Turks: Aggressor or Explorer Ventures?

[Janie88]

I am looking at possibly booking Turks for later this summer, maybe August. Aggressor has a 10 day trip on special (pay for 7 get 10) at $3295pp, Explorer Ventures has a special of $400 off for about $2695pp for 7 nights. I don't know that I really need to do a 10 night for a Caribbean trip. Has anyone been on both boats and can discuss differences? They both offer 5 dives/day. The most I can tell is the cabin bed is probably a bit bigger on EV (queen compared to double).

I'm also reading reports of diving not being great in Turks any longer. It was pretty good last time I was there, but that was 8+ years ago. Maybe a return to Belize Aggressor is in order.

Thanks

 

[donhealy]

I am looking at possibly booking Turks for later this summer, maybe August. Aggressor has a 10 day trip on special (pay for 7 get 10) at $3295pp, Explorer Ventures has a special of $400 off for about $2695pp for 7 nights. I don't know that I really need to do a 10 night for a Caribbean trip. Has anyone been on both boats and can discuss differences? They both offer 5 dives/day. The most I can tell is the cabin bed is probably a bit bigger on EV (queen compared to double).

I'm also reading reports of diving not being great in Turks any longer. It was pretty good last time I was there, but that was 8+ years ago. Maybe a return to Belize Aggressor is in order.

Thanks

Good afternoon Janie,

I like both of them - a lot! EV has side by side beds and Aggressor has pretty much the same layout as the CA IV (bunk beds). You will be surprised how much more diving you get with the extra days. I also saw the ads for it. If I had my choice, it would be tough to pass it up. You simply can't go wrong with either boat. They both visit exactly the same sites and sometimes are moored only several 100 yards away from each other. We even had one diver from Aggressor get lost one time and end up on our boat. Both captains and crews pretty much know each other and cooperate well with each other while out there.

I have always been partial to side by side beds so I have booked more often on the EV T&C II. But I do like the gear replacement policy better with Aggressor. If your gear breaks while you're on tour, they will loan you replacement gear for free. EV doesn't always do that. Everything else being equal - do the 10 day trip.

I just came back from the BA III. Excellent diving!!!! Easy arrival and Covid rules.

 

[Hoag]

I was on the Turks and Caicos Explorer II in "the before times", and I loved it!

It is by no means a 5 star luxury yacht, but you will quickly find that you are made to feel like the boat is your home away from home, and the crew will become your extended family (complete with the occasional good natured teasing at times). BTW, the Captain, JF is Canadian. If you want to be the "teacher's pet", show up with some Tim Horton's coffee.

The food was really good. The rooms were fairly large and comfortable but not luxurious. (As @donhealy mentioned, no bunk beds.)

The dive briefings on the Explorer were hands down the best I have seen on any dive trip that I have ever been on.

The dives will be pretty similar from dive to dive and day to day. You will get into the water and swim across sandy flats at 30-50 feet until you get to the wall that drops off into the abyss. At some point during the dive, you will likely have some friendly reef sharks come over to say "Hi". The "excitement" begins when you are ready to end your dive. You can almost count on the boat not being where you left it when you got into the water an hour earlier. The Explorer swings quite dramatically on the mooring. There are two easy fixes. Either go to the mooring, and end your dive coming up the mooring line, or just hang out for a few minutes and the boat will swing back to you. (BTW, it can be fun to hang on during the safety stop & "go for a ride" as the boat swings.)

IMHO, the true test of "But did you enjoy the trip?" is whether or not I would go back, and my answer to that would be an emphatic "In a heartbeat!"

The main salon.

The Dive Deck

Over/Under shot (BTW, Explorer Ventures has used this shot (with my permission) in some of their social media ads)

 

[ontdiver]

I was on the EV a few years ago. Very happy with boat, diving, and crew. Would go back w/o hesitation.

 

[gbf]

I have nothing to add about the boats, but I'd do the 10 day trip without a doubt. The 7 day trips are just too short for me. By the time you get what drrich2 calls the "workflow" dialed in, it's Thursday evening and time to go the next morning. On the 10-day trips you get to Thursday evening and you think "ahhh. I'm squared away and have 4 more full dive days" (and in my case, eating Jerry's food on BAIV).

I'm really peeved they're not doing the 10 day trips on BAIV anymore.

 

[donhealy]

I was on the Turks and Caicos Explorer II in "the before times", and I loved it!

It is by no means a 5 star luxury yacht, but you will quickly find that you are made to feel like the boat is your home away from home, and the crew will become your extended family (complete with the occasional good natured teasing at times). BTW, the Captain, JF is Canadian. If you want to be the "teacher's pet", show up with some Tim Horton's coffee.

The food was really good. The rooms were fairly large and comfortable but not luxurious. (As @donhealy mentioned, no bunk beds.)

The dive briefings on the Explorer was hands down the best I have seen on any dive trip that I have ever been on.

The dives will be pretty similar from dive to dive and day to day. You will get into the water and swim across sandy flats at 30-50 feet until you get to the wall that drops off into the abyss. At some point during the dive, you will likely have some friendly reef sharks come over to say "Hi". The "excitement" begins when you are ready to end your dive. You can almost count on the boat not being where you left it when you got into the water an hour earlier. The Explorer swings quite dramatically on the mooring. There are two easy fixes. Either go to the mooring, and end your dive coming up the mooring line, or just hang out for a few minutes and the boat will swing back to you. (BTW, it can be fun to hang on during the safety stop & "go for a ride" as the boat swings.)

IMHO, the true test of "But did you enjoy the trip?" is whether or not I would go back, and my answer to that would be an emphatic "In a heartbeat!"

The main salon.
View attachment 703169

The Dive Deck
View attachment 703170

Over/Under shot (BTW, Explorer Ventures has used this shot (with my permission) in some of their social media ads)
View attachment 703175

By the way, I forgot to mention that wet suits are hung in the middle section right over the very warm compressor. Your wet suits are almost always dry and warm for the next dive!

 

[Hoag]

By the way, I forgot to mention that wet suits are hung in the middle section right over the very warm compressor. Your wet suits are almost always dry and warm for the next dive!

Although it might not be clear that the wetsuits are hanging over the compressor, you can see that in my dive deck pic.

 

[bmag78]

I am looking at possibly booking Turks for later this summer, maybe August. Aggressor has a 10 day trip on special (pay for 7 get 10) at $3295pp, Explorer Ventures has a special of $400 off for about $2695pp for 7 nights. I don't know that I really need to do a 10 night for a Caribbean trip. Has anyone been on both boats and can discuss differences? They both offer 5 dives/day. The most I can tell is the cabin bed is probably a bit bigger on EV (queen compared to double).

I'm also reading reports of diving not being great in Turks any longer. It was pretty good last time I was there, but that was 8+ years ago. Maybe a return to Belize Aggressor is in order.

Thanks

I am looking at possibly booking Turks for later this summer, maybe August. Aggressor has a 10 day trip on special (pay for 7 get 10) at $3295pp, Explorer Ventures has a special of $400 off for about $2695pp for 7 nights. I don't know that I really need to do a 10 night for a Caribbean trip. Has anyone been on both boats and can discuss differences? They both offer 5 dives/day. The most I can tell is the cabin bed is probably a bit bigger on EV (queen compared to double).

I'm also reading reports of diving not being great in Turks any longer. It was pretty good last time I was there, but that was 8+ years ago. Maybe a return to Belize Aggressor is in order.

Thanks

Hi
Explorer Ventures is undeniably a bigger nicer boat to spend a week on. Three very comfortable decks.
I've been doing the trip for about seven years and I think the diving has been pretty consistent in quality, except for French Cay , which was clobbered in hurricane Maria, but still can be awesome.
I've attached a video from West Caicos I took in August. I'm not a video person but took one down with no filter or lights but you can see a pretty good dive. Great trip still

 

[Janie88]

I have nothing to add about the boats, but I'd do the 10 day trip without a doubt. The 7 day trips are just too short for me. By the time you get what drrich2 calls the "workflow" dialed in, it's Thursday evening and time to go the next morning. On the 10-day trips you get to Thursday evening and you think "ahhh. I'm squared away and have 4 more full dive days" (and in my case, eating Jerry's food on BAIV).

I'm really peeved they're not doing the 10 day trips on BAIV anymore.

We did the BAIV back in 2016 and loved it. I don't know why they have BAIII 10 day trips but not IV? Maybe IV is more popular. I know many people rave about Jerry's cooking but I found it to be okay, nothing great but certainly okay! I LOVED their beds that can be pushed together for king size. And I also don't mind the bunk beds b/c it's a nice way for us to stay organized.

So we've done Aggressor once in Belize (BAIV) and twice in Bahamas. We did Explorer Ventures St. Maarten/saba/St Kitts. Never been on either in Turks. I'm not really a big fan of Bahamas diving and wouldn't want to go for a 10 day. I'd do Belize in a heartbeat on BAIV if they ever have it again.

Interesting what "Hoag" says about the wetsuits hanging over the compressors in the middle of EV Turks and drying nicely, like that idea.

I would also love to do Cayman Aggressor if they ever restart that trip.

The more I think about it, for a few hundred dollars more I think I'd go with Aggressor to get the 10 days. Now I just need to figure out how to pay for it....!

I love liveaboards and the ease of diving and the opportunity to have 5 dives/day. I don't always take advantage of it, and some days 4 dives is fine, but if I want to, it's great. I probably did 3 days of all 5 dives and the rest of the time did 4 dives/day.

 

[Janie88]

I was on the Turks and Caicos Explorer II in "the before times", and I loved it!

It is by no means a 5 star luxury yacht, but you will quickly find that you are made to feel like the boat is your home away from home, and the crew will become your extended family (complete with the occasional good natured teasing at times). BTW, the Captain, JF is Canadian. If you want to be the "teacher's pet", show up with some Tim Horton's coffee.

The food was really good. The rooms were fairly large and comfortable but not luxurious. (As @donhealy mentioned, no bunk beds.)

The dive briefings on the Explorer were hands down the best I have seen on any dive trip that I have ever been on.

The dives will be pretty similar from dive to dive and day to day. You will get into the water and swim across sandy flats at 30-50 feet until you get to the wall that drops off into the abyss. At some point during the dive, you will likely have some friendly reef sharks come over to say "Hi". The "excitement" begins when you are ready to end your dive. You can almost count on the boat not being where you left it when you got into the water an hour earlier. The Explorer swings quite dramatically on the mooring. There are two easy fixes. Either go to the mooring, and end your dive coming up the mooring line, or just hang out for a few minutes and the boat will swing back to you. (BTW, it can be fun to hang on during the safety stop & "go for a ride" as the boat swings.)

IMHO, the true test of "But did you enjoy the trip?" is whether or not I would go back, and my answer to that would be an emphatic "In a heartbeat!"

The main salon.

We had the same "swing" on Explorer Ventures in Saba/St. Kitts and we thought it was fun - grab the ladder and hang on for a little ride.

The Dive Deck


Over/Under shot (BTW, Explorer Ventures has used this shot (with my permission) in some of their social med