Turks & Caicos Explorer

Aquatic Adventures Whale Trips on the Silver Bank uses the M/V Turks & Caicos Explorer II as your base. This is a 124 ft. custom-designed liveaboard dive boat housing 20 guests in 10 well-appointed cabins. Two upper deck staterooms each feature a queen-sized bed, desk with chair, and picture windows. Staterooms 3 and 4 on the main deck each have twin beds and desk with chair, and large windows. Staterooms 5, 6 and 7 on the main swim with whales deck each have twin/queen beds, desk with chair, and window. The lower passenger staterooms 8, 9, and 10 are accessed via a circular staircase from the main salon; each includes twin upper/lower beds and large portholes. All staterooms have hanging closets, wardrobe, ample storage space, individually controlled air conditioning units, and private bathrooms with shower.

On the main floor, the air-conditioned salon contains an entertainment center with TV/DVD and stereo, comfortable couches, and several tables for dining. It can be accessed directly from all staterooms and the galley. Aft of the salon area, the dive deck is equipped with individual gear lockers, wet and dry camera tables, a recharging station, and freshwater spinning head breach rinse baths for wetsuits and cameras. It also has a wetsuit hanging area, freshwater showers, and a bathroom. One floor up from the dive deck, a large sun deck area features comfortable lounge chairs, and provides access via an outside walkway to the two upper deck suites and the pilothouse forward. The awning-covered fly bridge is accessed via semicircular stairs from the sun deck, and features settee seating for 12 to 15, a barbecue, wet bar and helm station.

Humpback whales are renowned “acrobats of the sea,” with most of their surface behaviors on full display year round, though they are especially frequent and energetic in the southern winter. Spinning head breaches, chin breaches, tail breaches, fin slapping, lob tailing, spy hopping and sleeping postures are commonly seen. During the mating and calving humpback whale season, it is thought many of these actions are largely used as a form of solicitation and/or warning to competitors. Below the water, humpbacks are just as dramatic in courtship and tender in mothering, and both displays are thrilling to witness. Combined with relentless high-energy rowdy group action an underwater chorus of whoops and whistles, humpback activity in the Antilles is frequent and exciting above and below water. Trips run Jan-Apr 2022 + 2023. Book early for this once in a lifetime thrill!

Having been responsible for developing the passive in-water whale encounter guidelines (and tasked with the training and oversight of other operators in the area), Aquatic Adventures is also responsible for improving those guidelines year after year. Indeed, the naturalist guides on their expeditions set the standards that all operators are expected to follow. The Aquatic Adventures Team has been featured on Good Morning America, The Today Show, Dominican Republic Tourism, in the Washington Post Magazine, and in various other magazines and newspapers worldwide. They have worked with numerous film and TV crews (Gregory Colbert of “Ashes and Snow” for his latest project “Song of the Sea”) and are accustomed to the needs of professional videographers and photographers. They also work hand-in-hand with the research community. In 2008 and 2009, they collaborated with NOAA to satellite tag twelve female humpback whales, thereby elucidating their migration patterns. The team is part of the Large Whale Disentanglement program. Every year their skills are honed and our knowledge base is broadened, ensuring you an unrivaled experience in water and above.