I just returned from a six night/seven day liveaboard trip to the Bahamas on the S/Y Juliet. For those of you who are not familiar with the Juliet let me attempt to give you some information.


The Juliet is a 104ft three masked schooner based in Miami, FL. The Juliet is docked next to the Hard Rock Cafe at the Bayside Marketplace & Marina.


The Juliet carries only twelve passengers w/a crew of five. The crew of the Juliet sets the standards for liveaboard vessels as far as I’m concerned.


They are excellent in professionalism, courtesy, safety and care of service. The onboard marine naturalist presentations far surpass many of the dive seminars given at dive festivals.


The Juliet is a sailing yacht so don’t expect a traditional dive platform. There are five to six foot drop entries from either side of the vessel.


The port side has a small platform from which you can take a giant stride.


The exit from the ocean is from a small staircase also on the port side. You must take your fins off in the water before you can negotiate the staircase.


The Juliet is sturdy as a rock....once used in the artic she is every bit capable of handling rough seas and weather.


The accomodations are comfortable for two persons. However you must be mindful that this is a sailing yacht that has been in service since the late 50’s, early 60’s.


The diving: The diving was good but not excellent this time around. Last time I was in the Bahamas I saw an abundance of marine life.


That was noticeably absent this year. I wasn’t the only person who took note of this fact either.


Something is happening in our oceans that ’s not all good.


We did do a shark dive (my first) at Bull Run and that of course was exciting to say the least. One thing that was really sad was the number of lion fish I saw on this trip.


Last year I only saw one, this trip the lion fish were everywhere. We dove three wrecks and each wreck had it’s fair share of those critters.


It’s important that we understand the danger to our ecosystems that these critters present.


Anyways, let me wrap it up by saying this. I can’t wait until I’m aboard the Juliet in Aug/Sep of 09 going to Puerto Rico.


I highly recommend that you find a way to get aboard this vessel. I went on this trip alone and met the other guest onboard the first day.


I was very fortunate to find a great group of people to be with. So I strongly suggest you either know how to make friends or bring someone with you.


Better yet, just charter the entire vessel. It was a great trip for me to develop my dive skills and I loved every bit of it.


I will only do liveaboard diving and now I can add the Juliet to my list of "WILL DIVE, ANYTIME, ANYWHERE"


Dive Safe Always