Trip Report - Turks & Caicos Explorer II with SingleDivers.com
Jan 11-17, 2020
We had a fantastic trip with lots of great diving, wonderful people, and a top-notch boat and crew. This was my 8th trip with SingleDivers.com and first Liveaboard with them.
Kamala reserved the full boat and sold it out. Unfortunately, one member was unable to make the trip due to illness, so we sailed with 19 divers.
Getting to T&C was fairly straightforward, although I arrived a day early, just in case. Kamala arranged a group hotel for the 7 travellers arriving early. Transportation from the airport to the hotel and then hotel to the boat was not a problem, and we boarded about 3pm on Sat, along with the people who flew in Sat. The boat was able to accommodate a late arriving diver (and another diver’s lost luggage!) by making a pick-up at our Sat overnight mooring area.
Sat evening was devoted to briefings, paperwork and getting to know each other. We motored off to the North West area of T&C for the night and then the first day’s diving.
The diving was spectacular all week - walls, reef, gentle slopes, and lots to see. Sharks, turtles, rays, eels, and lots of beautiful fish. Best of all, my first diving encounter with dolphins!!! We were free to either join the boat dive guide (1 or 2 were in the water with us for each dive) or go off exploring on our own. Before each dive we received a good briefing about the site and expected life in the area, safety, and dive plan. All dives were supposed to be 1 hr max, but they didn’t scream too loudly if we were over. The dive deck and equipment areas were well organized and clean, with a definite eye on safety. My only comment is the rungs on the access ladder were a touch narrow but still easily managed. There were 2 hot showers on the dive deck for rinsing off after the dive. Heavenly!
We had the opportunity to do 27 dives over the week, including 5 night and 1 dawn dive. Only 4 of us did all 27 (wave to Kamala, Kathy, ‘Zil, and myself).
The food on-board was spectacular! Stan provided delicious meals and between dive snacks, and easily catered to different tastes and restrictions. A heartfelt thanks to Stan.
After the week’s diving we returned to the marina for one last night aboard. Some of the group went into town for a dinner ashore, some stayed on board and had a movie night with pizza. Sat morning brought the transport back to the airport and the end of another spectacular trip.
Life on a liveaboard is eat, sleep, dive, and repeat. This trip made that easy. The meals were great, the beds were comfortable, the diving was well managed and safe. All this, and more, made for a memorable week. Both Kamala of SingleDivers.com, and the crew of T&C Explorer went way above and beyond to exceed my expectations. My diving vacation was a delight.
LOVE 
