$700 Off All Aggressor Cruises Book by Feb 14

[KathyV]

Travel from April 28 to August 30:

Scuba Diving Trips & Vacations on Liveaboard Boats | Aggressor Fleet

(Cuba is excluded)

 

[drrich2]

Looks like a nice sale. Not as good as the one late last year for trips ending by end of April, but good.

I wonder to what extent most people booking Aggressor or Explorer Ventures trips should wait for these sales? The savings are big, but I don’t know reliably when the sales will be.

Richard.

 

[uncfnp]

Thank you! Very timely thread. My origiinal April plans cancelled so have been looking for alternative but have to make a quick choice and also has to be a reasonable price.

Of the Belize, Turks and Caicos or Roatan trips, and if available, which would you SBer’s pick? And why?

 

[outofofficebrb]

Looks like a nice sale. Not as good as the one late last year for trips ending by end of April, but good.

I wonder to what extent most people booking Aggressor or Explorer Ventures trips should wait for these sales? The savings are big, but I don’t know reliably when the sales will be.

Richard.

I guess it depends on how popular the route is, when you are looking to go, and how set you are on a that specific itinerary or sailing. I can only do liveaboards during certain times of the year due to the busy/slow cycle at work. While vacation time is not an issue (unlimited! ), it's timing. If I am set on a particular time period and destination, I don't have the luxury of waiting for a sale because it might be sold out before that happens, if it does happen.

I would love to check out Belize and T&C on a liveaboard but I think I would only do it if I grabbed it on a sale. (I'm always a sucker for Southeast Asia.) It wouldn't be something that I would purposefully plan out so I think YMMV depending on your priorities and what you want/don't want.

 

[outofofficebrb]

Thank you! Very timely thread. My origiinal April plans cancelled so have been looking for alternative but have to make a quick choice and also has to be a reasonable price.

Of the Belize, Turks and Caicos or Roatan trips, and if available, which would you SBer’s pick? And why?

I have heard from many on the board that you don't need to do Roatan on a LOB due to the land options and proximity so put the money towards Belize and T&C instead.

 

[KathyV]

Thank you! Very timely thread. My origiinal April plans cancelled so have been looking for alternative but have to make a quick choice and also has to be a reasonable price.

Of the Belize, Turks and Caicos or Roatan trips, and if available, which would you SBer’s pick? And why?

Turks and Caicos, mostly because the best T&C diving isn't easily available from shore. You will have long trips on day boats out to French Caye and West Caicos using land-based dive ops from Provo and spend most of your day in a boat just to dive 2 tanks.

We've done 2 LOBs in the T&Cs including the Aggressor and a Peter Hughes boat and they were both great trips. You are likely to see large animals frequently in the T&Cs including sharks, turtles, sting rays, and eagle rays.

I thought that the T&C walls were beautiful but I have heard others comment that there were not as colorful as some other Caribbean destinations - so I don't know about that. I have also heard that the top of walls start a little deeper than some other dive destinations, but we didn't have any problems. All of our dives were easily within recreational limits. But I do remember a few folks on the boat during our last trip preferring to stay at the top of the walls because they preferred shallower dives, and it you tend to suck your tank dry quickly - that might be a factor to consider.

I didn't get seasick on either of the T&C liveaboard trips that we did. I tend to get seasick at the beginning of trips when there is a deep water crossing on the first night - like Florida to the Bahamas, or St. Martin to Saba, or Grand Cayman to Little Cayman. But the T&C liveaboards cruise along the T&C chain of islands and we never encountered rolling or rough conditions so I was fine.

Another nice reason to pick the T&Cs in April is because you won't be able to do a LOB in that area during the first few months of the year. Both of the LOBs that work that area (Aggressor and Explorer) divert to the Silver Banks early in the year for whale watching trips.

My only concern is that the T&Cs were hit by hurricanes in 2017, so check on the conditions of the accommodations and reefs before booking. Also, the water may be slightly colder than Cayman at that time of year so that is another item to investigate.

Grace Bay Beach on Provo is one of the most beautiful beaches that I have ever seen, superior to 7MB on Grand Cayman IMO and Waikiki on Honolulu IMO - so you should spend a couple of days on shore just to check it out. I have never seen water as beautiful as on GBB on Provo.

Another nice thing about Provo is that it is not a cruise ship port, so you don't have to deal with hordes of cruisers. The T&Cs are just as expensive as Cayman in my experience so a LOB that includes diving, accommodations, and food is usually a good choice. Belize is also pricey while Roatan looks cheap at first glance but getting there can be difficult and expensive.

Considering your list - my second choice would be Belize and my 3rd choice would be Roatan. I have done both LOB and land-based diving in Belize but only land based diving from Roatan.

Have fun!

 

[KathyV]

Looks like a nice sale. Not as good as the one late last year for trips ending by end of April, but good.

I wonder to what extent most people booking Aggressor or Explorer Ventures trips should wait for these sales? The savings are big, but I don’t know reliably when the sales will be. Richard.

We always look for specials but a lot depends on when you want to travel. My job sent me to Honolulu last January - and it was crowded and expensive and I would never have traveled there at peak season if I was paying for it myself - but it was gorgeous and so nice to leave the frigid Midwest behind, so I can understand the attraction!