Trip Report Aggressor 5 - Jan26-Feb2 2019 - Report

[Ministryofgiraffes]

what does surprise me about this liveaboard is that there is no wi-fi. i guess with it being a new boat and the cost of the trip, i would have expected it was a standard thing. no big deal, i guess. on my last liveaboard, we were off the grid for 4 days and it was actually kind of nice.

No WIFI on a diveboat is a very welcome thing, particularly for anyone who is on a diveboat with me as it means i can't check my email and turn into a completely ignorant stresshead when i see emails from work i shouldn't be checking, thereby ruining everyone else's vibe..

all hail no internet. as we always say in the office 'you are on vacation, if we need you we will find you, if we haven't found you..it means we don't need you, so chill out and have a beer'

 

[drrich2]

Having not been on a liveaboard before - With the set dive times, is it allowed to wait 10-30 minutes and go in after the deck clears (and the area near the boat) or do they prefer that everyone enters/exits the water about the same time?

If you're worried about a crowd of divers at the back of the boat making it confusing and hazardous, don't. The 3 Aggressor live-aboards I've been on weren't like that. One or two people would go to the back (perhaps down a few steps to it) and giant stride in, often with staff keeping an eye on things. Everybody wants a safe time.

Richard.

 

[Ministryofgiraffes]

completely agree with this, it isn't even zodiac diving. its very 'chilled and yawn' off the aggressor platforms i have been on.

 

[salth2owannabe]

If you're worried about a crowd of divers at the back of the boat making it confusing and hazardous, don't.

Thanks. I was actually thinking more about 20 divers under the boat going every which direction. I like to do my own thing and don't mind being behind a group to do that, I just like a little space. I'm sure I'm over thinking it, I'm really pretty relaxed and easy to dive with. After all, I'm on vacation!

 

[Ministryofgiraffes]

It’s buddy diving. You can go on any direction you want. I would often jump in first/last with my buddy and after 5 mins we wouldn’t see another diver until we came up.

 

[DreadnoughtNH]

what does surprise me about this liveaboard is that there is no wi-fi. i guess with it being a new boat and the cost of the trip, i would have expected it was a standard thing. no big deal, i guess. on my last liveaboard, we were off the grid for 4 days and it was actually kind of nice.

I have never been on a liveaboard that had WiFi. It’s really expensive to install and in most areas with great diving there is little coverage. Satellite data coverage is absurdly expensive.

 

[KathyV]

what does surprise me about this liveaboard is that there is no wi-fi. i guess with it being a new boat and the cost of the trip, i would have expected it was a standard thing. no big deal, i guess. on my last liveaboard, we were off the grid for 4 days and it was actually kind of nice.

No WIFI on a diveboat is a very welcome thing, particularly for anyone who is on a diveboat with me as it means i can't check my email and turn into a completely ignorant stresshead when i see emails from work i shouldn't be checking, thereby ruining everyone else's vibe..

all hail no internet. as we always say in the office 'you are on vacation, if we need you we will find you, if we haven't found you..it means we don't need you, so chill out and have a beer'

I have never been on a liveaboard that had WiFi. It’s really expensive to install and in most areas with great diving there is little coverage. Satellite data coverage is absurdly expensive.

One thing that I like about LOBs is that they give you the chance to "get away from it all" and so I am usually happy that we cannot be reached by phone, but I understand that there may be situations when this is not desirable.

Once, right before we were ready to leave for a LOB trip, a close family member became very ill and was hospitalized. We considered cancelling the trip and we had trip insurance that would cover many of the expenses, - but the prognosis was unclear and others family members were available to handle things, so we went on the trip, but we didn't want to be cut off without information.

I contacted aggressor and they approved using the ship's communication system for my family to send brief daily reports to me - everything was fine and she recovered - and I was able to relax and enjoy the trip; but if something like that ever happens again, I would probably look into renting a satellite phone.

 

[Adam K]

I have never been on a liveaboard that had WiFi. It’s really expensive to install and in most areas with great diving there is little coverage. Satellite data coverage is absurdly expensive.

when i was on scubaspa in the Maldives, there was a wi-fi signal about 90% of the time - a little slow, but usable

when i was on seawolf dominator in the red sea, we had a wi-fi signal closer to hurghada but not at all near the brother's islands.

 

[caydiver]

In The Galapagos we had nothing however if anyone had an issue that needed communication the onboard satellite phone was available

 

[Adam K]

just a quick question for those who have been on this liveaboard - regarding the camera tables and/or state rooms, are there plenty of outlets for charging? between batteries/spare batteries for cameras, strobes, and lights i typically have lots of charges going on in between dives. if not, i can always bring a power strip with multiple outlets to keep in the room

thanks