News
New 10 Night Carib Dancer “Off The Beaten Path” Itineraries
The Carib Dancer will be offering two extended 10-night itineraries in 2014 and 2015 where guests will be able to enjoy more of what the Bahamas has to offer by adding more islands to their Liveaboard experience with some unique stops.
The dates of the two 10-night itineraries are September 24 – October 4, 2014 and September 23 – October 3, 2015.
Beginning in Nassau, these trips will cruise the Bahamas Out Islands and journey far into the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park. This protected area is the first of its kind in the world and is famous for its pristine beauty, outstanding anchorages and breathtaking marine environment. The many islands, forming a chain stretching 100 miles southeast of Nassau, are flanked by the Exuma Sound to the east providing deep-water reefs, and the shallow banks to the west providing sea gardens, anchorages, shallow reefs and passages between the islands.
Excellent diving, snorkeling, and even a few shore excursions await passengers as the Carib Dancer visits some weekly favorites such as the Exuma Islands and Eleuthera, along with some Out Islands rarely visited. Though the actual route of the charter will be flexible due to the nature of the weather, planned stops are at the Exuma Islands, Eleuthera Cay, Little San Salvador, Conception Islands, Staniel Cay, Halls Pond Cay, Warderick Wells Cay and Highborne Cay before returning to port.
Guests aboard the Carib Dancer will journey to Eleuthera for some outstanding diving opportunities, as this land mass sits between the ocean-swept reefs of the Atlantic and the shallow, underwater gardens of the great Bahama Bank. Next, a planned stop at Little San Salvador, more commonly known as Half Moon Cay, is open for exploration as the island is also a significant nesting area for waterfowl and to date only 2% of the island has been developed.
The Carib Dancer will cruise next to Conception Island, which may be the loveliest island in the Bahamas as this uninhabited island has miles of pink sand beaches, gorgeous sandstone cliffs, and an extraordinary abundance of wildlife on the land and in the sea. There are numerous locations for spectacular scuba diving and snorkeling and the coral reefs and grass flats in the surrounding sea are unusually healthy and are home to an abundance of sea life.
In all, there are 365 islands in the Exuma chain (one for each day of the year), with Staniel Cay in the center. This small island is known for its hospitality and Thunderball Grotto, one of the most outstanding snorkeling attractions in all of the Bahamas. While this hollowed out rock has been the location for the James Bond movies ‘Thunderball’ and ‘Never Say Never Again’, as well as the blockbuster movie ‘Splash’, it lures snorkelers to enjoy a natural fishbowl of colorful fish, corals, sponges and other sea life. Not far away is Big Major Cay, home of the famous swimming pigs. Yes, that’s right, swimming pigs – and guests will have a chance to share these warm, inviting waters with these friendly mammals.
Guests will then cruise to Halls Pond Cay, which is privately owned and visits ashore are ‘by invitation only’, but spectacular diving is found just offshore at a site called Jeep Reef. Out of the sand and turtle grass beds, small pieces of coral begin to appear, gradually developing into massive boulders standing up to 28 feet. There is the wreck of a jeep on the southwest side of this “J” shaped reef and typical of many sites in the Bahamas Out Islands, it is best to dive this reef at slack water only because of the strong current that maintains the pristine nature of these reefs.
Next planned is a visit to Warderick Wells, which is home to the Exuma Land & Sea Park headquarters. Unique on this cay is Boo Boo Hill, a 70-foot high hill where for many years boaters have been placing memorabilia of their vessels. From the top of Boo Boo Hill the views of the island are incredible! There are also some pretty cool blowholes nearby that shoot a tall stream of water up through the rocks when the conditions are right. From the blowholes you can take a side trip down to Careen Beach where astounding views of the Caribbean waters await or take a small detour down to Powerful Beach where you can see the skeleton of a 53’ sperm whale that washed up on shore.
Guests will continue to dive the waters of these Out Islands as the Carib Dancer continues north of the Exuma chain and back to port in Nassau.
Carib Dancer signature amenities are included in these charters: deluxe accommodations, chef-prepared meals and snacks, soft beverages, local beer and wine, tanks, weights and air fills.
As the longest operating and largest organization of liveaboard adventure cruises in the world, the combined knowledge, resources, experience, and technical expertise of Aggressor Fleet and Dancer Fleet are all focused on delivering a safe adventure you will remember for a lifetime on each and every cruise.
For more information or to make a booking for this itinerary email info@liveaboardfleet.com or call +1-800-348-2628 or 1-706-993-2531. Visit www.aggressor.com and www.dancerfleet.com for specific yacht and destination information.
Fire on Monroe Bravo is the latest book in the Jack Collier series by Fred Lockwood. Our story begins with our lead characters, Jack and Sandro, owners of Marine Salvage & Investigation Company, arriving on the Monroe Bravo Oil & Gas Platform in the North Sea. Having secured a contract for their vessel the MV Stavanger to act as support ship to the platform for TransGlobal Oil, our protagonists are on a celebratory visit.
However almost as soon as they arrive a series of explosions rock the platform, causing huge damage, loss of life and the very real danger of a massive human, ecological and financial disaster.
As the danger mounts for both our heroes and the surviving workers, Jack and Sandro will have to escape the inferno, all while trying to save the platform and the men still trapped unable to help themselves.
The disaster sets the scene for the unfolding story lines following the fate of the platform and our main characters, the police investigation into a suspected terrorist act and the actions of TransGlobal Oil as they attempt to navigate the pubic outcry and financial repercussions.
In his eighth book, Fire on Monroe Bravo, Fred Lockwood delivers an explosive thriller, with plenty of above and in-water drama, and our heroes fighting for survival, what more can you ask for?
We thoroughly recommend this read and look forward to the next in the series. For more information about his book series, you can check out the reviews of his previous books here on Scubaverse.
- Title: Fire On Monroe Bravo
- Author: Fred Lockwood
- ISBN: 979-8325324536
Available in a paperback version and for Kindle from Amazon and book stores.
In June we were incredibly fortunate to be invited to dive in Alonissos, a small Greek Island in the Sporades island chain located in the North Aegean Sea. While I have long been a big fan of the Greek Islands as a great holiday destination, I had not had the opportunity to do any diving on previous visits and Mike and I were extremely excited to see what Alonissos had to offer both above and below the surface!
The Sporades are easily accessible via the airport in Skiathos (the first island in the chain), which is served by Jet2 flights from all major UK airports from May through October. Numerous ferries and charter boats make island hopping from Skiathos Town a breeze. After an hour boat ride, the picturesque port of Patitiri was a wonderful introduction to Alonissos, where we were met by our gracious hosts Kostas of Albedo Travel and Dias of Alonissos Triton Dive Center. Mike and I were delighted to be staying at the Paradise Hotel, aptly named for its stunning views over the sea and great location for walking to the waterfront.
Alonissos is beautifully situated in the National Marine Park of Alonissos and the Northern Sporades, the largest marine protected area in Europe. The surrounding seas offer fabulous marine life, including incredibly rare species such as the Mediterranean monk seal. They boast deep walls covered in gorgonians and sponges, stunning topography with caverns, swimthroughs and pinnacles, and the first accessible ancient shipwreck from 500BC!
In locations where historical sites have been reported, the waters are largely restricted, but with collaboration between government, underwater archeologists and dive centres, incredible underwater museums are being created for a truly unique diving experience. Alonissos is home to the first of these, the Ancient Shipwreck of Peristera Accessible Underwater Archeological Site. The chance to dive into history (along with reports of healthy reef life and amazing underwater topography) meant Mike and I were keen to get in the water.
Our introduction to the diving around Alonissos was at the Agios Georgios Pinnacles, in the channel between Alonissos and Skopelos. This fantastic site was named “The Chimney,’ and proved to have a huge amount to see. We got to a decent depth here (over 25m), and marvelled at a colourful reef wall with a wonderful swim through whose rocky walls were absolutely covered with life. As well as brilliant topography there was no shortage of macro life here. We saw numerous nudibranchs, five different species in total. The second dive at Mourtias reef nearby was a shallower dive along a nice wall with lots of crevices. Several moray eels and grouper called this site home. We enjoyed looking in the crevices for lobster and smaller benthic life, such as cup corals and tunicates.
Our itinerary allowed us two dives a day with afternoons left to explore the island with our hire car and evenings to enjoy the famous Greek hospitality. This proved to be a lovely mix of in-water and land based diversions.
The next days diving to the Gorgonian Gardens and Triton’s Cave was to be even better! These two stunning sites are nothing short of fabulous. The Gorgonian Gardens was a deep wall near to the Agios Georgios islands. The ever-present currents in this deep channel meant that the sea life was amazing … the namesake Gorgonian sea fans dotted the wall at a depth of 30 to 50 meters, getting ever larger the deeper we went. Above 30m was by no means less beautiful, with sponges, corals, scorpionfish, moray eels and some rare and colourful nudibranchs.
The second shallower dive of the day was to Triton’s Cave or the Cavern of Skopelos, on the east side of that island. The spectacular rock formations had wild striations both above and below the water making a truly epic topography. The cavern entrance was at 14m, and big enough for a buddy pair, winding up to 6m and passing two beautiful windows out into the blue. Emerging from the cavern, the light at the shallower depths and the incredible rock formations made for a fantastic gentle swimming safety stop and we all surfaced by the boat with massive grins.
Check out our next blog :Alonissos: The complete diving destination (Part 2)” to hear about our amazing dive on the 2500 year old Peristera Wreck!
Thanks to:
Alonissos Triton Dive Center https://bestdivingingreece.com/
Albedo Travel https://alonissosholidays.com/activities/
Paradise Hotel https://paradise-hotel.gr/
Alonissos Municipality https://alonissos.gr/en/
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