Enjoy Christian fellowship, scuba diving, and worshiping God as you experience His glorious underwater creation for a week-long liveaboard adventure exploring the Exuma Islands of the Bahamas! The Reef Ministries Scuba & Scripture Liveaboard Retreat is a unique Christ-centered way to enjoy a liveaboard dive trip.
Reef Ministries is enhancing the liveaboard mantra of “dive, eat, sleep and dive again” by adding creation biology presentations, devotionals, and worship to the daily activities. And, with up to five scuba dives per day, your opportunities to explore God’s underwater world are plentiful. Other activities include snorkeling, kayaking, fishing, star gazing, and island exploring.
The Boat
The Aqua Cat is a 102′ power catamaran yacht that offers luxury accommodations, a spacious main salon and an extremely smooth ride. The Aqua Cat cruises at a speed of 14-knots getting you to the uninhabited islands of the Bahamas and dive sites quickly while her 35-ft beam will ensure a smooth ride. The eleven passenger air-conditioned, ocean-view cabins are some of the largest of any liveaboard in the world with their own private bathroom, shower and refrigerator. The Bahamas inspired main salon features comfortable sofas, dining room and entertainment center. The all-inclusive culinary highlights include gourmet American and Bahamian specialties, fresh fruit and delicious desserts.
The Diving
You will have continuous opportunities to scuba dive and snorkel. The variety of dive sites in the Exuma Cays is truly unique and offer opportunities not available elsewhere. You will have a great variety of diving – thrilling shark feeding dives, walls that begin as shallow as 40′ and slope over the edge 
where large pelagics are frequently seen, exhilarating high speed drift dives through the cuts of the cays, blue holes which are banked by patch reefs with huge schools of fish as well as other wonderful sites. Scuba divers can enjoy up to 26 dives per week and will leave with a log book full of new memories and wonderful sightings of God’s amazing creatures. Many of the dive sites are in the Exumas Land & Sea Park, which is protected so the marine life is both large and plentiful. Snorkeling is fantastic too, as you may snorkel in mangroves of uninhabited islands, snorkel with friendly stingrays, and even snorkel over a shallow plane wreck. Scuba equipment rentals are available and Nitrox is available for those who are Nitrox certified.
The Fellowship
One of the greatest blessings of any Reef Ministries trip is the Christ-centeredness of the trip. Christian principles and values make the environment very positive. You will gather together to dive and explore God’s underwater creation. But while you do that, you will also truly worship the Lord. You will receive presentations from creation science experts who specialize in coral reef ecology. You will have daily devotionals that bring scripture to the 
forefront of your daily activities. And, you will enjoy times worshiping as everyone sings songs of praise to the Lord. Since the entire Aqua Cat is booked for Reef Ministries, you will be in fellowship with others who are on this trip for the same reasons you are.
Retreat Speaker: Dr. Robert Carter
Dr. Carter was converted to Christ at an early age, but did not know what to do with the theory of evolution. He always knew what he wanted to believe, but had no way to express what he was thinking and no evidence to support his views. In his freshman year of college, he was exposed to creationism for the first time and soon after adopted it as his modus operandi. He says he felt a tremendous joy when he realized his science and his religion were no longer at odds. This joy (and, he says, Creation magazine and the Journal of Creation) enabled him to get through the in-depth evolutionary training of his undergraduate and graduate programs with his faith intact. He obtained a BS in Applied Biology from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1992. He then spent four years teaching high school biology, chemistry, physics and electronics before going to the University of Miami to obtain his PhD in Marine Biology. He successfully completed this program in 2003 with a dissertation on ‘Cnidarian Fluorescent Proteins.’ While in Miami, he studied the genetics of pigmentation in corals and other invertebrates, designed and built an aquaculture facility for Caribbean corals, performed well over 500 SCUBA dives, many of them at night, and licensed a spin-off product of his research (a patent-pending fluorescent protein) to a biotech company. He is currently Head Speaker/Scientist for Creation Ministries International-USA in Atlanta, Georgia, where he lives with his wife, Leanne, and children and is currently researching human genetics and other issues related to biblical creation.
Retreat Leader: Tec Clark
Tec Clark is a diving industry expert who has held very elite positions in the dive industry including Managing Director of the University of Florida’s Academic Diving Program and National Director of the YMCA Scuba Program. He holds over 40 professional certifications with over 15 diving agencies. Tec has received numerous honors for his instructional abilities and has co-edited several diving texts. He also appeared as a diving expert on A&E, The Learning Channel, and Outdoor Life Network. As Founder and Director of Reef Ministries, Tec uses his God-given diving industry gifts and talents to teach others about the unmistakable evidence that the underwater world is the handiwork of God. Currently, Tec is Director of Reef Ministries, a Masters of Divinity student at Knox Theological Seminary, and a loving husband and father.
Cabins
Cabins 1,2,3 & 4 each have two twins. Each of these cabins can accommodate one or two additional passengers in fold down berths. This is great for a family or friends that would like to reduce their costs. Cabins 5,6,7 & 8 can be configured as either two twins or one king. Cabins 9 & 10 have one queen and one twin. Cabin 11 has two twins. This cabin has a skylight instead of windows. Cabin choices are not guaranteed, changes may be necessary based on passenger demographics.
Rates
8-day/7-night trip (5 ½ dive days) $2,395 per person
3rd & 4th person in a cabin $1,495 per person
Port Fees: $95 per person
Park Fees: $10 per person
Fuel Surcharge: $120 per person*
Included:
Accommodations
All meals & snacks (except dinner Friday night)
All beverages**
All shore excursions
All scuba diving including tanks & weight belts
Transfers on Saturday to & from the airport
Not included:
Dive & snorkel gear (available for rent)
Port tax, fuel surcharge & park fee
Crew gratuity (15% recommended)
Dinner Friday night
Airfare to Nassau
Nitrox ($150 for the trip)
*Aqua Cat has control over many factors that contribute to great vacations. Some things, however, cannot be controlled and one of these is the cost and supply of fuel. Due to current extraordinary fuel price fluctuations in the Bahamas, we must institute this surcharge. It is subject to change and we will continue to monitor this fluctuation and adjust the surcharge accordingly.
**This Reef Ministries trip will not have the standard Aqua Cat unlimited rum drinks and beer. Wine is available with dinner.
Board after 6:00 pm on Saturday
Disembark by 9:00 am on the following Saturday.
Rental Rates & Services
Click here to see available equipment and gear for rent.
Deposits/Payments
A $500.00 per person deposit is due to secure your reservation. The balance is due 60 days prior to departure. The balance due must be paid by check or money order to Reef Ministries by March 4th, 2013.
Cancelation Policy*
1) More than 90 days prior to departure, a full refund less $250.00.
2) 90-61 days prior to departure, the deposit is forfeited.
3) Less than 60 days, no refund.
*If the trip departs full, we will refund all deposits and payments.
Insurance
It is strongly recommended that all divers have Travel Insurance. Also, due to the remoteness of the trip, proximity to hyperbaric and/or medical facilities, the diving frequency and activities, Reef Ministries requires that all divers have Dive Accident Insurance. As a DAN Instructor Trainer, Reef Ministries director Tec Clark highly recommends Divers Alert Network for annual combination trip and dive accident insurance. Click for information on DAN Trip and Dive Accident Insurance.
Reservation
Simply Click Here to Reserve Now! where you will be taken to our secure payment website. A $500 per person deposit is required to secure your reservation. Reservations after March 4, 2013 will require full payment.
Sponsored By:
Creation Ministries International