Bluemagazine Caribbeanexplor
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38 SABA KITTS /ST. LUXURY LIVEABOARD Caribbean Explorer II The liveaboard experience is luxurious and focused on one thing—maximum diving pleasure. Hard-core divers who don’t mind interacting with a small group out at sea for a week, would love this excursion. By SOLOMON BAKSH Tent Reef is probably the most striking reef in Saba with vibrant sponges, enormous gorgonians and teeming with fish life 39 THE Boat at. Dive. Sleep…well, sleeping my shoes into. That was the last I saw of crew members on board: Tim Heaton, is optional. It’s a liveaboard them until seven days later. Captain, USA; Chris Johnson, Engineer, lifestyle—getting up from your I was the first guest to arrive on board USA; Nichol Schilling, Purser, Germany; Ebed every day for a week with a the boat and was given the best location to Instructors Claire Keany, Scotland; Brett view of a breathtaking sunrise from your set up my gear—right next to the exit. Lockhoff, USA; Joe Lamontage, Canada. window, the ocean always in sight, a hot The person responsible for keeping all of us breakfast and another day of great diving. Amenities well fed was chef, Sarah Dauphinee, USA. It’s the nature of these trips that make The Caribbean Explorer II was well laid Every day was an epicurean delight with them so attractive. Plying the open ocean out. The upper deck housed the galley, air- Sarah serving up Mexican, Mediterranean, to different dive sites every day and over conditioned dining area and sun deck. Italian, Caribbean and BBQ dishes. the course of the week giving the diver a The diving area was on the main deck. Besides the diving, the one thing that variety of diving experiences rather than The first thing that I noticed was the I looked forward to every day was the being stuck in the heart of civilization. oversized camera table large enough for buffet-style meals. Imagine: never having to worry about about ten full-sized SLR housings with lugging your dive gear around; three full, strobes. Nearby was a covered charging The Itinerary fine gourmet meals a day, with lots of station with ample outlets. The vessel departs Saturday’s from either great snacks in between and unlimited The hot showers were ideally located for St. Maarten or St. Kitts. Itineraries include alcoholic (and non-alcoholic) drinks to divers as they exited the water, so too were 51/2 days of diving; two to three days wind down your day. The first-class crew the toilet facilities. There were a couple of within the Saba Marine Park and two to makes it all happen! bins filled with fresh water at the back of three days at St. Kitts. Five dives daily are I experienced all of this and more the boat for smaller cameras. normally offered, including night dives. aboard the Caribbean Explorer II. A The scuba tanks were filled in place The schedule also provides for up to three week’s journey that started at the marina so there was no need to take apart the island tours during the week and there in St. Maarten. Then it was over to Saba gear between dives. 32% Nitrox was also is ample time for guests to explore forts, for three days of diving on some of the available. rainforests, duty-free shops and museums. most spectacular reefs in the region, The main and lower decks were the Liveaboard diving is a different kind ending in St. Kitts with another three sleeping accommodations for eighteen of experience from typical land-based days of diving. guests, crew quarters and a “boatique” vacations. If you don’t get seasick and “Welcome aboard the Caribbean that sold Caribbean Explorer II branded prefer a more quiet dive getaway, among a Explorer,” Captain Tim beamed, extending clothing. small group, then this is something every his hand to assist me off the docks in The was also an endless supply of water, diver should strive for, at some point in St. Maarten. “Please remove your shoes. iced tea, coffee, sodas, fresh fruits, snacks life. This particular trip offers a chance to You will not need those while onboard. We and alcoholic beverages in the dining room. touch three different islands but dive in want you to be comfortable and relaxed,” he the waters of two, so there some change said before I had time to put down my bags. The crew in scenery when you get on land or move He handed me a small crate that I threw There were seven highly experienced between the countries. 40 Chef Sarah grilling burgers Hungry divers enjoying lunch after a and hot dogs for lunch morning of fun dives Spacious rooms and comfortable Claire giving a dive briefing about beds are exactly what divers need Diamond Rock on the main deck at the end of the day Divers listening attentively for their name Between dives guests can relax on the as Nichol does the roll call during the upper deck either in the air-conditioned simulated fire drill salon or on the sun deck 41 DAY 1 Ladder Labyrinth “Stick your hand in the sand and you will feel how hot it is,” Claire suggested during her briefing. She was referring to the geothermal activity under the sand at Ladder Labyrinth, the site of our first dive. Brett, who was also leading the dive, explained that the sites at Ladder Bay has the most geothermal activity than any other sites around Saba. The spur-and-groove reef was covered with a wide variety of sponges and gorgonians. A large school of tarpon hovered just above a massive barrel sponge. As I laid patiently on the sand waiting on a yellowhead jawfish to pop out of its hole, a massive hawksbill turtle gently glided overhead. Though I did not manage to photograph the yellowhead jawfish on this dive I was more successful when we returned to Ladder Labyrinth for the third dive. Tent Wall Descending to a depth of 100 feet, Tent Wall is the only true wall dive in Saba. It is heavily covered with massive barrel and elephant ear sponges with towering yellow and stove-pipe sponges sticking out of the sheer wall. I was too engrossed in photographing the streaming school of Creole wrasse descending from the top of the reef that I missed the two hawksbill turtles that Claire spotted feeding on a leathery sponge. Swimming away from the wall, we explored a twin pinnacle nearby but because it was much deeper we only spent a few minutes there. Torrens Point This is one of the most protected sites in Saba and also one of the shallowest dive sites. The highlight of this dive is a swim- through into a small cave located near the sheer cliff. I followed Claire through the maze of massive boulders that form the reef. Huge schools of bigeyes and blackbar soldierfish were hidden in the recesses of the large overhangs and narrow swim-throughs. This site was a haven for macros. There was everything from sea slugs to tiny squat anemone shrimp. A series of small patch reefs leading away from the shoreline was home to numerous blennies, eels, crabs and an assortment of juvenile fish. Bright, colorful sponges on Tent Wall Because of its shallow depth and diverse marine life it was the site for the night dive. 42 Yellowhead jawfish Tent Wall is almost vertical and heavily encrusted with sponges Creole wrasse and brown Squat anemone shrimp chromis on Tent Wall 43 DAY 2 The large overhangs on Big Rock Market are covered with orange cup corals, encrusting sponges and brilliant fairy basslets Measuring only quarter of an inch, wire coral shrimp can Divers enjoying a gentle be quite difficult to spot drift dive along Tent Wall 44 Customs House Reef Located under the old customs house on Ladder Bay, this inshore reef is a massive coral head surrounded by sand. The northern side of the reef extends to a depth of 130 feet while the southern end is only 30 feet deep. Joe led us around this easy-to-navigate reef pointing out hawksbill turtles, massive green eels, sea slugs and sizeable snappers. Numerous large spiny lobsters lined the edge of the reef. The lengthy devil’s sea whips hosted several species of wire coral shrimp. On my way back to the mooring, I spotted a small Caribbean reef shark swimming around a small patch reef but it quickly swam off as I approached. Once all of the divers were back on board, Captain Tim motored the CE II to Diamond Rock for the next dive but due to increased wind, it was unsafe to moor the boat so the decision was made to return to Tent Wall for our second dive. The visibility was much better than the previous day and following Brett, we explored the southern end of the wall. The barrel and elephant ear sponges were noticeably smaller but the tube sponges were much taller. There certainly was more variety of fish on today’s dive—blue and brown chromis, angelfish, groupers and snappers. Big Rock Market Captain Tim moved the CE II to Big Rock Market on the south of the island for the next two dives. This was a wise decision as there was less wind here. Big Rock Market is one of three biogenic reefs in Saba. These biogenic reefs are coralline in nature, unlike the rest of the island, where the reefs are made up of encrusted andesites and rocks. Claire and Joe lead us through some spectacular reef formations.