caicos Explorer II was only our second liveaboard back in 2009, when we graduated from shore and day-boat diving. Ten years on, things have changed. The boat was clean, but worn. Cabins are small. Ours was set up as a "queen," which meant they pushed two singles together that left a gully between the mattresses. A folding chair sat at a desk that just got in the way. We dove French Caye Sunday-Tuesday and West Caicos Wednesday-Friday. French Caye is devastated. West Caicos is better, but walls are deep, with shoulders around 50 feet. The dive platform is accessed from the dive deck by ladders on either side, at the bottom of which divers are handed their fins and assisted into the water. Two ladders in the middle of the platform, side-by-side, are used to climb back aboard. The platform was slick and we saw several people slip and fall. One woman was not able to take as big a giant stride as she needed, and the bottom of her tank hit the platform and then smacked the back of her head, fortunately without serious injury. The boat offers deck towels in four colors, hung on a rack near the door into the salon between use. With 19 to 20 divers, nobody remembers which one is theirs, and even if they remember color they don't remember which hook, so we were constantly reaching for OUR towels (which we took pains to remember which hooks) only to find they were already wet. This could be avoided by adding a way to label hooks with a grease pencil. Reef and nurse sharks were not uncommon, as well as creole wrasse. Sandy areas featured rays and goatfish. We didn’t see as many damselfish as we're used to, but there were many parrotfish and fairy basslets. During night dives on French Caye, we hovered above hunting nurse sharks (with reef sharks on the perimeter waiting to take advantage). Due to current, the crew announced that our second dive at “Smokestack” would be a drift dive. What that really meant was 55 minutes swimming into current. They like to do an "active entry," where they are not anchored, picking up divers with the boat. We made several of these during the week, and I managed to lose a few pounds. “Dewey’s Delight” was especially unimpressive, and can safely be skipped. During the week, nitrox was never quite 32%, and one of two oxygen analyzers stopped working. The boat stays on Atlantic standard time, and does not observe "island time," which is the same as EST/EDT. This supposedly gives them more daylight operating hours. Wrapping up our trip, Provo Airport Security confiscated every zip tie we had, plus small camera tools (Allen wrenches, miniature 1/4" wrench and short right-angle screwdriver), all of which TSA considers allowable. They explained taking our 4” lightweight zip ties, “Oh, you could piece them together and create a weapon..." I didn’t comment that I could strangle someone with my shoelaces faster than it would take to string something together, because I wanted to keep my shoelaces. Getting through Security, we found that the international departures lounge has less charm than most bus depots, is poorly laid out and over-crowded, with insufficient seating. Not a great way to end what had already been a disappointing week.
Websites	Explorer Ventures -- T&C Explorer II
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	New York, Hawaii, California, Kwajalein, Florida, Grenada, Bonaire, Caymans, Bahamas, Turks & Caicos, Belize, Mexico, Australia, Sea of Cortez, St. Vincent, Indonesia
Closest Airport	Provodenciales	Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy	Seas	calm, choppy, currents
Water Temp	74-79°F / 23-26°C	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	50-75 Ft/ 15-23 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	TCEII enforces 60-minute limits on day dives, 45 minutes on night dives.
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	None	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish	N/A
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	The dive deck features a camera table that is too small and not really set up to easily recharge batteries: a “charging station” is really just a recessed shelf under the table that is awkward to use. Most people just charged in their cabins, despite crew cautions. The boat does not provide camera towels.

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Dive Review of Explorer Ventures -- T&C Explorer II in Turks and Caicos/Caribbean

Explorer Ventures -- T&C Explorer II: "Good boat, great crew, meh diving (except for the sharks, maybe)", Nov, 2019,

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 Explorer Ventures -- T&C Explorer II in
Turks and Caicos/Caribbean