Cayman Aggressor IV Captain's Logs

[Aggressor Adventures]

Cayman Aggressor IV Captain’s Report Feb 16 – 23, 2013

Water temp 84f+
Air Temp 70s-80f+f
Vis 100ft+
Wetsuit Req: 3mm shorty or full suit

All 15 guests arrived on Sat afternoon with happy faces and were eager to get going! A short cruise around to the south side gave us time to enjoy our BBQ dinner on the sundeck followed by our welcome aboard briefing and a good night’s sleep in anticipation for our upcoming day of diving.

Sunday Mother nature decided to give us some cloudy skies and windy conditions on the north side! However the south side was calm and our first morning of diving was at Spotts Bay. Here we enjoy the beautiful coral reef as well as the drop off to the wall. A free swimming green eel, eagle ray, turtle and a bunch of jacks made for a fun morning and a great site to check out our gear and get wet! Pedro’s Castle was our PM dive. A series of caves, swim thru’s and cuts in the shallow reef is always a fun place to explore and there’s always the drop off with the majestic pinnacles off the deep blue. We decided on a dusk dive and were treated to plenty of lobsters, a channel crab and all the usual nocturnal critters.

Monday the Fish Market was our AM site and wow! What a morning! First of all the vis was 150ft+ and an incredible series of pinnacles and a swim thru on the edge of the drop off. Another free swimming green eel, eagle ray and 3 turtles were all sighted. We cruised 12 miles east to dive the caves and beautiful wall at Kelly’s Caverns. What a great afternoon of diving we enjoyed with sightings of another eagle ray, turtles, and a sleeping giant nurse shark. The beautiful wall and the maze-like caverns and swim thru’s at Kelly’s! Our first night dive produced a giant sleeping turtle, lobsters, channel crabs and yes - an octopus! A great day of “Southside” diving!

Tuesday the wind had switch around to the ENE so we ventured further west to dive the wall and reef at The Lighthouse. Here we get to explore the shear wall and explore the several chutes that cascade into the deep blue. The vis was incredible and the fish life was outstanding. Another cruise west put us on Southwest Cut. This site is known for the schooling tarpon in the cracks and crevices at 50ft, as well as, the many nurse sharks, turtles, free swimming green eels and several curious black groupers. Today we opted for a ”Dusk” dive so we jumped in around 6.00PM to enjoy the sunset from 50ft and watch the nighttime critter shift start up. Always nice to come back to the boat after 5 dives, a good hot shower and enjoy an incredible grilled steak dinner, a glass of wine, and tiramisu for dessert! It doesn’t get much better!! J

Wednesday Eagle Ray Rock on the SW corner was up first. A good dive including a couple of eagle rays and turtles,
however the vis wasn’t as good as we expected so we cruised up West Bay and enjoyed a quick dive at the Doc Poulson before heading over to the wreck of the Kittiwake for the afternoon and night dives! Two great afternoon dives were enjoyed by all exploring the many areas of the wreck that’s available to us. The engine rooms had the resident silversides and “Oscar” the Goliath grouper came out to say “Hello”. The galley, crew mess and pilothouse were all visited, as well as, the shear wall at Sand Chutes just off the port side of the wreck. The night dive was popular with plenty of nocturnal sightings including several lobsters, a spotted eel and 4 octopuses!

Thursday an early before dawn start to our day. 13 Gung Ho divers jumped in before the sun came up to see a reverse night-dive at Big Tunnels where several swim thru’s, arches and caves make for a great exploration dive. Stingray City was up next! Here we gamble with our lives (or skin) and get molested by these hungry pesky critters, but it’s a whole lot of fun! Two afternoon dives at Trinity Caves with a couple of spotted eagle rays top off a beautiful sunshine-filled Cayman day and a great day of Cayman diving.

Friday and just two dives left to enjoy! Today the seas were flat calm and the skies were blue for our first dive at the Aquarium. This great wall dive was also filled with plenty of critters on the shallow reef and wreck. 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. It was great to see lots of familiar faces onboard again and several new ones too.

Congrats go out to Jenny & Jesse for completing their SSI Nitrox class! Happy birthday again to Karyn and Jason 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]

Some wonderful vis and "Cayman-Style" diving this week!

Water temp: 80+ F
Air Temp: 80s windy
Vis: 80-100 ft
Wet suit: 3-5mm full suit



Saturday.
We started our week on the south side of the island, as we had strong NW winds and swells. All 17 guests were picked up by tender and came aboard the ‘adventurous way’ to enjoy in a BBQ dinner, followed by the Captains briefing and a good night’s sleep in preparation for an excellent week of ‘Eating, Sleeping and Diving’.


Sunday.
We started our week of diving at beautiful Spotts Bay. Here we enjoyed the shallow reef in 40 ft of water with all its color and plenty of reef critters, turtles, a nurse shark and a short swim to the wall with its many swim throughs and sheer drop off. Pedro’s Castle was up for the afternoon; we have 2 dive sites in one here! Another incredible wall with several pinnacles and chutes, as well as, another nurse shark and a series of caves and cuts that made for a fun afternoon of exploring. We followed this with a great night dive with plenty of crabs, lobsters and even a baby octopus.


Monday.
The wind was still blowing on the north side, so we decided to have a calm cruise all the way to the east end and dive The Maze for the morning dives. Another sheer drop-off provided a great deep dive and a fun swim through along with the many cuts and crevices lead by Divemaster Mark. Kelly’s Caverns was next! This site is always a favorite because of the wonderful swim through the crevice coming out on the edge of the wall. Also the many cuts and pinnacles, along with the caverns and caves (where the site name came from) made for a great afternoon on sunny “Cayman Style” diving.


Tuesday.
The Tunnel of Love was our first dive site and what a great dive we had with another shear wall that drops down to over 3000 ft. The two pinnacles here also made for great exploration. There was plenty of reef fish out and about this morning with two huge black groupers hanging out off the wall and a giant barracuda came by to say “Hello”. Lighthouse Wall was our next site. Here the wall drops straight down from 50 ft into the abyss with several cuts from the shallows leading into the blue! Everyone enjoyed the swim throughs and exploring the cuts and crevices. A little later the same few divers, once again, enjoyed the night dive with plenty of ‘out and about’ critters.


Wednesday.
We cruised west to stop at the Fish Market for the morning. This was another wonderful south-side dive site with plenty of areas to explore. More turtles, eagle rays, and the “Maze” made for an exciting exploration dive through the crevices and chutes that lead to the wall. Bullwinkle’s was up next! Tarpon, tarpon, tarpon! Did I mention Tarpon! J Several schools of these shiny giant sardines were hanging out checking out the strange divers swimming by taking their pictures! Our giant resident green eel came by to say “Hello”, as did another eagle ray! The night dive was enjoyed by 7 night divers with more lobsters, crabs, peacock flounders, scorpion fish and yes - an octopus!


Thursday.
Big Tunnels was our morning site. This is a fantastic dive and today we were treated to 150 ft vis and plenty of critters came by including an old turtle with two big remoras on its back. Caves, swim throughs, the archway at 100 ft, and plenty of tunnels made for a great morning of diving ‘Northwest Point’ style. Next we ventured to the wreck of the Kittiwake. This is a 250 ft+ US Navy Submarine Rescue Vessel that was intentionally sunk in January 2011. It’s an awesome site to dive with just about every deck and compartment open for us to explore. What’s really nice is that the wreck was sunk on the Sand Chutes dive site making two dive sites for the price of one! WOW - What a great afternoon and dusk dive!


Friday.
For the first dive of the morning we moved over to the Aquarium and the wreck of the Oro Verde. Plenty of friendly critters came by and it was just a short swim to the wall. Just behind the clear blue water, for as far as one could see, an eagle ray, turtles and plenty of reef critters were enjoyed as well as the resident friendly fish on the wreck! Another favorite of the week was Devil’s Grotto. Swim throughs, Caves, Cracks and Crevices were there for the exploring and this site is always a great way to end a great week of diving on the Cayman Aggressor IV. A BIG ‘thank you’ to all for making this a safe week of diving! Until next time…


Cayman Aggressor IV Crew

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Cayman Aggressor Captain’s Report March 9 – 16, 2013

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

Saturday. All 17 guests arrived by early evening to enjoy a BBQ dinner, Captain’s briefing and a good nights sleep in preparation of the week of “Eat Sleep & Dive” Aggressor style.

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 is covered with corals, sponges and other types of marine life sit in 50ft of clear, warm Caribbean water and there are always plenty of critters, including our resident Green 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. The wreck of the Kittiwake was our easy afternoon of diving where there are 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. Engine rooms, workshops, galley, bridge and the mess were all explored .

Monday. Big Tunnels was up first! A shear wall with a series of swim thru’s, tunnels and chutes make for a great deep dive before we headed north to dive Stingray City! Once again we were molested by these pesky critters and we have the battle hickies to prove it. A cruise east put us on Old Man Bay and Babylon! This is as good as the North Wall gets and today we were treated to 150ft vis and perfect conditions. The wind had dropped, so we decided to head to Little Cayman

Tuesday. We woke up at ‘Bloody Bay’ in Little Cayman. Randy’s Gazebo was up first for our morning of LC diving! This is an awesome site with over 150ft vis today! 3 turtles, 2 reef sharks, green eel, lobsters, spotted drums, yellow spotted ray and 2 scrawled file fish Our first afternoon dive was at 3 Fathom Wall/Marilyn’s Cut - 3 great dive sites in one! A 15 min swim up the wall put us on 3 Fathom Wall and the Mixing Bowl. A giant sleeping stingray, reef shark and plenty of schooling Snapper made the swim worthwhile while on the way back we encountered Puffers, Filefish, Scorpionfish and 2 more Turtles! 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 a 10ft Hammerhead Shark - again! The night dive produced all the usuals including: Huge Channel Clinging Crabs, Sleeping Turtles, Lobsters and yes, an Octopus!

Wednesday. Our first site is Nancy’s Cup Of Tea! Here we had 8 gung ho divers jumping in at 5:45am on a beautiful pinnacle off the edge of the wall. Golden Coneys, Queen Angelfish, Stingrays, Lobsters, Friendly Nassau Groupers, Reef Sharks and a Beautiful Wall. The Bus Stop was up next. Here we enjoy exploring the caves at ‘Cumbers Caves’, the shallow wall and finding the ever-elusive Sailfin Blennies. Next up was. Leah Leah’s Lookout. Here we get to enjoy the 2 crevices that runs from the shallows at 20ft out to the wall at 100ft. Good visibility with little or no current and we were treated to Reef and Nurse Sharks, Spotted Drums and plenty of Tropical Reef Fish.

The Great Wall was our final site in Little Cayman. This has to be one of the best wall dives in the Caribbean! We enjoyed floating at 20 feet looking over the shear drop off and meeting ‘Freddy’ and his group of friendly Nassau Groupers. A beautiful shear wall covered in sponges, black coral and coral of every kind.

Thursday. After smooth crossing back to Grand Cayman we ended up at the Lighthouse, our first chance to dive on the south side of GCM. Several crevices work their way out to the shear wall. A short cruise west put us at Pedro’s Castle. A beautiful afternoon of wall and shallow reef diving was enjoyed by all! The pinnacles at the drop off and the maze made for some great dives and a couple of Nurse Sharks, Turtles, giant Green Eel and plenty of Snappers kept all the photographers busy.

Friday. Eagle Ray Rock was our am dive and yes we saw eagle rays! As always a great dive that produced, 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. All that’s left is to clean our gear and enjoy a cold drink or two at the cocktail party!

Well done Deborah for completing her OW Diver Class and congrats go out to Davy, Cal & Deborah for completing their SSI Advanced Class Thank you all for making this another wonderful week of “Eat Sleep & Dive” Cayman Aggressor IV style!

Until next time,
Cayman Aggressor IV Crew

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Cayman Aggressor Captain’s Report March 16 – 23, 2013

Water temp: 79F+
Air Temp” 80s
Vis: 80ft+
Wetsuit Req: 3mm shorty or skin

A breezy day in Grand Cayman welcomed our divers. Most were on board by late afternoon. Dive gear assembled, cameras prepped, the beer and wine cooler discovered early on and we had dinner at the dock while we waited for the remaining two guests. One particular guest was late as he tried to fly out of the States with another family member’s passport! Nice one Palmer – who arrived to a standing ovation from friends and family already aboard. A big welcome to all.

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, turtles and more turtles! Everyone enjoyed getting back into the water and getting wet, a perfect spot for our check out dive! We next moved over to the two year old wreck of the Kittiwake. A former USA navy submarine tender was intentionally sank 2 years ago to make another awesome wreck dive in the Cayman Islands. This was also the first night dive of the week, with 7 divers on the hunt for octopus.

Monday. Big Tunnels was up first for our am dive. Here we get to enjoy exploring the many swim thru’s, caves and crevices. An eagle ray graced us with a fly-by, and let’s not forget the beautiful school of tarpon! Stingray City on the north side was our next site! Always a favorite, everyone really enjoyed the shallow dive experience, interacting with the large gentle stingrays. We cruised further east to Old Man Bay and Babylon! Beautiful north side wall, with an impressive pinnacle covered in sponges, corals and life. With so many photographers on board this was a hit! After a great dive, and a certain someone remembering her dive computer J everyone was amped for Little Cayman.

Tuesday. After a perfect crossing, great weather and seas, we ended up on Bloody Bay Wall! We woke to lake-like conditions, flat calm seas and blue skies! Randy’s Gazebo was our first site! This is as good as it gets with two chimneys, which Dan and Kath were the first to go through, an archway, shear wall, a couple of very friendly turtles, a green moray eel, spotted filefish and plenty of lettuce leaf slugs. Also an unusual sight was Bob trying to feed a lobster shell to a grouper, much to the groupers disgust! Meadows was the afternoon site and what a great afternoon it was with two dives to enjoy the shallow reef top, and explore the swim thru’s. “Cosmo”, the friendly Nassau grouper, came by with his buddies. So did several stingrays and our resident reef sharks! The night dive produced all the usual suspects including channel crabs, sharks, lobsters, eels, sleeping turtles, unusual nudibranchs, and of course octopus! After the night dive we headed off for Cayman Brac.

Wednesday. The mornings diving took place on the Capt. Keith Tibbetts; a Russian frigate purposely sunk in the early 1990s. “Sweet Lips”, the goliath grouper was guarding his spot, turtles were just waking up and a Nassau grouper hosted us all around the wreck. The bow sitting in 90 feet of water and the tower up at 25 feet is a great dive for all! “Burgers in Paradise” were enjoyed as we cruised back to Little Cayman for a dive on 3 Fathom Wall aka The Mixing Bowl. This site is always a favorite as it is where the shear wall of Bloody Bay meets the knarly swim thru ridden Jackson Bight. Sleeping rays in the sand, a roller coaster sand chute down to 90 feet, yellow-headed jaw fish with eggs in the shallows, lobsters, a nurse shark, schools of grunts and chubs kept us all enthralled, along with Bob and Susan getting quite friendly with a resident Nassau grouper. World-famous Bus Stop was the late afternoon and dusk dive. More sharks, yellow-headed jaw fish, sailfin blennies, fantastic swim thrus, and juvenile trunkfish!!! Dinner and a few wines, rums and cigars to finish the evening, we will see who gets up for the dawn dive tomorrow!!

Thursday. The most crystal clear calm day dawned with 10 divers splashing at 6 am on Nancy’s Cup of Tea. An awesome pre-breakfast dive watching the reef wake up, along with black corals, swim thru’s, and some very old anchors that have been embedded in the reef for hundreds of years. Kim had a close encounter with a turtle - seems they were both still half asleep and almost swam into each other! Lea Lea’s Lookout was the next site. The water was so still and clear you could see the whole dive site from the boat. Visibility unlimited! Here we got to enjoy the crevice that runs from the 20 ft shallows out to the wall at 100 ft with its impressive wall life. More turtles, and a sleeping nurse shark. The final stop for Little Cayman was the Great Wall. One of the sheerest walls in the world! Here we enjoyed “Freddie” for some final ‘Grouper Love’ and a graceful eagle ray that came out to say ‘goodbye’ to us all before we headed back over to Grand Cayman.

Friday. Fridays always come too fast. After a smooth crossing back from LC we ended up on the West Bay where Trinity Caves was our first dive. A series of cuts, caves, crevices and tunnels make for a fun dive and another beautiful eagle ray just off the wall. Watch out for the free-swimming moray! Devils Grotto was our final site! Always a favorite with the crowd. This week we enjoyed the silversides and tarpon, and exploring the grotto. Alls that’s left to do is wash down our gear, pack our bags and enjoy a cold drink at the farewell party before heading back towards civilization Agh!

Congrats go out to Susan, Kath and Dan for completing their SSI Nitrox Class and to Tom for doing a great job on his UW Photography Course. To Kay for starting her Open Water Course and Palmer for figuring out that his regulator works much better being attached to the tank! Thanks to all for making this week a perfect Cayman Aggressor Week.

Until next time
The crew of the Cayman Aggressor IV

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Cayman Aggressor IV Captain Report March 23 – 30, 2013

Air Temp: 80-85 degrees F
Water Temp: 79- 81 degrees F
Exposure Suit: 3mm full to Board shorts

Saturday: A full boat this week with 18 guests and it was great to see everyone as they arrive at the dock. Half of the guests have been here before and already know the boat and the crew. So welcome back, and a warm welcome to Cayman to all our newbies. Almost everyone boarded at 3pm, setting up their dive and camera gear – we had a lot of camera rigs this week. Kicking the week off with tasty BBQ ribs and Chef Kinglsey’s famous Jerk Chicken, we awaited the final guest. Once Gary stepped on the boat, we let loose from the dock, and headed off on our journey to Little Cayman.

Sunday: 6am and after a somewhat bumpy ride we finally made it just as the sun came up we tied to our first site of the week - Little Cayman’s Randy’s Gazebo. What an incredible place to brush off the cobwebs – on Bloody Bay Wall. Chimneys, the gazebo, giant sponges, friendly groupers, drum fish and sleepy turtles welcomed us in the water. Miller tried to see the whole reef on the first dive!! But his tank wasn’t going to last that long. The afternoon hot spot was The Meadows. Always a favourite with the guests and crew. ‘Fric’, ‘Frac’ and ‘Fro’ – our resident Caribbean reef sharks were out to impress as were the fantastic swim thru’s and natural sand chutes popping you out on the wall at 90 feet. A baby Goliath grouper was very special site to see. The night dive here never fails to deliver. It was Don and Miller’s very first night dive and they came across two octopus hunting and putting on a display of colour. Cheryl and Neil, doing their Advanced Course, did an excellent job on their night dive, playing with lights out, and critter hunting. Plenty of lobsters also as John even found a slipper lobster and Cheryl had a close encounter with a southern stingray. It was a great dive. Hot Shower, Hot Chocolates and Hot Towels, Happy Hour Aggressor style and a well deserved good night’s sleep.

Monday: World famous 3 Fathom Wall was the playground for the morning. Some Advanced Course deep dive skills along with swim thrus, a beautiful placid hawksbill turtle swam through everyone and another turtle delighted cameras while chowing down on the sponge the whole morning. Yellow Headed Jaw Fish with Eggs!!! Gary got some great shots and video of the ‘egg shuffle’! Karen, Karen and Jim really loving their first time on Little Cayman, especially this site. Schooling grunts, snapper, chubs, and a spotted eel was a great find. Marilyn’s Cut was a fun early afternoon dive. A cut into the reef, with an offshoot tunnel and exit out through the top of the reef with plenty of grouper just looking for attention. A free-swimming moray going about his business, and a perfect green turtle checking us out on the boat! The late afternoon and dusk dive at Lea Lea’s Lookout led to a superb afternoon for both wide angle and macro lenses. Cleaning stations, the ‘Great Room’ crevice at 90 feet, the dusk dive was alive on the edge of the reef with plenty of great dusk action.

Tuesday: 5:45 am wake up and a record number of divers!!! The whole boat was up and ready as all 17 divers made the plunge at 6am on Nancy’s Cup of Tea. Always a beautiful dive, waking up with the turtles and reef life, looking for centuries old anchors and cannons. A huge turtle was nestled into a shelf on the wall having his breakfast. The water today truly lived up to its name of ‘The Spanish Lake’ as there was not a ripple on the crystal clear gin blue waters of Little Cayman.

Bus Stop was next. A challenge had been set – a running race and it was ON. 10 Divers lined up on the start line in the sand under the boat, flexing and limbering up. GO…they were off, (and not very fast). There was definitely some foul play, regulator pulling and shoving but first across the line was Miller, closely followed by Don, Sandy the defending champ came in the main bunch. Lots of bubbles and lots of sand flying – Great Fun! Then it was the hunt for the Sailfin Blennies, which is a beautiful blennie who shoots his ‘sail’ up when he comes out of his burrow. The last stop on Little Cayman before the winds chase us back to Grand Cayman was the Great Wall. The most shear wall on Bloody Bay and ‘Freddy’ the original friendly Grouper was in great form. We also encountered a nurse shark and green moray eel camping out under the same coral head. A perfect dive before the trip back to the main Island.

Wednesday: After a good night’s sleep, once we pulled in to Grand Cayman on the sheltered south side, the first splash of the day was on the Tunnel of Love. A natural sand chute, the Tunnel of Love is the best way to start the dive, popping out on the wall at 100ft. Plenty of cracks and crevices to check out, more swim thru’s and the highlight of the day was found by Karen – a Sea Horse! Yes folks, a perfect Yellow Seahorse! Who then became the focus of every single camera on the boat!

Kelly’s Caverns and Crushers Wall was the afternoon and night dive spot. Great pinnacles off the wall, a Caribbean reef shark patrolling, and the caverns are always a delight - a real maze. The night dive was an amazing spectacle of phosphorescence! Pixie dust coming off everyone’s fins. Jim found an octopus and eventually all ten divers made their way in and out of the canyons and archways to get back to the mothership for hot showers, hot towels and hot chocolates!! Cayman Aggressor style J

Thursday: Heading west along the southern coast we stopped at Lighthouse Wall. 50 ft to the top of the wall, a large cave to swim through, leading us all out to the wall at 100ft. A loggerhead turtle surprised everyone, even Gary who was focused on a Christmas tree worm had his fin tugged and attention diverted to this immense turtle. A very historic place on the island, Pedro’s Castle was next on the agenda with impressive pinnacles, the tops of which are 80-100ft deep, and finger formations with deep canyons. Everyone had a great time swimming in and out of these. Mark and Sue had a great long swim – we think they were trying to board a cruise ship. The 3^rd site of the day was Bullwinkle. Tarpon, and more Tarpon, archways and swim throughs as we wound our way around the reef, down through the reef, under the reef – a large lobster was out and about during daylight hours, drum fish, jawfish, healthy stag and elk horn corals along the tops of the reef – a fun, fun dive. The 4^th site today, and the final stop was the wreck of the Doc Poulson. An ex-Japanese tug/cable laying vessel purpose sunk back in the 80’s, covered in sponges and soft corals and yes, ‘Wonky’ the huge resident green moray eel was home! It was a great dusk dive for the hardy few who managed to resist the urge for an early ‘Happy Hour’.

Friday: The wreck of the USS Kittiwake!!! Sunk just over two years ago, she is a great wreck, very open and great for exploring. Watch out for the grouper checking himself out in the mirror! Go and sit in the recompression chambers 40ft under water, great photo opportunities. The Oro Verde and Peter’s Reef, which really is an aquarium, was the final site of the week. A shipwreck, scattered about the sand next to a reef, yellow headed jaw fish, plenty of schooling fish and the bicycle! A fun dive to end the week. We then surfaced to wash down and dry out all the dive gear.
Wow, what a week, once again it is over all too quickly. Congratulations to Don, Miller, Cheryl and Neil for completing their SSI Nitrox Course on board, also Cheryl and Neil for doing their Advanced as well! And the compass does work!

Thank you to everyone for a fantastic week of antics, eating, sleeping and of course - Diving!! See you all again soon.
Cayman Aggressor IV
Capt and Crew

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Cayman Aggressor IV Captain’s Report March 30 – April 6, 2013

Water temp 79f+
Air Temp 80s
Vis 80ft+

Start your engines for another week onboard the Cayman Aggressor IV. We had the pleasure of being joined by 14 guests from the USA, Italy and Belgium! Team Belgium weren’t due in until later Saturday night so we spent the night at the dock, enjoyed a great dinner and introductions. Already this is kicking off to be an entertaining week, plenty of cheeky folks already giving the crew and each other a hard time. We love it.

Sunday. The Doc Poulson was our first site. The small tugboat shipwreck always provides plenty of critters and the resident green moray! Stingrays and garden eels in the sand, a curious turtle all make for a perfect start to a week of diving in Cayman. Hopping over to the Kittiwake, a two-year-old purpose sunk wreck in 50 ft of water. Cheryl hit her 50^th Dive and great fun was had investigating the wreck, very open. Lots of sergeant majors fiercely protecting their eggs was very special to see and a majestic eagle ray came by to say ‘hi’! The night dive, which was also Ashton's 400^th Dive, was awesome! Several octopuses, channel crabs, giant lobsters and a sleeping turtle were all documented by the cameras. Wow, what a day!

Monday. Big Tunnels and here we get to enjoy the majestic caverns, caves, swim thru’s and tunnels, along with a school of tarpon, a couple of turtles and Caribbean lobsters. Ross thought the Cayman Aggressor had shrunk and came up to the wrong boat!!! He won’t live that one down this week J Stingray City was a delightful experience. Plenty of southern stingrays, everyone had a great time, Warren so enjoyed the rays sucking on his arm, apparently he was seen rubbing squid on his arm to encourage them – some people will do anything for a prize! World-famous Babylon, with a sheer wall and one of the most picturesque pinnacles to corkscrew around was the third and final dive site for the day. Happy faces getting back on the boat, settling in for a night at sea while we make our way to Little Cayman.

Tuesday. Welcome to Little Cayman, welcome to Bloody Bay Wall, Randy’s Gazebo was a hit. No one wanted to get out of the water. Groupers hunting lionfish, chimneys, the gazebo, a spotted eel, a nurse shark and of course, lobsters. It is mating season here, and the lobsters are out and about, bold in the daylight. Ashton had a huge male lobster posing (or just being brave) on top of a brain coral while the female was tucked underneath. Incredible photos. The afternoon dive site – Larry’s 50^th Dive was The Meadows. Can I just say wow! Unbelievable dive. Sharks just swimming with us all over the wall, groupers adopting us, hoping we would help them catch dinner, Nassau groupers giving out “Grouper Love” – I think half of our divers were smitten by a grouper – Super friendly turtles, happy to meander along with a diver or four; just incredible experiences and encounters all day long. Almost all our divers were in for the night dive. Nicole and Pierre saw everything you could ever want to see on a night dive! Big smiles all around and of course hot chocolates, hot towels and hot tub!

Wednesday. Three-Fathom Wall!! A spectacular dive. Especially when Mike figures out his wetsuit is on backwards! Where the shear wall of Bloody Bay meets Shark Alley and the Jackson Bight. Several crevices running through the edge of the wall make for some fun dives, spotted eels, hogfish, giant groupers and spectacular sponge formations, two beautiful eagle rays just cruising in the shallows and off the wall, and of course the yellow headed jawfish with eggs. Donna’s Delight, a classic example of Bloody Bay diving, 35ft on top of the wall, great colour and fish life. With the swell dropping off, we moved to Lea Lea’s Lookout for the late afternoon and dusk dive. Action all over the reef, dropping down through the ‘Great Room Crevice’, watching all the dusk antics – everywhere you looked there were boys chasing girls, fighting, feeding, frolicking, and Massimo appears to be a ‘Moray Eel Charmer’. A great day of diving.

Thursday. Where is the week going! Nancy’s Cup of Tea greeted the 10 divers at 6 am! My favourite dive of the week. Waking up with the reef, fish, turtles and sharks. The critters and divers alike all moving slow and easy, meandering down the wall, around the pinnacle, through the black corals, searching for ancient anchors dating back to the 1600’s – Alas, we can’t stay down here forever and breakfast is waiting! Bus Stop was the next stop. A mini wall teeming with life and a deep wall, natural sand chutes form great swim throughs under the reef. The last site before we set sail is Great Wall. This most impressive shear wall filled with a tapestry of colorful sponges, black corals, and of course the original friendly grouper ‘Freddy’. Everyone got some attention from ‘Freddy’ and Ross finally remembered to turn his air on, and farewell to Little Cayman.

Friday. Round Rock & Trinity Caves was our morning site. Two dives sites for the price of one! An easy swim along the wall to the caves and long tunnels at Trinity! Another friendly turtle, hog snapper, schooling jacks and round rock always is a thrill to explore. A short cruise over to Devil’s Grotto finished off our week of diving Cayman style! All that’s left is to wash down our gear pack our bags and drink a cold one or two at the farewell party.

Plenty of awards this week, a special congratulations to Angi, Mike and Ross for completing their SSI Nitrox Course. Thanks to all for making this Easter Week a very entertaining, safe week of Eating, Sleeping & Diving Aggressor style.

Until next time -
The Crew of the Cayman Aggressor IV

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Cayman Aggressor IV Captain’s Report April 6 – 13, 2013
Celebrating Stan Waterman’s 90th Birthday

Water temp 79f+
Air Temp 80s
Vis 80ft+
Wetsuit 3-5mm

Saturday. What an exciting week is upon us! Not only is this Owner's Week with Wayne B & Wayne H onboard, but we also have the pleasure of Stan Waterman and his lovely daughter Susy to celebrate his 90^th - YES 90th birthday, and sadly his last week of diving! L surrounded by many of his close friends. We boarded everyone on the south side of the island and after unpacking several tons of camera gear we enjoyed Chef Kingsley's BBQ, a safety briefing and a good night’s sleep.

Sunday. A flat calm morning was a perfect start for our week of diving Aggressor style. Bullwinkle is always a great place to start with its beautiful archways and swim thrus, clear waters, and no current, and schooling tarpon! A lunchtime cruise along the Southside put us on the Tunnel of Love on the east end. Wow, here we enjoyed the several pinnacles that reach up from the depths, as well as the many cuts, cracks, crevices, and not forgetting the beautiful Tunnel of Love crevice that heads from the sandy shallows to the drop off! The weather was improving so we decided to make the 8-hour crossing to Little Cayman.

Monday. After a little bumpy crossing we arrived at Bloody Bay in Little Cayman. Our first site was Randy’s Gazebo. Plenty to see here, including the beautiful drop off, the two chimneys, the archway, and the amazing 100ft ledge, turtles, a pair of French angel fish, and plenty of groupers, and scorpionfish. Two great dives were enjoyed by all and after an excellent lunch we headed over to Jackson Bight. What a great afternoon at The Meadows! Flat calm seas and blue skies. Friendly groupers, eagle rays, turtles, swim thru’s and a couple of curious reef sharks! The night dive produced plenty of nighttime critters including, Caribbean lobsters, channel crabs, sleeping turtle, octopus and Wayne H treated us to an incredible psychedelic light show using his new UW lights.

Tuesday. Lea Lea’s Lookout was up first. A winding crevice creeps out to the wall were we spotted another eagle ray, turtle and two lobsters, reef sharks, barracuda, and a free swimming green eel. A swim up the ‘Great Room’ and a visit to the wall made for a great morning of diving. 3 Fathom Wall was our afternoon dive site. 150ft vis and calm seas made for a great afternoon of LC diving. The hunt for the male jawfish with eggs was successful as well as another feeding green eel, two turtles, sleeping stingrays and another sleeping nurse shark! We cruised over to Cayman Brac to dive the Russian Destroyer for the night dive. Once again, we enjoyed all the usual nocturnal critters, as well as, a sleeping turtle and another octopus.

Wednesday. Here we stayed for the morning enjoying two dives on this wreck. A little exploring put us in the engine room, crew mess, Capt quarters and bridge. Scorpionfish, spotted stingray, green eel and a peacock flounder all came by to say ‘hello’. Bus Stop was up next! A shallow mini-wall and a true deep wall make for a fun afternoon. Swim thru’s, sharks, rays, more turtles, the elusive sail fin blennies, snapping shrimps, and corkscrew anemones were all enjoyed. The night dive produced channel crabs, lobsters, a beautiful octopus and a sleeping turtle.

Thursday. We enjoyed the sunrise at Nancy’s Cup Of Tea. Great way to see the reef come alive in the morning! A couple of reef sharks, a turtle, eagle ray, yellow ray and the old anchors were enjoyed by us all. The Great Wall was our final stop in LC and what a site it was. A shear vertical wall dropping into the abyss from 30ft makes for a dramatic descent! ‘Freddie’ the friendly Nassau grouper came by, as did a couple of his gang! Nurse shark, turtles and a pair of mating puffers came out to play along with orange scrawled filefish and spotted drums. Plenty to see here with a beautiful reef and great vis. Time to head back to Grand Cayman. We have had a beautiful week here in LC and the icing on the cake was the dolphin escort that lead us back to the mother island!

Friday. As always come around too fast! Two last morning dives finished off our week of diving Cayman style! Stingray City was up first and what a great dive! These pesky critters were very hungry this morning and we have the battle scars to prove it! Our final site of the week was on the wreck of the Kittiwake! Here we enjoyed exploring the many decks and engine room spaces, as well as the bridge, mess hall, crew quarters and plenty of critters to photograph followed by a tour of the tunnels, cuts, crevices and chutes at the Sand Chutes.

All that’s left is to wash down our gear, pack our bags, and celebrate Stan Waterman’s last week onboard the Aggressor & Dancer Fleet and his 90^th birthday surrounded by 50+ of his closest longtime friends and dive buddies from around the world! Always a pleasure to have Wayne H & Wayne B and his wife Dana onboard, and thanks to all for making this a wonderful, memorable, safe week of ‘Eating, Sleeping & Diving Aggressor Style’.

Until next time,
The Crew of the Cayman Aggressor IV

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Cayman Aggressor IV Captain’s Report April 13 – 20, 2013

Water temp: 81F+
Air Temp: 80s
Vis: 80ft+
Wetsuit Req: 3mm full suit/shorty

Fifteen excited guests (many familiar faces) joined us right at 3:00 pm for a week of Cayman Islands diving ‘Aggressor Style’. After settling in we had time to enjoy our BBQ dinner on the sundeck followed by our Welcome Aboard & Safety briefing and a good night’s sleep in anticipation for our upcoming days’ of diving.

Sunday. We woke to lake-like conditions with flat calm seas and blue skies! The wreck of the Doc Poulson was our first site. A perfect location to check out any new gear, photograph the wreck, explore the drop off and generally get wet! Stingray City was our second site and here we get the chance to be molested by these pesky little critters. Plenty of fun was had and not too many war wounds were received. Rum Point was our afternoon site before we headed to Little Cayman.

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. We encountered a sleeping nurse shark, friendly Nassau groupers, green eels and plenty of nudibranchs. Meadows was the afternoon site and what a great afternoon it was. Two dives to enjoy the shallow reef top and to explore the swim thrus. Cosmo, the friendly Nassau grouper, came by and so did an eagle ray, several turtles, nurse shark and a couple of reef sharks. The night dive produced all the usual suspects including channel crabs, lobsters, eels and of course at least one incredible octopus!

Tuesday. Lea Lea’s Lookout was our morning dive site. Here we get to enjoy the crevice that runs from the 20-foot shallows out to the wall at 100 feet! Today we were treated to two feeding reef sharks, another sleeping nurse shark, two 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 angelfish, sleeping stingrays, lobsters, Nassau groupers, another reef shark, and male jawfish with eggs all were spotted! For the dusk dive more nocturnal critters came out to play with more crabs, more lobsters and another octopus! Wow, what a great day of diving!

Wednesday. We cruised over to Cayman Brac last night to dive the wreck of the Russian Destroyer 356. Again we woke to lake-like conditions with flat calm seas and clear blue skies. Two dives were enjoyed by all, exploring the many different areas of the 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 and stern guns, and radar mast. Back to LC for the afternoon dives to my favorite site Bus Stop! You name it we saw it type of dive! Eagle rays, sharks, turtles, groupers, nurse sharks, stingrays, lobsters, channel crabs, green eels, spotted eels and more. The night dive was awesome with all the usual suspects and yes another octopus! Another incredible day of diving CAIV style!

Thursday. Nancy’s Cup Of Tea was our site for the morning dives. An early, before dawn, start to our day today with four ‘Gung Ho’ divers jumping in before the sun came up to see a reverse night-dive. Sharks, several turtles, schooling jacks, grouper cleaning stations and a shear wall, a 2^nd dive at our normal time of 7:45am with more sharks a swim down the wall to the old anchors and the incredible swim thru’s were all enjoyed before we headed over to the Great Wall for the afternoon dives. Here we have Freddie and his band of very friendly groupers, more turtles, spotted drums, octopus and plenty of nudibranchs.

Friday. Just two dives left to enjoy the first being Big Tunnels were we enjoy the amazing swim thru’s and tunnels then over to Devils Grotto for our last dive of the week and as 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. It was wonderful seeing many familiar faces and a few new ones 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 April 20 – 27, 2013

Water temp: 80f+
Air Temp: 80s
Vis: 80ft+

And another awesome week of Cayman Islands diving was enjoyed by our group this week from around the USA and a couple from Germany! Once everyone was onboard we settled everyone in and completed the Captains briefing followed some of the best BBQ in the islands and a good night’s sleep in anticipation for a great week of diving.

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 and everyone enjoyed getting back into the water and getting wet. It was a perfect spot to check those camera’s and for our check out dive! Stingray City was the afternoon site and 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 Jason ending up winning a free T-Shirt for his hickey of the week! A short cruise east put us on Babylon. We all agreed this is one of the best dives in GCM with a shear wall and incredible drop off!

Monday. After a calm crossing we ended up on Bloody Bay Wall! 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 several turtles, a yellow ray, 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, several turtles, nurse shark, school of squid, and a couple of reef sharks. The night dive produced all the usual suspects including channel crabs, sleeping turtles, lobsters and of course octopus! Another incredible day of diving CAIV style!

Tuesday Leah Leah’s Lookout was our AM 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 and a little current and were treated to reef sharks, another sleeping nurse shark, spotted drums, friendly groupers, and more lobsters than we could all eat!! Bus Stop was up next! Three dive sites in one with two walls, and the ‘mixing bowl’ make for a busy afternoon of photographing! Yellow-headed jaw fish with eggs in their mouths was the hot subjects and we found 4 of them! Scorpion fish, sleeping stingrays, spotted drums, flounders and turtles were all enjoyed! Another incredible night dive provided all the “Usual Suspects” that we have come to expect to see here in LC! Great calm day of diving!

Wednesday and an early pre-breakfast dive on Nancy’s Cup Of Tea was a great way to start the day and breakfast always taste Sooo much better! The incredible “Tea Cup” pinnacle, shear wall, swim thru’s and a swim over to the old anchors made for a fun morning of diving! As did the turtles and curious reef sharks. A short cruise over to Donnas’ Delight for the first afternoon dive! We haven’t been here for a while and it was great to get to dive the shear wall and the shallow reef before heading over to The Great Wall. The Great Wall is exactly that. A “Great Wall” with a shallow 25ft top of the reef leads out to the shear vertical drop off down to 6000ft! ‘Freddie’ the Labrador Nassau grouper came by, so did a school of squid, spotted drum, turtle and a yellow spotted ray! The wind has changed and it picking up so we decided to head to the south side of GCM for our Thursday dives.

Thursday Lighthouse Wall was our first site back at GCM. Several amazing creaks in the reef lead out to the edge of the drop off! A giant green turtle, lobster, sleeping nurse shark and plenty of reef critters made fun a fun morning before we headed over to the “Fish Market” for our dive after lunch! Wow, the fish were plentiful and we enjoyed the swim thru’s and the drop off! Today’s highlight was a visit with a giant 5 ft long o-o-old loggerhead turtle! Who just lazily swam through the group! Awesome! A couple of dives at Pedro’s Castle topped off another great day of GCM diving here on the south side.

Friday. Just 2 dives left to enjoy and the first was at Bullwinkle’s, which is a good place to check out the schooling tarpons, and the amazing reef formations. Then, 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. Happy Birthday to Carolinda and a big congrats go out to 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 Captain’s Report April 28 – May 4, 2013

Water temp 81f+
Air Temp 85s
Vis 100ft+
Wetsuit Req 3mm shorty or skin

Another fantastic week onboard the Cayman Aggressor IV where we were joined by 17 divers; mainly from the USA, and a couple from Canada. The weather was good to us! Once we boarded everyone we headed up the west side to enjoy a BBQ dinner, complete the welcome safety briefing and get a good night’s sleep getting 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 and everyone enjoyed getting back into the water and getting wet. A perfect spot for our check out dive! Stingray City was up next! Here we are the molested! These pesky little critters have no mercy! Once they smell the squid, it’s a free for all and we are lucky to get out of the water in one piece! A bumpy cruise along the north side next put us on Babylon. Wow, what a great dive! 200ft visibility, an eagle ray and exploring the wonderful crevice topped off our first day of diving before we headed over to Little Cayman.

Monday after a flat, calm crossing we ended up on Bloody Bay Wall! We woke to lake-like conditions with flat, calm seas and blue skies! 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. 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, several turtles, nurse shark, school of squid and a couple of reef sharks. The night dive produced all the usual suspects including channel crabs, sharks, lobsters, eels and of course octopus! Not 1 but 3! J Another incredible day of diving CAIV style!

Tuesday 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! Today we were treated to 2 feeding reef sharks, another sleeping nurse shark, 2 spotted drums, mating triggers, a free swimming green eel, more lobsters, smoking sponges and ‘Fredarina’ the Labrador Nassau grouper. Bus Stop was the afternoon site. In my opium one of the best dive sites in the Caribbean! ! Golden coneys, queen angle fish, sleeping stingrays, lobsters, rainbow squid, Nassau groupers, another reef shark, and a beautiful eagle ray all were spotted. Plus, not forgetting the sail fin blennies and java peacock flounders! For the night dive we cruised over to Cayman Brac to dive the wreck of the Russian Destroyer 356. More nocturnal critters came out to play with more crabs, more lobsters and another octopus!

Wednesday again we woke to lake-like conditions again with flat, calm seas and clear blue skies. We enjoyed exploring the many different areas of the Russian Destroyer 356 wreck during the daytime. A tour through the Capt quarters, bridge, crew mess, engine room and control room gave everyone a good look inside the ship while still enjoying the wall and swim thru. Donna’s Delight was our second dive of the day! What a beautiful wall and drop off! Turtles, green eels, squid, friendly groupers and a pair of mating filefish were spotted. A quick dive at Sara’s Set at Jackson Bight was our first afternoon dive before we cruised over to the Bus Stop for our weekly Sailfin Blenny hunt and explore the tunnels and swim thrus at Cumbers Caves! Today the group decided they wanted to try out a dusk dive, so off we went at 6 pm to enjoy the daylight changing into nightlight under water! Crabs, lobsters, reef sharks and a free-swimming nurse shark all came by to say ‘hello’!

Thursday three brave souls sleepwalked out to the dive deck at 5.30 am to get their dive gear on and get wet! They enjoyed the changing of the reef guard and were justly rewarded, as breakfast always tastes soooo much better after a dive. Nancy’s Cup of Tea provided all the usual reef critters included a couple of reef sharks and friendly turtles. A dive before lunch at Marilyn’s Cut topped off a great morning of LC diving and we all enjoyed Kingsley's Cuban lunch. The Great Wall was for our last stop here in LC before heading back to Grand Cayman. This 20ft shallow reef dropping off to 6000ft makes for an awesome afternoon dive. ‘Freddie’ and his band of groupers came by, as did another couple of turtles, mating angelfish and a sleeping nurse shark.

Friday and just two dives left to enjoy with the first being the Sand Chutes Wall and the wreck of the Kittiwake. Plenty of places to explore with plenty of bottom time being that the deepest point is only 60 ft. Hammerhead Hill on the calm north side with its beautiful wall and incredible vis was a perfect site for our last dive of the week. All that’s left to do is wash our gear and get ready for a cold drink or two at the farewell party.

Happy Birthday Aaron! Congrats go out to Mikael, Ken and Brett for completing their SSI Nitrox Class, and a double congrats to Brett for also surviving his SSI Wreck class! And a BIG thank you to all to for making this another wonderful week of Aggressor diving in the Cayman Islands.

Until next time…
Cayman Aggressor IV crew