Great experience!
We booked this cruise through our dive instructors. My husband and I decided to be open water certified in the warm clear water of the Bahamas. We completed our open water checkouts with Jason. He was wonderful to work with! He was very patient with me (as was the entire crew). I was very nervous starting out! His dive briefings were very informative and spot on.
I was quite impressed with the level of the food, care and dives that we received for the price. We boarded the Sea Explorer on a Saturday and diving ended Thursday afternoon, but there were 19 dives during that time. I dove 14 and my husband dove 18 times. There were wreck dives, blue hole dive, shark feeding dive, the washing machine and reef dives. Some of the other divers free dived to spear lion fish, so we had lion fish ceviche one day. The trip includes all meals, snacks, beer, wine and rum punch for $995pp!
They advertise themselves as camping at sea. Be aware that it's not like some super fancy RV, it's more tent camping. But still very comfortable and has air conditioning in the rooms. There isn't a ton of privacy and it'd be very tight quarters if the weather prevented everyone from being up top. As a couple we had one of the larger bottom bunks and then a bunkmate above. Each bunk had a canvas curtain. There was a narrow shelf that ran the foot of the bunk to store your stuff. Dive equipment stayed on the top deck. There was approximately 1' deep by 6' wide of space in front of the bunks, then a 2-3' hallway separating our room from the next room. The hallway contained the ladder to the top deck and the door to the bathroom. There's a marine head (rather than a flushing toilet) that must be pumped to operate and a small sink. There are three heads for 22 passengers and 6 crew. There's one shower in which you can have unlimited salt water showers, but only 30 seconds of fresh water per day. On the top deck there's a limited supply of water to hose down with after a dive.
I really can't say enough about the crew. They were fabulous! Captain Chris, 1st Mate Jim, Engineer Breezy and Cody, Cook Tristan and Dive Master Jason were all top notch! They were so helpful, knowledgeable and always willing to answer our questions. It's amazing what Tristan can prepare in that tiny galley!! We had some wonderful meals and snacks. My husband even had the privilege of landing a sailfish while on the trip. He was so thrilled and the crew was again wonderful! We’re already planning our next Blackbeard-Cruise!
