TRIP REPORT. Nekton Pilot, Belize 3/12/05

This was one of the better trips I have been on. We had an excellent crew and a really good bunch of guests on the boat. Everyone got along really well.

I will skip a lot of the particulars because 95% of the boat/operations/schedule, etc is exactly the same as the previous 3 Nekton cruises. This was my first cruise on the Pilot, though. Despite being 10 years older than the Rorqual, it was so similar that you really had to seek out the differences. The hull design is slightly different as is the steering mechanism, but all the rest is the same.

The diving in Belize was really great, too. Very healthy reefs, lots of fish on almost every dive. Nice walls with shallow tops so dives could always be over an hour. The water was a little cooler than we had hoped, though. John was at first dismayed that he brought his 5mil instead of the 3mil by mistake, but by midweek, we were all envious of him. I wore a 3mil shorty over my 2mil full suit and was OK. 78F isn’t all that cold until you do 5 dives a day, each one over an hour. The air temp was in the 80s during the day and high 70s at night.

The food was simply excellent. (Don’t listen to John who says I am not objective because I only eat Lean Pockets, beef jerky, and diet pop). It really was good. Probably too good because I bet I am not the only one who put on a few pounds that week.

I am already planning on going back to Belize on the Nekton next spring and maybe sometime this winter, too. Sure the trip costs a little more, but it was worth it to me.