22 Nov 2024
I wish the description listed that you'll take a 3-4 hour roundtrip on the vessel. It did not have wifi which was promised. The vessel crew announced at the first stop which visitors and color wristbands should get off, but for our stop, no announcement was made so we were scrambling to catch the boat to our island.
When we arrived I really just wanted to go see the sharks but the onboarding took about 40 minutes (signing paperwork, safety briefing, waiting for people to change clothes, picking up gear, etc). They didn't share the type of sharks we would see or things not to do, like touch sharks, chase sharks, stand on coral - which people did. Then we took a 30 minute boat ride to the reef. The snorkeling was amazing. We saw at least 11 sharks at one time.
They also have a video/photo option you can buy for 1 or 2 people. The photos came out great and the photographer did an amazing job of tracking the people who purchased the package, and staging photos with us. I got the photos immediately airdropped to my phone at the end of the dive.
After the dive they asked us to shower/change, then come to the buffet lunch, then check out the market and use any of the amenities - 3 pools (I could only find 2), massage (didn't feel like I had enough time to get one), or we could snorkel along the beach. My partner did some snorkeling and said it was amazing. I hung out in one of the two shallow pools.
They told us at 3pm they would blow a conch shell and at that time we should get ready to meet at the beach at 3:30pm to load up to the vessel. I didn't understand why we had to get ready so early when the vessel boarding time said 4pm. So I heard the call at 3:15pm and they said "boarding time!" I went to the bathroom to change, thought about getting another drink, and then my partner comes running telling me we have to go. We got on the last boat to the vessel.
The communication was just non-existent on this trip and I wish they had more communication up front about the schedule - such as the 2 hour ferry ride, the 30min boat ride to the reef and only snorkel for 30-45 minutes, and then at 3pm we need to head to the vessel. I wish there was more communication on the safety briefing that included how to keep the ocean, sharks, and others on the trip safe. If I knew about the travel time and the short snorkel time, I would have probably booked another trip. I felt I didn't have time to use the amenities of the island.
Overall, I loved the snorkeling part and the boat staff were super nice, loved the photos, but overall the trip needed more pre- and on-site communication so I could take advantage of the island more.