Cayman Aggressor IV Captain's Logs

[Aggressor Adventures]

Cayman Aggressor IV Captain’s Report July 21 – 28, 2012

Water temp 84f+
Air Temp 87s + Thunderstorms
Vis 100ft+
Wetsuit Req: 3mm shorty

All 18 guests from A-1 Dive Shop from Denver, Colorado arrived on Sat afternoon with happy faces and were eager to get going. It’s a very special week this week as the group was celebrating John’s birthday and John and Holly’s wedding on the weekend! So off we went to Little Cayman with a welcome aboard briefing, a BBQ dinner, an incredible lightning show and a good night’s sleep in anticipation for our upcoming day of diving

Sunday. Randi’s Gazebo was our first site and for many of our guests their first dive in quite some time! Here we enjoyed descending into the blue, cruising the drop off, exploring the chimneys and swimming through the archway that had a sleeping nurse shark in on the ledge. We saw a couple of turtles, scorpionfish, cowfish everywhere and a cruising reef shark. The afternoon dive was incredible with more turtles, stingrays, a giant nurse shark, pufferfish and 2 yellow spotted rays! That’s enough diving for today because there’s celebrating to be done. So we enjoyed a scrumptious Cayman-style fresh red snapper dinner and plenty of fun, laughs and company on the sundeck! Followed by an incredible starlit nighttime sky! Wow! What a great first day!

Monday. Meadows was today’s site and boy did we have a great day! You name it we saw it - plus we enjoyed the swim thru’s out to the wall. The shallow reef with its many friendly groupers, 2 eagle rays, gaggles of turtles, schooling horse-eye jacks, giant barracuda and several very curious reef sharks! No one wants to leave this site however we still have more great sites up our sleeves! So the show must go on…

Tuesday. 3 Fathom Wall was our site for today! This group is on vacation and 3 or 4 dives a day is more than enough! They are all about quality, not quantity so we decided to spend the whole day here and also the night dive! “Frederica”, the giant Nassau grouper welcomed us to his home! As did the schooling grunts and snappers, yellow-headed jawfish - and a couple of the males had eggs in their mouths. Turtles, out ‘n about giant lobsters and incredible swim thrus made for an awesome day of diving! The night dive was popular (as it’s the only one they want to do this week!)

Wednesday. Lea Lea’s Lookout was today’s site. Here we get to enjoy the crevice that runs from the 20ft shallows out to the wall at 100ft! Today we were treated to 2 feeding reef sharks, another sleeping nurse shark, 2 spotted drums, mating triggers, a free-swimming green eel and more lobsters than we could all eat! 3 Fathom Wall was the afternoon site. Three dive sites in one make for plenty of things to see! Golden coneys, queen angle fish, sleeping stingrays, lobsters, rainbow squid, Nassau groupers, another reef shark, and a beautiful eagle ray all were spotted! Wow, what a great day of diving!

Thursday. Nancy’s Cup of Tea was our AM site with another shear wall with the Tea Cup Pinnacle. A short swim over to “Paul’s Anchors” allowed us to see the several very old ships anchors that have been lost over the years. A giant turtle, eagle ray and a couple of sharks top off a great dive. Next up was my favorite site - Bus Stop! You name it we saw! Eagle rays, sharks, turtles, groupers, stingrays, lobsters, channel crabs, green eels, spotted eels. The hunt for the “Sailfin Blennies” was successful, as well as spotting a couple of pistol shrimp. Today for some reason we had 3 very curious reef sharks just cruising under the boat just checking us out! We went to Great Wall for the afternoon dive. Here we have “Freddie” and his band of very friendly groupers, more turtles, spotted drums, yellow rays, tiger squid and of course the sheer wall! We then headed back to GCM on calm seas.

Friday. The Wreck of the Kittiwake was our morning site. Plenty of places to explore with plenty of bottom time being that the deepest point is only 60 ft. All that’s left to do is wash our gear and get ready for a cold drink or two at the farewell party.

Great to see Aaron onboard again (old time crew member). Congrats go out to Jessica for completing her SSI Nitrox class barely J, Lauren for learning to dive and enjoy the underwater world! To John and Holly for their upcoming wedding on Sunday - WOW! And a BIG Thank You to all for making this another wonderful fun, fun, fun week of Aggressor diving in the Cayman Islands. Please come back soon! J

Until next time…
Cayman Aggressor IV crew.

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Water temp: 82f+
Air Temp: 80s
Vis: 80-100f
Wet suit: 3mm or skin

Sunday, we departed Georgetown dock with 18 guests from Brass Anchor Scuba Center for a beautiful ride along the coast of Grand Cayman to start an excellent week of eating, sleeping and diving Cayman Style! Our first dive of the week was the wreck of the Doc Poulson and it the perfect site to start our week. The wreck is in 50ft, always plenty of critters including out resident Green Eel! A nice drop off brought in a Turtle and Ray, Garden Eels and plenty of Jacks made for a great dive. Hammerhead Hill was up next. Another beautiful north wall site allowing us to explore the shear drop with its many cuts and crevices. Our next site of the day was Babylon. Here we enjoyed another pinnacle and shear drop off, we explored the ledges and swim thru’s off the edge of the wall vis. was incredible. Babylon is one of the best dive sites in Grand Cayman.

Monday, after a late night crossing we made it over to Bloody Bay on Little Cayman. Randy’s Gazebo was our first dive site. Clear 150ft+ vis. with two chimneys, the archway, shear wall and Turtles, it was a great way to start our morning. The Meadows was our dive site of the day. If you can name it we saw it, took pictures and video of an amazing dive site. We encountered Turtles, Sharks, Eagle Rays, Schooling Jacks, Barracuda, Very Friendly Groupers, Green and Spotted Eels and more and more and more. The night dive produced all the usuals including Huge Channel Clinging Crabs, Sleeping Turtles, Lobsters and Octopus! This was an Excellent Day Of Diving!

Tuesday, morning our dive site was Leah Leah’s Lookout. Here we get to enjoy the crevice that runs from the 20ft shallows out to the wall at 100ft! Today we had incredible visibility and little or no current and was treated to Reef Sharks, another sleeping Nurse Shark and Spotted Drums. Our afternoon was spent on 3 Fathom Wall. This dive is three sites in one and makes for plenty of exploring. We enjoyed all types of marine animals, including, Eagle Rays, Sharks, Scorpion Fish, Turtles, Schools of Snappers and Wrasse. After the afternoon dives we made a beautiful dusk dive watching the reef change into night mode! Followed by a dinner cruise over to Cayman Brac.

Wednesday, Having beautiful conditions we made two dives to explore the ins and outs of this wonderful Russian wreck that was intentionally sank for us divers to enjoy! The vis. was excellent; plenty of pictures and video was taken around the bridge and stern gun. Everyone also had a chance to enjoyed going inside the wreck and exploring the engine rooms, bridge and hallways. A lunchtime cruise with burgers on the grill during lunch took us back to Little Cayman for our afternoon at The Bus Stop. Believed to be one of the best dive sites in the Caribbean! Golden Coney’s, Queen Angelfish, Sleeping Stingrays, Lobsters, Rainbow Squid, Friendly Nassau Groupers and a couple of Reef Sharks, but not forgetting the Sailfin Blennies.

Thursday, we had several guests get up at 5.30AM for the pre breakfast dive. It was awesome to watch the reef waking up, as were the divers. Also a great way to start the day and somehow breakfast tasted even better. Donnas’ Delight was up next! Here we get to enjoy a very shallow healthy reef with a shear drop off into the blue. The Great Wall was our final site in Little Cayman. This is the Best wall dive in the Caribbean, if not the world. We love the shear drop off and meeting Freddy and his group of friendly Groupers!

Friday. After a smooth crossing back to Grand Cayman, we arrived at the Wreck of the Kittiwake. On this easy morning dive there’s plenty of places to explore and everyone was able to get lots of bottom time. The deepest part of the Kittiwake is only 60 feet. Devil’s Grotto was our last dive of the week and is always a favorite. Swim thru’s, caves, cracks and crevices were there for the exploring. Again because it’s a shallow dive everyone had lots of time underwater to end a great week of diving on the Cayman Aggressor IV. It all started here in Cayman with Cayman Aggressor I in 1984 and we feel it’s still there with the best for the best place for Eating, Sleeping and Diving Aggressor Style.

Best Fishes,
Cayman Aggressor IV Crew.

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Cayman Aggressor IV Captain’s Report August 4 – 11, 2012

Water temp 82f+
Air Temp 80s
Vis 80-100f
Wet suit 3mm or skin

Saturday. Our 10 guests arrived, very excited for an adventurous week on board the CAIV with Hurricane Ernesto to the east of us. A large number of guests have sailed with us before! So a big welcome back and always great to have the first timers on board as well. As we settled down to Chef Kingsley’s BBQ Ribs for dinner, we left the dock and headed to the South Side of Grand Cayman for a good night’s sleep in anticipation of what tomorrow will bring.

Sunday. Waking up in the picturesque cove of Pedro’s Castle – a good breakfast, we are ready to dive!! Shaking off the cobwebs from those who haven’t dived in a while, Pedro’s Castle has plenty to offer. Impressive finger formation reef system with caves and overhangs to explore with healthy staghorn and elkhorn corals. Capt Alan had a close encounter with the largest Green Sea Turtle he has ever seen in over 30 yrs of diving. Great way to start the week. The afternoon dives took in the Wreck of the Doc Poulson and Marty’s Wall on the West Side. First stop down the wall a free swimming green moray eel and the very special event of Spawning Sponges! Turtles and an eagle ray cruising the reef, of course a feeding turtle and the eagle ray hung around Rich as his camera battery just died!! Staying here for a night dive with a successful search for octopus, lobster and great fun feeding the basket stars.

Monday. With Hurricane Ernesto staying to the south of us we kicked off the morning with Big Tunnels. After passing through the 100’ tunnel an eagle ray graced us with a great show, swooping and gliding along the edge of the wall. Canyons full of tarpon, beautiful sponges and sea fans make this always a favorite site. This time of year is very special – schools of silversides fill various sites and the wreck of the USS Kittiwake is no exception. A great afternoon and dusk dive with the silversides and a Goliath Grouper! Pork loin and roasted veggies for dinner, a few drinks and a card game that I’m sure lasted well into the wee hours!!

Tuesday. After checking out our options and heading to the north side, we admitted that Tropical Storm/Hurricane Ernesto was affecting us today. We set anchor in the North Sound. The resident North Sound Dolphin entertained us all, playing around the anchor line, barrel rolling right next to us, even trying to splash us!

Wednesday. A brilliant day - after the storm. Rum Point was the first dive of the day. Walls and canyons, fantastic soft corals, and large Caribbean spiny lobsters were out roaming the reef. Our afternoon and night dives took us to Babylon. Here we enjoyed another pinnacle and shear drop off. We explored the ledges and swim thru’s off the edge of the wall. A Hammerhead was spotted off the wall! The night dive enthralled all with both octopus and squid, along with large channel crabs. Even those not night diving were entertained with half a dozen squid and an octopus feeding on the surface!!

Thursday. Still on the north side, Hammerhead Hill was on the morning agenda. We had all our divers on the watch for eagle rays cruising the wall among the sheer drops, sponge encrusted outcroppings, and large schooling snapper. World-famous Trinity Caves was requested and so became our afternoon site. Schoolmasters and sunlight filtering through the tops of the swim throughs makes this site always a magical experience. We even had an eagle ray greet us as we exited the caves. The Oro Verde always delights. This dusk dive was filled with giant rainbow parrot fish nesting in for the night, a squadron of squid and the resident moray eel made this site one of the weeks best.

Friday. An early start for the “Diehard Divers” on board, Eagle Ray Rock! Amazing soft corals and a reef waking up. Watch out for the Giant Snapper! Devil’s Grotto was our final dive stop of the week and is always a favorite. This time of the year is very special as we have the Silversides in town!!! Swim thru’s, caves, cracks and crevices full of silversides and tarpon were there for the exploring. An amazing shallow dive, and no one can get enough!! Everyone had lots of time underwater to end a great week of diving on the Cayman Aggressor IV.

Congratulations to Dale for obtaining his Nitrox certification this week. Thank You all for a fantastic week, hope to see you all again soon on the Cayman Aggressor IV, and it’s still the Best place for Eating, Sleeping and Diving.

Cayman Aggressor IV Crew.

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Cayman Aggressor IV Captain’s Report Aug 11 – 18, 2012

Water temp 82f+
Air Temp 80s
Vis 80-100f
Wet suit 3mm or skin

Saturday, we departed Georgetown dock with 9 guests from England, Canada, Texas, & Florida for a dinner cruise along the coast of Grand Cayman to start an excellent week of eating, sleeping and diving.

Sunday, our first dive was the wreck of the Doc Poulson and it’s a great dive site to start our week. The wreck sits in 50ft of clear, warm Caribbean water and there are always plenty of critters, including our resident Green Eel! The hunt was on for some macro critters too, garden eels and plenty of jacks made for a great dive. Our next dive site is always the highlight of the week, Stingray City. As we drop the anchor in a shallow area of sand, the stingrays swim right up to us and they are hungry! Everyone had a chance to feed them only the best, top grade squid! Some very good pictures and video was taken. Our third site of the day was Babylon. With an impressive pinnacle this site is full of black coral, sea fans and an array of sponges. A turtle guided “Team Canada” a while, and a swimming scorpion fish delighted our photographers. Babylon is a jewel of the Cayman Islands and after securing everything above deck we headed off to Little Cayman.

Monday, after arriving late Sunday night, we woke up on Little Cayman’s Bloody Bay Wall. Randy’s Gazebo was our first dive site. We had a breezy day with a bit of surface chop – but excellent diving to be had. Turtles, nudibranchs, nurse sharks, giant sponges and inquisitive groupers made this a wonderful way to start our first day in Little Cayman. The Meadows was next on the list for Monday. As soon as we jumped in four Caribbean reef sharks came in close, then accompanied us down the wall. We continued winding our way up a natural chute through the reef and then cruised along the shallows back to the boat finding more schooling fish and friendly groupers. The night dive produced all the “usuals” including: huge channel clinging crabs, sleeping turtles, lobsters and octopus! This was an Excellent Day Of Diving!

Tuesday, our morning dive site was 3 Fathom Wall/The Mixing Bowl, where Bloody Bay Wall topography meets the Jackson Bight craggly wall. Stingrays sleeping in the sand, and plenty of Yellow Headed Jawfish to photograph. Lea Lea’s Lookout was our afternoon and dusk dive spot. Here we get to enjoy the crevice that runs from the 20ft and out to the wall at 100ft! Today we had incredible visibility and were treated to reef and nurse sharks, spotted drums and turtles in all directions. Some divers were even escorted along the wall by a resident Nassau grouper. After the dusk dive, we cruised during dinner over to Cayman Brac, enjoying the lightning show on the way.

Wednesday, the morning was spent on the Capt Keith Tibbetts 356 – the Russian built Koni class frigate. The visibility was excellent and plenty of pictures and video were taken around the bridge and stern gun. Everyone also had a chance to enjoy going inside the wreck and exploring the engine rooms, bridge and hallways. The resident Nassau grouper made a point of guiding us all around, and showing us the lionfish. After exploring the Russian Destroyer we made a slow cruise during lunch back to Little Cayman and our afternoon dive site Bus Stop. This site is believed to be one of the best dive sites in the Caribbean! Golden coneys, queen angelfish, sleeping stingrays, and lobsters greeted us below. We spotted lots of reef sharks out over the wall and coming back in right under the boat. But let’s not forgetting the Sailfin Blennies – what a treat to see.

Thursday, the dedicated die hard divers amongst us got up at 5.30AM for the pre-breakfast dive. It was awesome to watch the reef waking up - as were the divers. Amazing clear still water, turtles, sharks and historic anchors embedded in the reef. It was a great way to start the day and somehow breakfast tasted even better. A quick stop at Donna’s Delight – a new dive site for Donna and Doug who were with us for the 4^th time!! Complete with a squid line up to end the dive! The Great Wall was our final site in Little Cayman. This is the Best Wall Dive in the Caribbean, if not the world! We love the sheer drop off and the bright sunlight giving such vibrant color to the top of the wall, cleaning stations and of course and meeting “Freddy” and his group of friendly Groupers!

Friday. After crossing back to Grand Cayman, we arrived at the Wreck of the Kittiwake. On this easy morning dive there’s plenty of places to explore and everyone was able to get lots of bottom time. The deepest part of the Kittiwake is only 60 feet. Devils Grotto was our last dive of the week and is always a favorite. Swim thru’s, caves, cracks and crevices were there for the exploring. This time of the year, making this a very special dive, thousands of silversides swarming in the shafts of light streaming down into the caves. Again because it wasn’t a deep dive everyone had lots of time underwater to end a great week of diving on the Cayman Aggressor IV.

Congratulations to Rob for completing his Underwater Photography Specialty and Happy Birthday Jeff!!! Thank You all for a great week of diving, we saw it all. This really is the best place for Eating, Sleeping and Diving.

Cayman Aggressor IV Crew.

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Cayman Aggressor IV Captain’s Report August 18 – 25, 2012

Water temp: 84f+
Air Temp: 80s
Vis: 80-100f
Wet suit: 3mm or skin

Saturday, once everyone arrived we departed Georgetown dock with guests from California, New Jersey and even Germany!!! We enjoyed a BBQ ribs and jerk chicken dinner on the sun deck while we cruised along the coast of Grand Cayman as we heading for West Bay, Seven Mile Beach. A great start to what is going to be an awesome week of diving.

Sunday. First dive of the week was on the wreck of the Doc Poulson in 50’ of water. Everyone brushed off the cobwebs and had a great dive. Our resident green moray eel and a turtle added to a perfect first dive. Our next stop was the world famous Stingray City. This seems to be the highlight for most everyone on the trip and Kathrin from Germany got a lasting souvenir! Beautiful stingrays swim right up to us looking for some wonderful tasting squid. It’s an experience not to be missed. Babylon was our last dive site for day one and featured lots of black coral between the pinnacle and wall, streams of Creole wrasse like a river along the edge of the wall, and even a couple of bold channel crabs out and about feeding during the day. We finished our day with dinner and the best ever key lime pie - thanks to Chef Alan from Ireland, a movie and chill out time as we crossed to Little Cayman overnight.

Monday. Randy’s Gazebo was our first dive site. We had calm seas and excellent visibility with chimneys, an archway, the wall and ledges, along with super friendly groupers and turtles. It was a wonderful way to start our first day of diving, and first day in Little Cayman. The Meadows was next dive site of the day. At The Meadows we had close encounters with sharks, schooling jacks, turtles, barracuda, very friendly groupers, and even an inquisitive green moray eel. The night dive produced all the usuals including octopus, huge channel crabs, sleeping turtles, lobsters, octopus, squid, slipper lobsters, and feeding basket stars and corals. Oh, and did we mention Octopus!

Tuesday. Our first morning dive site was Lea Lea’s Lookout. We enjoyed swimming through crevices that run from 30ft and out to the wall at 100ft! We had incredible visibility with little or no current and were treated to spotted drums, more turtles and cleaning stations where Britany and Kathrin both got a free manicure by the gobies. After a short ride we enjoyed world famous 3 Fathom Wall/The Mixing Bowl. Stingrays sleeping in the sand - that were unseen until the last minute, surprised us and we saw some yellow-headed jawfish and sailfin blennies. There were also plenty of schooling mahogany snappers, Bermuda chubs, and grunts combined with sunshine and a depth of 18’ that made the colors and life just blow you away. Steak night aboard the CAIV was enjoyed as we cruised over to Cayman Brac for a night dive on the Wreck of the Capt. Keith Tibbetts 356, Koni Class Russian built frigate!!! Simply Awesome - and Britany even remembered to turn on her own air!!!

Wednesday. Kicked off the day with a couple of more dives on the Russian Destroyer Wreck. Our guests were amazed to see where they had been diving the night before. Mark gave them a tour inside and out!! Sue focused on the macro life, and the viz was outstanding!!! Burgers on the sundeck and a cruise back to Little Cayman were followed by an afternoon dive at Bus Stop. This is always a favorite dive of the week with many swim thru’s down sandy chutes ending out on to the wall, sharks to greet us, sailfin blennies and yellow-headed jaw fish played up to the cameras. John, Brittany and Amanda all got a friendly peck from a pistol shrimp! Sue broke through the 150 logged dives!! We had stingrays feeding all around us. We finished up the day with a dusk dive, then dinner, a drink and early to bed as tomorrow we start at 6am!

Thursday. Nancy’s Cup of Tea was our early morning dive. This is an absolutely superb dive site. The wall is vertical with huge colorful sponges. Some local sharks were also up early to meet us on the wall. Later in the morning the search was on for ancient anchors embedded in the reef. Donna’s Delight was the last site of the day. Turtles everywhere, nurse sharks, a black and white moray eel, and the smallest spotted drum Sue had ever seen!

Friday. After the late night crossing back to Grand Cayman our first dive of the morning was the Wreck of the Kittiwake. On the wreck there’s plenty of places to explore and everyone was able to get lots of bottom time, as the deepest part of the Kittiwake is only 60 feet. Devils Grotto was our last dive of the week and is always a favorite. Swim thru’s, caves, cracks and crevices were there for the exploring, along with the thousands of silversides and tarpon – spectacular!!! It wasn’t a deep dive so everyone had lots of time underwater to end a great week of diving on the Cayman Aggressor IV, which is still the best place for “Eating, Sleeping and Diving”. Thanks for a great week, and congratulations to Kathrin for completing her SSI Advanced and Nitrox Certifications. Happy Birthday Amanda!! See you all again soon.

Dive Safe,
Cayman Aggressor IV Crew

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Cayman Aggressor IV Captain’s Report August 25 – September 1, 2012

Water temp 83f+
Air Temp 80s
Vis 80-100f
Wet suit 3mm or skin

Saturday, 13 out of 15 guests had arrived, unpacked, settled in… where were Dan and Paul?? Sitting in Miami Airport! Finally everyone made it on board and after a good night’s sleep we cranked up the engines first thing in the morning - departing Georgetown dock for our first destination, the Doc Poulson.

Sunday - Our first dive of the week was the wreck of the Doc Poulson. This is a great dive site to start our week. The wreck, covered with corals, sponges and other types of marine life sits in 50ft of clear, warm Caribbean water and there are always plenty of critters, including our resident green eel, which put on a great show. Turtles kept popping up every which way you looked, stingrays in the sand, and a great reef and wall. The perfect start to a great week. Further up the West Side our next stop was Big Tunnels, a crew favorite! Huge archways and tunnels, schooling tarpon, and more turtles. The weather started picking up so we headed North to Hammerhead Hill. A fantastic dive site, incredible wall, sponge formations, cuts and crevices and an eagle ray cruising along the wall.

Monday - Due to weather we anchored up in the North Sound. It was a very relaxing day; lots of reading, playing cards, intense scrabble games, and just enjoying the local beer while we waited for the weather to improve.

Tuesday – We were all up bright and early and very excited to get back under the water. Rum Point was our first site. Rum Point will be a favorite of the week with a free swimming green moray eel, an eagle ray, lobsters just roaming around owning the reef - so many I stopped counting!! The highlight was on the way back to the boat, a safety stop accompanied by Cayman’s resident lone Dolphin!! The dolphin came over and checked out every single diver, posing for his photo and video to be taken. An incredible very special experience. During lunch we headed around to Babylon. Here we enjoyed an amazing pinnacle and shear drop off. Issy and Brian were lucky enough to encounter a Manta Ray before she headed out into the blue. Matthias survived his first night dive ever!!! And he will be back in the water for more tomorrow night.

Wednesday – This morning we dived Tarpon Alley, on the North Side of Grand Cayman with its spectacular wall and curious spotted moray it was a great start to the day. From there we headed into the sound to Stingray City…the most fun 12ft dive you’ll ever have. Even after the feeding, the rays hung around still approaching the divers and looking for attention. A great time was had by all. During lunch we headed to the newest wreck in the Cayman Islands, the Kittiwake. The whole afternoon was devoted to exploring the ins and outs of the Kittiwake, which was sank to form a reef for divers to enjoy. Everyone had a chance to go inside the wreck and exploring the engine rooms, recompression chambers, mess, bridge and hallways. The reef and wall next to the wreck delighted everyone on the night dive with sightings of Melisa’s octopus, spotted moray, lobster, crabs and an aquarium of fish feeding in the lights from the back deck.

Thursday - What a start to the day! Round Rock and Trinity Caves. An eagle ray feeding in the sand as soon as we jumped off the boat, a short swim across the reef to a turtle and four angelfish chowing down on a sponge. Three more turtles and amazing swim thru’s at Trinity – an amazing dive. We made a short stop at Neptune’s Wall with its beautiful outcroppings and sponge formations before heading to the wreck of the Oro Verde to finish the day. Shane and Paul were apparently chased down by an eel – only one variation of the story, yellow headed jaw fish, an aquarium of schooling fish on the reef, and of course the Oro Verde’s underwater mountain biking.

Friday - An early morning dive on Eagle Ray Rock to really wake you up along with green moray eels and the reef teeming with wrasse, snapper and chromis. As always, we all kept an eye out for eagle rays. A short ride down the coast and we were at Devils Grotto, our last dive of the week, and is always a favorite. Swim thru’s, caves, cracks and crevices were there for the exploring. Still plenty of silversides to watch and swim through. Again because it wasn’t a deep dive everyone had lots of time underwater to end a great week of diving on the Cayman Aggressor IV, still the best place for Eating, Sleeping and Diving.

Congratulations to Matthias for completing his Nitrox certification and Ted for reaching the 200 logged dives milestone!

Till next time
Cayman Aggressor IV Crew

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Cayman Aggressor IV Captain’s Report Sept 1 – 8, 2012

Water temp 85f+
Air Temp 80s
Vis 80-100f
Wet suit 3mm or skin

Saturday, most of our guests arrived during the day, settled in and relaxed in the sun. A great BBQ dinner on the sundeck while we awaited the late arrival the final two guests. This week we have more Girls than Guys!!! Fantastic. A couple of drinks, enjoying the hot tub and a great night’s sleep.

Sunday, early departure from the dock to our first dive of the week the Doc Poulson. This is a great dive site to start our week. The old cable laying ship covered with corals, sponges and other types of marine life sits in 50ft of clear, warm Caribbean water and there are always plenty of critters including our resident Green Moray Eel! A nice drop off where we saw a turtle, a ray, and plenty of jacks made for a great dive. Our next dive site is always the highlight of the week, Stingray City. As we drop the anchor in a shallow area of sand, the stingrays swim right up to us. Everyone had a chance to feed them top-grade squid! Some very good pictures and video was taken while large and small rays swam around our group. Our third site of the day was Babylon. Here we enjoyed another pinnacle and sheer drop off. We explored the ledges and black corals finding small decorator crabs and cleaning stations while keeping our eyes peeled for the larger characters.

Monday, after a late night crossing we made it to Bloody Bay on Little Cayman. Randy’s Gazebo was our first dive site. We swam in and out of a couple of chimneys, through the archway, hung out over the sheer wall and saw a couple of turtles, which were followed by a couple of friendly groupers and hunted out lettuce leaf slugs. This was an awesome way to start our first day in Little Cayman. The Meadows was next on the list for Monday. We encountered and took pictures of turtles, sharks, rays, schooling jacks, barracuda, very friendly groupers and more. The night dive produced all the usual’s including huge channel clinging crabs, sleeping turtles, lobsters and four octopus all under the boat! This was an Excellent Day Of Diving!

Tuesday, morning our dive site was Lea Lea’s Lookout. Here we get to enjoy the crevice that runs from just 20ft and out to the wall at 100ft. Good visibility with no current and we were treated to nurse sharks, spotted drums and hundreds of tropical fish. Joe managed to find the ever-elusive fingerprint cyphoma (similar to a flamingo tongue). Our afternoon was spent on 3 Fathom Wall/The Mixing Bowl. This is where Bloody Bay Wall meets the Jackson Bite. You name it, this Dive Site has it! We enjoyed all types of marine animals, including rays, sharks, scorpion fish, turtles, schools of snappers, chubs and wrasse, eels, and more groupers. After the afternoon dives we made a wonderful dinner cruise over to Cayman Brac. Once we arrived, we enjoyed a night dive on the wreck of the Russian Build Koni Class Frigate – The Keith Tibbetts 356.

Wednesday, morning we made two more dives on the wreck to explore the ins and outs of the Keith Tibbetts 356, which was sunk to form a reef for divers to enjoy. The visibility was excellent and plenty of pictures and video was taken around the ship. A Goliath grouper was nestled in near the bow, and the “Yellow Room” was a favorite spot for Ellen and her camera. Everyone also had a chance to go inside the wreck and explore the engine rooms, bridge and hallways. Even Dyann, who has only just completed her open water, was busy inside the wreck! After exploring the ship we made a slow cruise during lunch back to Little Cayman and our afternoon dive site called Bus Stop. Bus Stop is believed to be one of the best dive sites in the Caribbean! The reef sharks made a great display out on the wall, while the yellow headed jawfish and sail fin blennies delighted those who stayed shallow. Queen angelfish, stingrays, lobsters, rainbow squid, and a beautiful wall made for a great afternoon and night dive – it’s close to coral spawning time… so fingers crossed.

Thursday, the early birds got up at 5.30AM for the pre breakfast dive on Nancy’s Cup of Tea. It was awesome to watch the reef waking up. A reef shark greeted us on the wall, a hunt for ancient ship anchors, and an eagle ray put on a show in the sand on the way back to the boat. Donna’s Delight was a fabulous dive, impressive wall and sea life abundant. Turtles, nurse sharks, lemon rays and the shallows lit up in the sunlight. The Great Wall was our final site in Little Cayman. This is the “Best Wall Dive” in the Caribbean, if not the world! We loved floating at 20 feet looking over the shear drop off and meeting “Freddy” and his group of friendly groupers. A beautiful wall to swim along and a wonderful reef to do a safety stop on. It is the best of both worlds in diving.

Friday. After a beautiful smooth crossing back to Grand Cayman, our next dive was the Wreck of the Kittiwake. On this easy morning dive there’s plenty of places to explore and everyone was able to get lots of bottom time. The deepest part of the Kittiwake is only 60 feet. A short ride down the coast and we were at Devils Grotto for our last dive of the week and this is always a favorite. Swim thru’s, caves, cracks and crevices were there for the exploring. Not too many silversides left as the tarpon have been feeding! Again, because it wasn’t a deep dive everyone had lots of time underwater to end a great week of diving on the Cayman Aggressor IV - still the “Best place for Eating, Sleeping and Diving”.

Congratulations to Dyann for completing her Open Water and Nitrox Certifications!! Also to Alison and Taylor for doing their Nitrox cert. Taylor also clocked over her 100 logged dives!! Joe over 1500! Thank you everyone for a fantastic week.

Cayman Aggressor IV Crew

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Cayman Aggressor IV Captain’s Report Sept 8 – 15, 2012

Water temp 84f+
Air Temp 85+
Vis 80ft+
Wetsuit Req 3mm shorty, skin

Well, 12 guests and 5 crew from 8 different countries make up this week’s Cayman Aggressor’s dive team! Once again the Ladies outnumber the Guys. All were excited to be coming to spend a week onboard the CAIV. We enjoyed a BBQ dinner, completed the welcome safety briefing and got a good night’s sleep getting ready for an early start.

Sunday - The first dives of the week, on the Doc Poulson. Superb macro life as well as stingrays, turtles even an eagle ray - a great way to brush off those cobwebs and get back into dive mode. The wreck of the USS Kittiwake made for an excellent afternoon and later the night dive site. Plenty to see and do in and out of the wreck, checking out the recompression chambers, some pockets of silversides, a giant star fish - rare to this side of the island, sand chutes, a free swimming green moray and an octopus was a great end to the first day of diving. Congrats to Carolyn on surviving her first night dive!! Not so scary after all J.

Monday - Big Tunnels, which is always a favorite was the first dive of the morning. Filled with deep archways and swim thru’s our divers were trying to get that elusive ‘Tarpon High Five’. This dive site is really spectacular. The reef is teeming with fish life, turtles, and beautiful gorgonians growing out into the blue. A photographer’s dream. Next stop, World Famous Stingray City!! Where in 12 feet of water wild sting rays come right up to the divers, smooching all around waiting for a tasty morsel. Great fun and all too soon it is over. Back on board then off to the next dive site. Babylon – rated one of the best sites in the Cayman Islands. We swam around a beautiful pinnacle spotting black corals looking for decorator crabs, funky sponge formations and a sheer drop off. Pack up the back deck… it’s off to Little Cayman.

Tuesday - Waking up on Bloody Bay Wall! Randy’s Gazebo was our first site and here we enjoyed descending into the blue, cruising the drop off exploring the chimneys and swimming through the archway several turtles, a yellow ray, and plenty of reef critters. Carolyn doing the Deep Dive of her Advanced Course had a couple of friends to gobble up the eggs she brought down with her. After learning that yellow eggs taste quite good Laurence had a grouper very interested in his yellow whistle!!! Meadows was the afternoon site and what a great afternoon it was. We had two dives to enjoy the shallow reef top! And explore the swim thrus. Cosmo the friendly Nassau grouper came by and so did several turtles, the resident reef sharks, and a huge school of horse eye jacks. The night dive produced all the usual suspects including channel crabs, sharks, sleeping turtles, lobsters, eels and of course octopus! Another incredible day of diving CAIV style!

Wednesday - Lea Lea’s Lookout was our morning site. Here we get to enjoy the crevice that runs from the 20ft shallows out to the wall at 100ft! Turtles galore, a goliath grouper, lots of lettuce leaf slugs a couple of spotted drums and the highlight may have been squid mating! A rare and special sight to see. Great Wall was next, a visit with the original friendly grouper – Freddy, lobsters and the most spectacular wall in the Caribbean. 3 Fathom Wall was up next! Two dive sites in one make for a fun afternoon of exploring, swim thru’s, the shallow wall starting at just 20ft, and of course the Nassau grouper that thinks she’s a golden lab! A dinner cruise over to the Brac and a superb night dive on the wreck of the Capt Keith Tibbetts. King crabs, lobsters, squid and a big octopus.

Thursday - The die-hard divers onboard were up at 5:30 am for an early bird dive on the Russian Destroyer Wreck. That just made breakfast of waffles and bacon even more tasty! After a 2^nd dive checking out the engine room, wheel house, and of course the guns of the Tibbetts we headed off back towards Little Cayman. Bus Stop was up next, one of my favorite dive sites and always a hit with our guests! Reef sharks, turtles, more mating squid, the amazing swim thru’s off the wall and let’s not forget the sailfin blennie and jawfish hunt. We were seen off by a very large lobster prowling the reef. See you next time.

Friday - Round Rock and Trinity Caves; two dive sites in one makes for a busy dive. Fantastic pinnacles and formations of the caves, schooling horse eye Jjacks, watching out for the resident eagle ray, turtles feeding on sponges…”do we have to go back to the boat”? Last but never least is Devil’s Grotto. A great shallow dive with natural caves with the sunlight filtering through, very well fed tarpon hanging suspended in an underwater maze for us all to explore a great way to finish a great week of diving! All that’s left to do is wash our gear and get ready for a cold drink or two at the farewell party.

Congratulations to Carolyn for completing her SSI Advanced Adventurer and Nitrox Courses, also Matteo for completing his Nitrox course – and to all our guests for making this another wonderful safe week of Aggressor diving in the Cayman Islands.

Until next time……
Cayman Aggressor IV crew

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Cayman Aggressor IV September 22 – 29, 2012

Water temp 85f+
Air Temp 87s + Thunderstorms
Vis 100ft+
Wetsuit Req: 3mm shorty

We had another incredible week of liveaboard style diving here in the Cayman Islands. On Saturday we welcomed 16 excited guests, including Aggressor Fleet owners Wayne & Dana Brown, who are always a pleasure to have onboard! Our guests arrived throughout the afternoon and early evening with happy faces and they were all eager to get going! After an incredible BBQ dinner on the sundeck, followed by our safety and Captain’s Briefing, we were set for a good night’s sleep followed by a short cruise up the West Bay in anticipation for a great week of diving!

Sunday. We woke to flat calm seas and blue skies! The wreck of the Doc Paulson was our first site. A perfect location for our check out dive where we had a chance to check out any new gear, photograph the wreck, explore the drop off and generally get wet! Today we were treated to a couple of friendly turtles and a beautiful eagle ray! Stingray City was our second site. Here we get the chance to be molested by these pesky little critters. Plenty of fun was had and not to many war wounds were received. Babylon was our afternoon site before we headed to Little Cayman! The pinnacle is beautiful! Covered with tube and rope sponges and plenty of black coral. We encountered another friendly turtle, a green moray eel and a large school of jacks! What a great day to start our week!

Monday Randi’s Gazebo was our first site and here we enjoyed descending into the blue, cruising the drop off, exploring the chimneys and swimming through the archway which had a sleeping nurse shark in on the ledge, a couple of turtles, scorpion fish, cow fish everywhere and a cruising reef shark. Meadows was the afternoon site and what a great afternoon it was. Two dives to enjoy the shallow reef top and explore the swim thrus. “Cosmo”, the friendly Nassau grouper, came by. So did an eagle ray, several turtles, a nurse shark and plenty of curious reef sharks. Many enjoyed the night dive, with all the usual suspects coming out to say “hello” including several channel crabs, lobsters, eels and the largest octopus I have ever seen.

Tuesday, Lea Lea’s Lookout was our morning dive site. Here we get to enjoy the crevice that runs from the 20ft shallows out to the wall at 100ft! Today we were treated to 2 reef sharks, another sleeping nurse shark, and a beautiful spotted drum. 3 Fathom Wall was the afternoon site. This is three dive sites in one, which makes for plenty of things to see! Golden coney, queen angelfish, sleeping stingrays, lobsters, Nassau groupers, another reef shark, and a beautiful eagle ray all were spotted! We headed over to the Brac to dive the 356, aka the Russian destroyer, and what a great night dive was had! Three octopus, giant crabs, lobsters and sweetlips; even the Goliath grouper came out to say “hello”. Wow, what a great day of diving!

Wednesday. We woke to lake-like conditions with flat calm seas and clear blue skies. Two dives were enjoyed by all with plenty of bottom time spent exploring the many different areas of the Russian destroyer wreck. A tour through the captain’s quarters, bridge, crew mess, engine room and control room gave everyone a good look inside the ship while still enjoying the missile launcher pad, bow & stern guns and radar mast. Several of us explored the swim thrus on the walls, as well as enjoying a turtle and two feeding eagle rays! Back to LC for the afternoon dive at my favorite site, Bus Stop! You name it we saw it! Eagle rays, sharks, turtles, groupers, stingrays, lobsters, channel crabs, green eels, and spotted eels. The hunt for the sailfin blenny was successful, as well as spotting a couple of pistol shrimp and Wayne and the gang enjoyed some exciting shark action off the wall. Our dusk dive and last dive here in LC was on the Great Wall, which is a shallow reef with a vertical drop off down to 6000 ft. This makes for a fun dive! Giant puffers, lobsters, turtles, crabs, golden coneys and of course, “Freddy” the Labrador Grouper!


Thursday After a calm crossing we arrived on the North Wall of Grand Cayman to dive Rum Point. Incredible vis made for awesome north wall diving where we spotted a couple of turtles, lobsters everywhere, large green eel and more swim thrus. A short cruise at lunchtime to the wreck of the Kittiwake put smiles on many faces! Plenty of places to explore with loads of bottom time, being that the deepest point is only 60 feet. “Oscar”, the Goliath grouper came by, as did another giant green moray! Every inch of the wreck was explored and enjoyed before we moved over to our dusk dive at the Oro Verde.
Friday. Just three dives left. The gung-ho divers, wanting to catch the sunrise from 50 feet below, enjoyed an early 5:45 am dive before breakfast. Big Tunnels was next with a series of cuts, swim thrus and tunnels making for a fun exploration dive. The tarpon were out in numbers. As always Devils Grotto was our last dive of the week and is always a favorite. All that’s left to do is wash our gear and get ready for a cold drink or two at the farewell party.
Great to see many familiar faces onboard again, Congrats go out to Bob for completing his SSI Photo class and his 100^th dive and to Wayne & Dana Brown on soon becoming Grandparents for the first time! And a big thank you to all for making this another wonderful week of Aggressor diving in the Cayman Islands.

Until next time…
Cayman Aggressor IV crew

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Cayman Aggressor IV Captain’s Report September 29 – Oct 9, 2012
Special 10 Night Charter

Water temp 85f+
Air Temp 85s
Vis 80ft+
Wetsuit Req

We had a special group of happy divers came from all over the USA to spend a 10 days onboard the CAIV. After we enjoyed a BBQ dinner and completed the welcome safety briefing everyone meandered to their cabins to get a good night’s sleep to get ready for our first dives in the morning.

Sunday. The wreck of the Doc Polson was up first! A shallow tugboat wreck in 50ft of water with an easy 20 yards swim to the drop off. Plenty of critters around today! An eagle ray and turtle came by to say “Hi”. We had garden eels everywhere and the giant green eel was spotted inside the wreck! Every one enjoyed getting back into the water and getting wet. This was a perfect spot for our check out dive! Stingray City was the afternoon site. Here we enjoyed an hour of hilarious fun! This was organized chaos at its finest, however everyone had a great fun time with battle scars to prove it and Gary ending up winning a free T-Shirt for his hickey of the week! Babylon was next and what an awesome site. This site has a shear wall, complete with a beautiful pinnacle that is covered in soft coral. This made for a great afternoon, including sightings of another eagle ray and two turtles.

Monday. After a calm crossing we ended up on Bloody Bay Wall! Randy’s Gazebo was our first site and here we enjoyed descending into the blue, cruising the drop off exploring the chimneys and swimming through the archway. We spotted several turtles, a nurse shark and plenty of reef critters. Meadows was the afternoon site and what a great afternoon it was. Two dives to enjoy the shallow reef top and explore the swim thrus. “Cosmo”, the friendly Nassau grouper came by and so did an eagle ray, along with several turtles. The night dive here produced all the usual suspects including channel crabs, sharks, sleeping turtles, lobsters, eels and of course octopus! Another incredible day of diving CAIV style!

Tuesday Leah Leah’s Lookout was our morning site. Here we get to enjoy the crevice that runs from the 20ft shallows out to the wall at 100ft! Today we had incredible visibility again and a sleeping nurse shark, 2 spotted drums, and groupers!! Bus Stop was the afternoon site and it is believed to be one of the best dive sites in the Caribbean! Golden coneys, queen angelfish, sleeping stingrays, lobsters, rainbow squid, Nassau groupers, goby cleaning station and plenty more reef sharks all were spotted. Wow - what a great day of diving!

Wednesday Nancy’s Cup Of Tea was our morning site! Two great dives were enjoyed around the “Tea Cup” and along the wall. A short swim across the reef put us at Paul’s Anchors where we discovered several old anchors that have been embedded into the reef for quite a long time. Donna’s Delight was our afternoon site! Two more great dives on the shallow reef and shear wall with plenty of critters along the way! Yellow-spotted rays, octopus, crabs, lobsters, puffer fish, blue tangs, reef squid and our friendly Labrador Groupers! We cruised over to Cayman Brac for the night dive on the Wreck of the Russian Destroyer. What an incredible night dive we had; channel crabs, green eels, a giant puffer, file clams and everyone saw at least one octopus!! Awesome!

Thursday everyone enjoyed exploring the ins and outs of the 365 Wreck. The vis was excellent and plenty of pics were taken around the bridge and stern guns. Of course the guys enjoyed going inside the wreck and exploring the engine rooms. Bus Stop was up for the afternoon, one of my favorite dive sites and always a hit with our guests! Reef sharks, turtles, eagle rays and all the amazing swim thru’s off the wall and lets not forget the sailfin blenny and jaw fish hunt. The night dive was awesome, you name we saw it, including more lobsters crabs and octopuses.
Friday ”The Great Wall” was our morning site and once again we had incredible vis, a green eel, spotted yellow rays, turtles and “Freddy” the Labrador Grouper entertained and fell in love with all the ladies. Marilyn’s Cut was the afternoon and dusk site. A crack in the reef leads from the shallows into the blue making for a fun dive through the tunnel and a short swim up the wall produce more of “The Stuff” Little Cayman is famous for! Our dusk dive was enjoyed by all. A great way to complete another awesome day of flat calm seas, blue skies, Kinsley’s dinner and a cold glass of wine! Mmm Mmm.

Saturday the gang decided that wanted to recap a few of the dives sites so today we did “Four 4 Four “ Four dives at four sites before we headed back to the hustle and bustle of the Big Island of Grand Cayman L

Sunday after a beautiful calm crossing we arrived back on the North Wall to dive Hammerhead Hill. Today’s vis was over 200ft and the wall was amazing with its impressive formations and swim thru’s. A short cruise up to Stingray City for our weekly encounter with these pesky goumonds! The Sand Chutes Wall and the wreck of the Kittiwake were up next. An awesome dive with plenty of places to explore with plenty of bottom time being that the deepest point is only 60 ft. The tried and trusted wreck of the Oro Verde was our late afternoon and night dive site, however on our short cruise we saw a school of tunas feeding on the surface and headed over to check it out when we saw the fin of a WHALE SHARK! Yes, that’s what I said! We quickly jumped in with our snorkels and found a 30ft+ Whale Shark swimming through a gigantic bait ball with its mouth open feeding! Talk about excitement! We stayed with him for a while then he went down and the snorkelers quickly got back on the boat and we followed the school again until we saw his fins again on the surface. We jumped in again and had the time of our lives! This is one that I think several of the guests will never forget! WOW WOW WOW!!!!
Monday and the final dive day always comes too fast. Just two dives left. Big Tunnels was up first on the west side of GCM. A series of swim thru’s, arches and caves make for a great exploration dive! Followed as always by Devils Grotto for our last dive of the week. This as always is a favorite. All that’s left to do is wash our gear and get ready for a cold drink or two at the farewell party.

Congrats go out to Jerry and Jim for completing their 500 dives and Happy Birthday also to Jim and to all for making this another wonderful safe 10 days of “Eat Sleep and Dive” in the Cayman Islands and hoping to see you all again. And you never know another Whale shark may just turn up!

Until next time…Cayman Aggressor IV crew