Check One Off the Bucket List (part 1)

gliderjohn

Member
Hi gang,
After 7 years of dreaming and 1 year of planning, I just got back from a week of snorkeling with humpback whales on the Silver Banks 80 miles off the coast of the Dominican Republic (hence my avatar!) I thought you might like to see some pics (I hope so, anyway.....)
This was home for the week, a liveaboard dive boat, with separate rooms, hot showers, a chef and lots of other goodies.

This is one of the tenders that took us out each morning and afternoon searching for the whales.

This was the only point of reference to be seen...

Surface activity - baby and mother whales breaching...





In the water...
Whale rising 15 ft. below me...

 

gliderjohn

Member
This one was a singer, we stayed with him for about a half hour as he would come up to take a breath and go down to about 40 ft. to sing. It would resonate right through you.

A baby checking me out...

More surface activity...


Look closely at this pic....

These are two roudy males fighting over a female. Notice the one's head hitting the other in the chest!
Back into the tender....

A very happy snorkeler....

And back to the mother ship at the end of the day...

To say it was a great trip would be an understatement! I think the fact that 18 of the 24 passengers on board were back for their 3rd and 4th trips says it all!
I hope you enjoyed.
 
E

eric b 125

Guest
i spent two weeks at the dominican at the riu palace, and there was a ship wreck just like that right off the shore. i got blasted drinking brugal and rented a kayak to go check it out and when i got close i realized how much farther from shore it really was than it looked. my hands were so blistered. it was great though, 8 foot waves, crystal clear water over some gorgeous reefs. hardest thing was figuring out how to pee off of the kayak with such high waves! great pics, btw. i'll see if i can dig one up of the ship off the shore.
 

gliderjohn

Member
Originally Posted by Eric B 125
http:///forum/post/3006723
i spent two weeks at the dominican at the riu palace, and there was a ship wreck just like that right off the shore. i got blasted drinking brugal and rented a kayak to go check it out and when i got close i realized how much farther from shore it really was than it looked. my hands were so blistered. it was great though, 8 foot waves, crystal clear water over some gorgeous reefs. hardest thing was figuring out how to pee off of the kayak with such high waves! great pics, btw. i'll see if i can dig one up of the ship off the shore.
I'd love to see it! I stayed at the Riu Bachata for 3 days prior to my trip. Is that anywhere near the riu palace? I went out of Puerta Plata.
 

gliderjohn

Member

Originally Posted by DragonZim
http:///forum/post/3006984
Would you mind letting us know the cost of a trip like that?
Sure. Happy to share.
One week Whale trip with Aquatic Adventures
7 day expeditions - $2,695/person
port and sanctuary charge - $150/person
cruising and fuel surcharge -$200/person
suggested gratuity for the crew - 15 - 20% minimum (trust me - they earn it - absolutely fantastic treatment and help by the crew).
Experience of a lifetime - priceless!
What's Included -
Three meals a day, snacks throughout the day/evening, all coffee, tea, juices, all linens, hot showers, air conditioned staterooms and amenities, video library, CD library, sea kayaks and all tender activity.
What's Not Included
Airfare to/from Puerta Plata, Dominican Republic
tourist cards needed for arrival ($10)
transfers to and from the ship or hotels (about $45 round trip)
carbonated /alcoholic beverages (BYO - they do a run to the liquor store before leaving port if any passengers are interested)
vacation videos, sundries, etc.
They suggest arriving a day or two previous to the trip just to make sure you get to the boat on time. (In this instance, if you miss the boat, you REALLY miss the boat!)
Because of the possibility of blizzards here in the Northeast this time of year, I went down 3 days prior to the departure date. Most of the passengers arrived the day of the trip. A couple of them almost missed the boat due to airline problems!
One nice thing about the hotel/resorts down there, most of them are all inclusive (including meals and alcohol) and very reasonably priced.
Expeditions run from the end of Janaury till the middle of April. Before and after these dates, the whales are either in their Arctic home or migrating to or from there.
There are only 3 dive operators licensed to do trips to the Silver Banks - all very well known in the diving industry and very experienced. The boat capacities are small - only 26 passengers on our boat - the others are smaller. So, it's advisable to reserve a space about a year in advance. This outfit had the largest, roomiest and most stable boat. (Not to mention the sun deck with jacuzzi!)

This is a snorkeling trip. One does not need to be scuba certified. In fact, scuba is not allowed with the whales. You just ineed to be in good health and comfortable in the water. In fact, you don't even have to go in the water if you don't want to. A couple of the guests were happy enough just to go out on the tenders and watch the surface action.
One thing to keep in mind though, unlike a trip to Disneyworld, this is nature and nothing can be guaranteed - though the owner and his captains and crew do everything
in their power to make it a great trip.
At times the weather prevented us from leaving the ship. Winds over 30 knots made it unsafe to take the tenders out. One and 3/4 days were washouts due to the wind.
Sometimes we couldn't find co-operative whales to interact with. If a whale we approached turned away from us 2 times, we would have to leave that whale to look for another. Sometimes one tender would have a lot of action going on, while the other, a mile or more away, had less luck. But when you finally find a roudy surface group, or a mother and curious baby, or a singer in the water, the down time was quickly forgotten.
I was fortunate enough to be in the company of a fantastic group of people. If there was no action going on, we kept ourselves amused and had a lot of fun. (I can't tell you how many whale shanties we made up as we went along!)
Was it worth the planning and effort - absolutely!
Would I go again - absolutely!
Will I go again - I thinks it's inevitable!
 
K

kikithemermaid

Guest
That looks amazing! I'm a marine bio major and am so jealous.
 

gliderjohn

Member
Originally Posted by kikithemermaid
http:///forum/post/3007803
That looks amazing! I'm a marine bio major and am so jealous.
You would have loved it. We had two whale naturalists onboard. In the evenings they would give slide presentations that were very informative. In the tenders, they would explain behaviors we were witnessing.And I am staying in touch with one of them.
It all begins with a dream. Then you just have to follow your dream. Sometimes it might take a while, but with a little effort, it will come true!
 
K

kikithemermaid

Guest
Originally Posted by Gliderjohn
http:///forum/post/3008590
You would have loved it. We had two whale naturalists onboard. In the evenings they would give slide presentations that were very informative. In the tenders, they would explain behaviors we were witnessing.And I am staying in touch with one of them.
It all begins with a dream. Then you just have to follow your dream. Sometimes it might take a while, but with a little effort, it will come true!
Thank you. That holds more meaning to me than you know.
 
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