Dive Review of Nekton Rorqual in
Virgin Islands/St. Croix

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Nekton Rorqual, Aug, 2009, by Randy Saffell, OK, USA ( Reviewer 4 reports). Report 5027.
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 Rorqual is what it is. A 9 year old boat that seems much older. We were on it June 2008 and it had more issues this year. We had to dock the last day and dive under Frederiksted Pier again to fill the fresh water tanks due to a leaking pipe. Our cabin door would not shut despite all our efforts, so we just left it ajar and let it be. The food on the Rorqual was great, the menu varied and was always fresh, well seasoned, well presented and all you could eat. The chef was a very nice lady and I enjoyed drinking coffee with her every morning. Diving around St. Croix is not very good. Some reefs are heavily fished and there is fishing line and lures all over the reef, having done a lot of damage. It's pretty sad. Several dives I just wrote 'Boring' in my logbook notes. We did encounter several fish traps, all with numerous fish inside. Very, very sad!!!!!!!!!!! Visibility was only about 40 to 50 feet really hampering wide-angle shots of the several wrecks we visited. The best diving of the trip was Frederiksted Pier with all the small critters. Seahorses, crabs, frog fish, octopus, eels and others. If it was not for the pier the trip would not have been worth it. The crew of the Rorqual was new, but helped as much as you needed. Only one of them seemed to really want to be somewhere else. I did enjoy interacting with them, and they did a great job of handling our cameras in and out of the water. For me, they were a fun bunch to dive with. All in all, a good week out of the office. The boat needs serious upkeep and the diving around St. Croix is not very good. But, I did get some great video of a frog fish........what more can you ask for?
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	Saba, Bonaire, Cal Sal Bank, Cozumel, Thailand, Truk Lagoon, Guadalupe Island, Flower Gardens, Cayman Brac, Little Cayman, Florida
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	dry	Seas	calm, choppy, surge
Water Temp	80-85°F / 27-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	40-50 Ft/ 12-15 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Dive your own profile, watch your computers and air. Have fun.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
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
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	The Nekton Rorqual does have large camera tables outside on the Salon deck. There are air compressors available for drying cameras. No outlets for charging batteries. The table also is used for storing all the snack food other non-photo divers bring onboard too much on. I had to move plastic bags of snacks severely times to sit my camera down. The rooms only come with 1 electrical outlet. My wife and I both have large camera systems and we brought our own power strips to have enough outlets in the room to charge batteries. Over all the Rorqual does not address cameras larger than point and shoot.

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Dive Review of Nekton Rorqual in Virgin Islands/St. Croix

Nekton Rorqual, Aug, 2009,

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 Nekton Rorqual in
Virgin Islands/St. Croix