electric_diver
Contributor
I was on the Cayman Aggressor IV from Feb 11, 2023 to Feb 18, 2023. This was the second week since re-introduction to the Caymans. I booked relatively last minute and was by myself because I just needed to get out of town. I picked the Caymans mostly because of the convenient flight schedules.
The superlative:
The food was fantastic. The chef, Carlos has apparently worked on the Turks boat, so some of you may know him. The food however was very rich with lots of butter, cream and salt. Very very tasty but very bad for you. Even the vegetarian offerings looked really good.
The good:
Most of the crew. There were problems and they worked really hard to address them. They were down a member for two days.
The other divers on board were all skilled with good experience.
Relatively few lionfish.
The new cabin layout: the bunks are gone in most rooms and each has its own bathroom. Mattresses are thicker and more supportive.
The bad:
The condition of the boat was not up to Aggressor fleet standards. The Nitrox membrane system was down so we had to dive air. That in turn meant staying shallow and only getting a few minutes on the deeper walls. It also meant longer surface intervals and longer days for both us and the crew.
The door handle on the door between the dive deck and salon broke. The welds on the handrail on the starboard side dive ladder gave way. There was a significant leak from the top deck into the salon. Every time water sloshed out of the hot tub (which did work) it dripped into the salon.
The main coffee maker didn’t work because it was wired incorrectly. It got fixed on the Friday afternoon when we returned to port. The backup coffee maker got a good workout.
One person said their bed was on an angle so it always felt like they were sliding out of bed at night.
We didn’t go to Little Cayman and stayed in the protected side of Grand Cayman. This is my second trip in a row where we didn’t go to Little Cayman.
One temporary crew member. Other passengers described him as a “carnival barker”. I thought he was more along the lines of a used car salesman. He made a point of telling everyone he was only there for three weeks so nobody reading this will have to deal with him.
The ugly:
The reefs of Grand Cayman shallower than 50 feet. They are nowhere near as good as I remember. There was lots of dead coral. All of the species that should be there are there but fewer in number and smaller. Deeper was better but when you are diving air your time is limited so we stayed shallow. For For example, the last time I dove “Devil’s Grotto” there were around twelve 4.5 to 5 foot long tarpon. This time there were only eight 3.5 to 4 foot tarpon.
They still charged us the full fuel surcharge even though we didn’t go to Little Cayman. The used car salesman had the gumption to tell me that the boat used most of its fuel powering the generators.
The verdict:
Unfortunately the reefs of Grand Cayman are no longer a premium dive destination. This destination is only worth it if you are guaranteed to go to Little Cayman and get more dive time along the deeper walls.
The superlative:
The food was fantastic. The chef, Carlos has apparently worked on the Turks boat, so some of you may know him. The food however was very rich with lots of butter, cream and salt. Very very tasty but very bad for you. Even the vegetarian offerings looked really good.
The good:
Most of the crew. There were problems and they worked really hard to address them. They were down a member for two days.
The other divers on board were all skilled with good experience.
Relatively few lionfish.
The new cabin layout: the bunks are gone in most rooms and each has its own bathroom. Mattresses are thicker and more supportive.
The bad:
The condition of the boat was not up to Aggressor fleet standards. The Nitrox membrane system was down so we had to dive air. That in turn meant staying shallow and only getting a few minutes on the deeper walls. It also meant longer surface intervals and longer days for both us and the crew.
The door handle on the door between the dive deck and salon broke. The welds on the handrail on the starboard side dive ladder gave way. There was a significant leak from the top deck into the salon. Every time water sloshed out of the hot tub (which did work) it dripped into the salon.
The main coffee maker didn’t work because it was wired incorrectly. It got fixed on the Friday afternoon when we returned to port. The backup coffee maker got a good workout.
One person said their bed was on an angle so it always felt like they were sliding out of bed at night.
We didn’t go to Little Cayman and stayed in the protected side of Grand Cayman. This is my second trip in a row where we didn’t go to Little Cayman.
One temporary crew member. Other passengers described him as a “carnival barker”. I thought he was more along the lines of a used car salesman. He made a point of telling everyone he was only there for three weeks so nobody reading this will have to deal with him.
The ugly:
The reefs of Grand Cayman shallower than 50 feet. They are nowhere near as good as I remember. There was lots of dead coral. All of the species that should be there are there but fewer in number and smaller. Deeper was better but when you are diving air your time is limited so we stayed shallow. For For example, the last time I dove “Devil’s Grotto” there were around twelve 4.5 to 5 foot long tarpon. This time there were only eight 3.5 to 4 foot tarpon.
They still charged us the full fuel surcharge even though we didn’t go to Little Cayman. The used car salesman had the gumption to tell me that the boat used most of its fuel powering the generators.
The verdict:
Unfortunately the reefs of Grand Cayman are no longer a premium dive destination. This destination is only worth it if you are guaranteed to go to Little Cayman and get more dive time along the deeper walls.
