Cayman Aggressor IV Captain's Logs

[Aggressor Adventures]

Cayman Aggressor IV Captain’s Report May 4 – 10, 2013

Water temp: 81F+
Air Temp: 85F
Vis: 80ft+

This week we had the pleasure of 16 guests from all over the USA, Holland and Russia. The winds were coming from the NW so we had spent Friday night at the Yacht Club. After our guests had boarded and listened to the Captain’s safety briefing everyone enjoyed Chef Kinsley’s BBQ dinner on the sundeck followed by a good night’s sleep in anticipation of our first dives in the morning scheduled for the north side of Grand Cayman.

Sunday. Rum Point was up first. Here we have the chance to explore the 40ft reef top and the many cuts and crevices off the edge of the wall! Spying a free-swimming green eel and two spotted eagle rays was a great way to do our check out dive and get wet. Just a short cruise east put us on our next dive site, Babylon. We all agreed this is one of the best dives in GCM with a shear wall and incredible drop off! Another spotted eagle ray, two turtles and plenty of reef critters made for a fun afternoon.

Monday. After a calm crossing we ended up on Bloody Bay Wall off of Little Cayman! 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 where we spotted 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 as 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, and of course octopus! Another incredible day of diving CAIV style!

Tuesday. Leah Leah’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 had incredible visibility and a little current and we 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 jawfish with eggs in their mouths was the hot subject and we found four of them! Scorpionfish, sleeping stingrays, spotted drums, flounders and turtles were all enjoyed!

After a beautiful early evening dinner cruise over to Cayman Brac we enjoyed an incredible night dive on the Russian Destroyer 356 wreck with channel crabs, giant fire clam and two beautiful squid. Some of our guests didn’t realize that this is the only dive-able Russian warship in the world!

Wednesday. We followed up our night dive last night with a morning dive on the wreck of the Russian Destroyer and in the daylight everyone enjoyed exploring the ins and outs of this wreck. The vis was excellent and plenty of pics were taken around the bridge and stern gun. Of course the guys enjoyed going inside the wreck and exploring the engine rooms. ‘Sweetlips’, the Goliath grouper put on quite a show for us, as did an eagle ray and very friendly turtle that fell in with us! 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, plenty more reef sharks, and a beautiful eagle ray all were spotted. But not forgetting we also spotted the sail fin blennies. Plenty of shots were taken, but only a few were kept! J For the dusk dive more nocturnal critters came out with more crabs, more lobsters, and more grey reef sharks coming out to play! Wow, what a great day of diving!

Thursday. Nancy’s Cup Of Tea was our first site today. The incredible “Cup of Tea” pinnacle, shear wall, swim thru’s and old anchors made for a fun morning of diving! As did the turtles and curious reef sharks. A short cruise over to Sara’s Set put us in the water for the 3rd morning dive! We haven’t been here for many years and it was great to get to dive the shear wall and the shallow reef before heading over to our next dive site, The Great Wall.

Friday. Just two dives left to enjoy. The first was the wreck of the Kittiwake! A new favorite among many of the guests as there are plenty of places to explore, as well as the wall at Sand Chutes! And 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.

Congrats go out to David, Charlotte, Weezie, Dennis, Andrea, Gene, Charlotte and Cathy for passing their SSI Nitrox course 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 May 11 – 18, 2013

Water temp 81f+
Air Temp 85s
Vis 80ft+
Wetsuit Req 3mm Shorty or full suit

This week we had the pleasure of having Mike & Mike onboard teaching the Jim Church School of Underwater Photography. Seventeen excited photographers with cases and cases of equipment joined us for a week of learning, taking incredible pics, and general fun in the sun. Once the last couple came onboard we started the engines and headed towards Little Cayman 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. 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 while spotting 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, and nurse sharks. The night dive produced all the usual suspects including channel crabs, sleeping turtles, lobsters, eels and of course octopus! Another incredible day of diving CAIV style!

Monday. The diving was sooo awesome yesterday we decided to spend our morning at Meadows and do it all again! 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 jawfish with eggs in their mouths was the hot subjects and we found plenty of them, and I saw many incredible pictures around the dinner table last night! The night dive was enjoyed by all! Plenty of the usual suspects were spotted, enjoyed, and blinded by our very enthusiastic photographers! Crabs, lobsters, spotted drums, squid, and yes - more octopus!

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 and a little current and were treated to reef sharks, spotted drums, friendly groupers, two eagle rays, a finger cleaning station, a free-swimming green eel, and a sleeping nurse shark right under the boat! ! Bus Stop was the afternoon site, believed to be one of the best dive sites in the Caribbean! Golden coneys, queen angelfish, sleeping stingrays, lobsters, rainbow squid, Nassau groupers, plenty more reef sharks, and a beautiful eagle ray all were spotted. But let’s not forget the sail fin blennies where thousands of shots were taken, but only a few were kept! :blinking: But boy were they awesome!

Wednesday. We made the crossing back to the south side of Grand Cayman to check out the diving over here! Lighthouse was first with another beautiful shear wall with amazing cuts and crevices running from the shallows to the deep! A huge turtle, green eel, schooling snappers and grunts, spotted drums, and three beautiful queen triggerfish! A short cruise west put us at the Fish Market! The vis wasn’t the best, but plenty of critters came out to say ‘hello’ and then we moved over to Pedro’s Castle for the late afternoon and night dive. More turtles, more eels, more lobsters, more crabs, and more squid made for an enjoyable afternoon!

Thursday. Big Tunnels was up first and as always the vis was 150ft+ and the swim thru’s made for a fun dive for all! The tarpon were out, as were a couple of turtles, another green eel, spotted yellow ray, and a sleeping nurse shark! Stingray City was up next! What can I say! We went; they ate; we left! Lisa braved the sharks and monsters and finally got wet! J Next was the wreck of the Kittiwake! A new favorite among many of the guests as there are plenty of places to explore as well as the wall at Sand Chutes! Engine rooms, pilothouse, galley, mess and plenty of other spaces made for a fun afternoon and dusk dive!

Friday. Just two dives left to enjoy and the first was at the Aquarium/OV. Here we got in before the sun rose and we then were able to watch the sunrise and enjoy a huge breakfast upon our return! And 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.

Congrats go out to Kevin B, Brendon, Kevin C and Mike for passing their SSI Nitrox course, a BIG special thank you to Mike H & Mike M for another rewarding, inform able, and exciting week of ‘Eat, Sleep, Learn & Dive’ of Aggressor diving in the Cayman Islands.

Until next time…
Cayman Aggressor IV crew

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Cayman Aggressor IV Captain’s Report May 18 – 25, 2013

Water temp: 82F+
Air Temp: 85’s
Vis: 150ft+
Wetsuit Req: 3mm full suit/shorty

Seventeen excited guests from all over the USA, Canada, France and Israel joined us for another week of fun in the sun Cayman-style. A short cruise up the West Bay gave us time to enjoy Kingsley’s BBQ dinner on the sun deck, followed by our welcome aboard briefing and a good night’s sleep in anticipation for our upcoming day of diving.
Sunday. We woke to lake-like conditions, 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 to many war wounds were received. Babylon was our afternoon site before we headed over to Little Cayman in calm seas and blue skies.

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. 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, nurse shark, school of squid and a couple of reef sharks. Linda and Lori were my buddies for the night dive! We saw all the usual suspects, including channel crabs, lobsters, eels and of course octopus! What a great first day in LC!

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 incredible vis and a 1.5knt current made it a little work and a whole lot of fun! Reef sharks, another sleeping nurse shark, two turtles, queen triggers, schooling snappers and the crevices keep us all busy! 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, pufferfish, Nassau ‘Labrador-size’ groupers, another reef shark, and a beautiful yellow-spotted ray all were spotted! For the night dive we cruised over to Cayman Brac - enjoying steak & lobster on the grill along the way J to dive the wreck of the Russian Destroyer 356. More nocturnal critters came out to play along with more crabs, more lobsters, and another octopus! Wow, what a great day of diving!

Wednesday. The 356 was still under our bow for our morning dives! Today nine brave guests and two crew jumped in at 5:45am! YES, 5.45am to dive before the sun came up! 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, stern guns and radar mast. Back to LC for the late morning as the conditions were so perfect we stopped at the east end of LC and did a wall dive! Wow! 45ft to the top of the wall! Incredible amounts of reef critters, ocean triggerfish, large black groupers and 250ft+ vis! Incredible! Our afternoon dives were at 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 a Russian submarine! Just kidding! The night dive was awesome with all the usual suspects and 5; yes I said 5 octopus! Another incredible day of diving CAIV style!

Thursday. Another early before dawn dive to start to our day. 14 Gung Ho divers jumped in before the sun came up to see a reverse night dive. Sharks, several turtles, schooling jacks, grouper cleaning stations, and a shear wall were all enjoyed before we headed over to Nancy’s Cup Of Tea. Two great dives exploring the pinnacle, wall, drop off and Paul’s old anchors! We made a short move to Donna’s Delight, as the conditions were perfect. We enjoyed a drift/swim about 300 meters up to the Great Wall before lunch then dove the “Great Wall” for the afternoon dives. Here we have ‘Freddie’ and his band of very friendly groupers, more turtles, more lobsters, more rays, more spotted drum and more of everything! J What a great way to finish our dives our here in LC.

Friday. Just two dives left to enjoy. The first being the wreck of the Kittiwake with plenty of places to explore; with plenty of bottom time being that the deepest point is only 60 ft. 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 and a BBO dinner at Sunset House.

Happy birthday goes out to Fabio. Congrats to Lori & Dwayne on their 100 & 400 dives and being “made a cake”. Well done to Ori for finally passing his SSI Nitrox class and thank you all for making this A PERFECT week of Aggressor diving in the Cayman Islands.

Until next time…
Cayman Aggressor IV crew

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Cayman Aggressor IV Captain’s Report May 25 – June 1, 2013

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

A full boat and 18 happy and very excited guests - all from Island Hoppers Scuba in Tennessee - joined us nice and early for another week of fun in the sun! We hope! A short cruise up the West Bay 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. The wreck of the Doc Paulson was our first site; a perfect location to check out any new gear, photograph the wreck, explore the drop off, and generally get wet! The weather is a little windy so we decided to stay on the west side of Grand Cayman to allow the winds to drop a bit and for us to enjoy a day of wreck diving venturing to the wreck of the Kittiwake next. Plenty of places to explore with plenty of bottom time being that the deepest point is only 60 feet! Today we were treated to an eagle ray, a beautiful school of jacks, ‘Oscar’ the Goliath grouper, several other large groupers, and incredible vis!

Monday. Big Tunnels was our first sight! Here we get to dive our first true Cayman wall! Just 50 feet to the top of the reef leads to several cuts, swim thru’s, and tunnels for us to explore and enjoy! The archway at 110 feet is always a highlight, as is the cathedral, and the resident tarpon. Stingray City was our second site and here we get the chance to be molested by these pesky little critters, aka stingrays! Plenty of fun was had and not to many war wounds were received. Babylon was our afternoon site before we headed over to Little Cayman (in calm waters) for a smooth cruise while enjoying a wonderful sunset and dinner along the way!

Tuesday. 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 with two dives to enjoy the shallow reef top and explore the swim thru’s. ‘Cosmo’ the friendly Nassau grouper came by, so did an eagle ray, several turtles, a nurse shark, and several reef sharks. Joyce & Kelly were my brave buddies for the night dive and we saw all the usual suspects including channel crabs, lobsters, rainbow squid, eels and of course - octopus! Tonight 6 were spotted!

Wednesday. It’s a lake! No, it’s Bloody Bay! Lea Lea’s Lookout was our morning dive site. Here we get to swim through the crevice that runs from the 20-foot shallows out to the wall at 100 feet! Today we were treated to reef sharks, another sleeping nurse shark at the “Shark Motel”, adult spotted drums, cowfish, and Kerri got her pedicure! 3 Fathom Wall was the afternoon site and its three dive sites-in-one make for plenty of things to see! Queen angelfish, a feeding green moray eel, sleeping stingrays, lobsters, Nassau groupers, another reef shark, yellow-headed jawfish with eggs, and a beautiful eagle ray all were spotted! For the night dive we enjoyed more nocturnal critters with more crabs, more lobsters, and another octopus! Wow - what a great day of diving!

Thursday. An early (before dawn) dive at Nancy’s Cup Of Tea started our day today. Six ‘Gung Ho’ divers jumped in before the sun came up to see a reverse night dive. Today we had two great dives exploring the pinnacle, shear wall, drop off, swim thru’s and Paul’s old anchors. Sharks, several turtles, schooling jacks, and the grouper cleaning stations were all enjoyed before we headed over 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, and let’s not forget the sailfin blenny hunt either! Our third dive of the day and all before lunch! Next we cruised down the wall to the “Great Wall” for the afternoon dives. Here we have ‘Freddie’ and his band of very friendly groupers, more turtles, and more lobsters were spotted. Plus, the shear wall is enough to take one’s breath away!

Friday. Just two dives left to enjoy during our trip with the first being a combo site at the Aquarium and Oro Verde wreck. This is a great dive with plenty of reef critters along with the wreckage of the Oro Verde to explore. As always, Devils Grotto was our last dive of the week and the tunnels, cracks, crevices, chutes, swim thru’s and amazing formations are 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.

Congrats to Amber & Blake celebrating their wedding anniversary. Happy Birthday to Latham and Ellen, and lastly (but not least) a BIG Thank You to Joe for bringing a great bunch of divers! To you 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 June 1 – 8, 2013

Water temp 82F+
Air Temp 80s
Vis 80ft+
Wetsuit Req 3mm shorty or skin

Another full boat of 18 excited divers from all over the USA joined us for another week of “Eat, Sleep and Dive” Cayman-style. We cruised up to the north side enjoying Kingsley’s BBQ after listening to our welcome aboard briefing. A good night’s sleep followed, as everyone was getting ready for our first dives in the morning.

Sunday. Rum Point was our first site of the week. A shallow 40ft top to the famous north wall started our week with two great dives checking out our gear while spying eagle rays, turtles, two free swimming green moray eels, and enjoying the other sights along a beautiful wall. A lunchtime move toward the east end put us on Babylon. Undoubtedly one of the best north wall dives on GCM (Grand Cayman) we explored the dramatic pinnacle and the shear wall that drops into the abyss! We opted to travel over to Little Cayman next so we tied down the vessel and head ENE 75 miles to Little Cayman.

Monday. We woke to lake-like conditions, flat calm seas and blue skies! 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. 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 as did an eagle ray, several turtles, a nurse shark, a 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 several octopus!

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 two feeding reef sharks, another sleeping nurse shark, two spotted drums, mating triggers, free swimming green eel, and more lobsters than we could all eat! And Tim found a golden seahorse - WOW! ! 3 Fathom Wall was up next and its three different dive sites in one; the crevices of Jackson Wall, the shear wall of 3 Fathom Wall and the sandy pocket at the Mixing Bowl. Sightings of two friendly turtles, an eagle ray, a green eel, scorpionfish, golden coney and an octopus made for a fun afternoon and another great night dive with sightings of a free swimming green eel, squid and yes, more octopus!

Wednesday. 10 excited early birds rose at the crack of dawn to enjoy a pre-breakfast dive at Nancy’s Cup Of Tea! Turtles, reef sharks and an army of reef critters waking up to start their day of eating! Bus Stop was the next site and in my opinion one of the best dive sites in the Caribbean! ! Golden coneys, queen angelfish, sleeping stingrays, lobsters, rainbow squid, Nassau groupers, another reef shark, and a beautiful eagle ray all were spotted, along with sail fin blennies and peacock flounders. The Great Wall was our afternoon site before we headed back to GCM. Here we enjoyed interacting with ‘Freddie’ and the gang of friendly groupers and three curious nurse sharks that came out to say ‘hello’ and get their picture taken before we headed west!

Thursday. We dove Hammerhead Hill on the north wall for our first morning dive site. A shear wall starting at 50ft is always a good site for eagle rays, turtles and even a hammerhead shark on occasion! A quick stop at Stingray City gave everyone the chance to pass out some squid, get molested, and maybe even leave with a scar or two! Doc Poulson was up next! A shallow tugboat in 50ft of water with an easy 20 yards swim to the drop off. Plenty of critters around today with the great vis we had including a green eel, mutton snappers, schooling horse eye jacks and three turtles were all spotted!! We then moved over to the newest wreck here in Cayman, the wreck of the Kittiwake. This former USA navy submarine tender was intentionally sank two years ago to make another awesome wreck dive in the Cayman Islands.

Fridays always come too fast. Big Tunnels was our first dive. A series of cuts, caves, crevices and tunnels make for a fun dive with tarpon in the caves and a beautiful eagle ray off the wall. Devils Grotto was our final site and this is always a favorite with the crowd. This week we enjoyed the silversides and tarpon and exploring the tunnels and swim thru’s at the grotto. All 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!

Happy Birthday goes out to the twins; Allen & Bruce and also to Benjamin. Congrats to John, Greg and Tom for completing their SSI Nitrox class and to John and Gregg for surviving their SSI Advanced class, and A BIG congrats to Shannon for completing her SSI Open water Course and completing 14 dives this week! Wow! What a place to learn to dive! Mine was in a quarry at 65 degrees.

Thanks to you all for making this another great week of diving, Aggressor-style!

Until next time,
Crew of the Cayman Aggressor IV

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Cayman Aggressor IV Captain’s Report June 8 – 15, 2013

Water temp: 28C / 82F +
Air Temp: 80s
Vis: 80-100ft +
Wet suit: 3mm or skin

The sun was shining when we departed Georgetown dock for another week of fun in the sun! Seventeen excited guests from all over the US were ready for a week of eating, sleeping and diving Cayman-style and there was no better way to start the week than with a short cruise up Seven Mile Beach while enjoying a lovely BBQ dinner and an awesome sunset!

Sunday. The wreck of the Doc Poulson was up first and it was a perfect site to start our week. The wreck is in just 50 feet of water and is always full of plenty of critters. Sarah and Irv had an eagle ray cruise past just as they dropped down a chute on the wall. What a great welcome! Stingray City was up next and this site is always a highlight of the week. Once again this week was no exception! The stingrays were hungry and a little feisty! Just ask Jere as they decided her arm tasted just like squid! Babylon was our next stop and at this world famous site we enjoyed a beautiful pinnacle while corkscrewing around incredible sponge formations. Turtles and more turtles, and a huge school of barracuda kept us entertained as we explored the ledges and swim thru’s just off the edge of the wall. The vis was incredible and we all agreed that Babylon is a top dive site.

Monday. After a late night crossing we made it over to Bloody Bay on Little Cayman. Randy’s Gazebo was up first. Crystal clear water and a hawksbill turtle feeding on a sponge welcomed us in. Two chimneys, the archway and a shear wall were explored as the super friendly groupers escorted everyone around the site. It was a great way to start off our day. Meadows was our afternoon and night dive site. Just ask Joanne, who also completed her 1800^th dive and who loves it over here - a wonderful day of diving was had. You name it we saw it, and photographed it too! We encountered sharks, turtles, sharks and more sharks!! Also, an eagle ray, stingrays feeding, tarpon, schooling jacks, barracuda and more friendly groupers. Just Awesome! The night dive produced all the usuals including giant channel crabs, sleeping turtles, lobsters and numerous octopus sightings! What a great day!

Tuesday. We kicked off another full day of diving with Lea Lea’s Lookout. We got to enjoy the crevice that runs from the 20-foot shallows out to the wall at 100 feet! Today we had incredible visibility. Large lobsters and a huge channel crab were seen while we were making a fuss of the Nassau grouper who greeted all the divers at the end of the crevice. A nurse shark, two spotted drums and cleaning stations galore! 3 Fathom Wall was the afternoon site and wow, what a fantastic site it was today! Schooling fish, the biggest green moray anyone had ever seen, yellow headed jawfish with eggs, and sailfin blennies kept everyone’s attention. Near dusk, a couple of very excited reef sharks showed up causing a commotion on the reef and made for a superb experience. A dinner cruise along the coast of Little Cayman and over to the Brac brought us to the location of our night dive on the wreck of the Keith Tibbets 356. A school of baby squid along with the resident crabs and lobsters were spotted out and about on the wreck. A hot shower, hot chocolate, hot towel and some Hot Tub Action! A great way to end the day.

Wednesday. In the morning we jumped back in to explore the Russian Frigate by day. Everyone enjoyed exploring the ins and outs of this wreck. The vis was excellent and plenty of pics were taken around the bridge and stern gun. Of course the guys enjoyed going inside the wreck and exploring the engine rooms. We were spoiled by our resident goliath grouper that put on quite a show for us. It was awesome! Back to Bloody Bay Wall and a quick stop in at Donna’s Delight with a swim down to Marilyn’s Cut. Beautiful dive with turtles, lobsters and a pet grouper to follow us all. Bus Stop was the afternoon and dusk dive site and this site is believed to be one of the best dive sites in the Caribbean! Golden coneys, queen angelfish, sleeping stingrays, lobsters, Nassau groupers, plenty more reef sharks, and very special sight to see was the sail fin blenny jumping out of his hole and showing off. An action packed dusk dive followed with very active sharks giving us a few close encounters and a beautiful eagle ray cruised on by.

Thursday. Once again we had a great turn out for the pre-breakfast dive. The only way to wake up! Who needs coffee! The reef was waking up as were the divers and it was a great way to start the day and breakfast always tastes sooo much better after a dive. The world famous Great Wall was our final site in LC and our divers loved the immense shear drop off and meeting ‘Freddy’ and his band of friendly groupers! A great way so say goodbye to Little Cayman, until next time….

Friday. A smooth crossing back to Grand Cayman put us back on the West Bay and just two dives left to enjoy! Sand Chutes Wall and the wreck of the Kittiwake. Here we find plenty of places to explore with plenty of bottom time and plenty of critters being that the deepest point of the wreck 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. A super surprise awaited our guests who did this last dive… Silversides!!!! 1000’s of them, and the tarpon and jacks having a ball! Also Mark completed his 100^th dive at the Grotto! What a great way to end an awesome week of diving, awesome weather, awesome guests. 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 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 June 15 – 22, 2013

Water temp: 82F / 28 C
Air Temp: 80’s
Vis: 80ft+
Wetsuit Req: 3mm shorty, or board shorts and rash guard

Saturday. A full boat and a Big Welcome to our 18 guests from France, Mexico and the United States, seven of which have been here before – Welcome Back! All were aboard by 5pm and enjoying a welcome drink, so we started up the engines, untied the lines, and we were off. A BBQ rib dinner and an overnight cruise followed, all the way to Little Cayman.

Sunday. Waking up on Bloody Bay Wall to a superbly cooked breakfast, thanks to Chef Kingsley, a full briefing, and we are ready…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 Gazebo’. Turtles and friendly groupers guided the way, lobsters and schools of chromis decorated the wall edge, and a 7ft green moray eel allowed us to get in close for a photo or two. A fantastic way to kick the week off! Meadows was the afternoon site and what a great afternoon it was, and what a showcase of Cayman diving. Down on the wall our resident reef sharks came by to check us out and to escort us all along the wall. The swim thrus were also explored, taking us underneath the main reef. ‘Cosmo’ the friendly Nassau grouper came by, as did several turtles and a nurse shark. The night dive was quite a full house, with Joe doing his first ever night dive, accompanied by 16 other guests!! We saw almost everything you could want to see with all the usual suspects, including channel crabs, sharks, lobsters, eels, sleeping turtles, feeding basket stars, and a beautiful green turtle checking us all out while looking for a place to rest for the night.

Monday. Lea Lea’s Lookout was our morning dive site. Here we got to enjoy the crevice that runs from the 20ft shallows out to the wall at 100ft along with encounters with two spotted drums, spotted filefish, a free swimming green eel, more lobsters than we could all eat, and we all have clean hands thanks to the cleaning gobies! 3 Fathom Wall was up next and this dive site is always a favorite as this is where the shear Bloody Bay Wall meets the knarled wall of the Jackson Bight. Swim thrus, giant crabs, yellow headed jawfish (with eggs!!), lobsters in berry (holding eggs), sightings of two friendly turtles, and schools of grunts and snapper on the fringe of the wall topped off this site. A dinner cruise to Cayman Brac, and a night dive on the wreck of the Russian Destroyer, 356 Keith Tibbetts followed. ‘Sweetlips’ our resident Goliath grouper made herself known, as did scorpionfish, stingrays and a couple of lionfish that were spotted while the divers discovered the 300 foot long wreck.

Tuesday morning dawned and with it a delicious breakfast of eggs benedict, then straight in the water we went to discover the Russian wreck by day. A large green moray eel beckoned us into the bow section while ‘Sweetlips’ (Goliath grouper) was chilling on the sand. She decided she then wanted to be on the move and swam straight at Carol, but after giving Carol a flyby she disappeared inside the engine room. A great couple of dives were had exploring this purposely sunk ship. ‘Burgers in Paradise’ were enjoyed for lunch as we traveled back to Little Cayman for our next site at Donna’s Delight. Tim would be happy to stay at this site all week! Fantastic Bloody Bay Wall was at its best here, leading to a natural cut into the wall, a swim thru, and popping out on top of the wall, we then meandered back along the edge of the shear drop off amongst soft corals, sponges, a constant array of fish life. Just incredible, a few guests had to pinch themselves to be sure they weren’t dreaming. The final stop for the day was Bus Stop. Can I just say, WOW! This was one of Juan’s favorite sites of the week. Swimming past an ancient anchor, then through a natural tunnel under the reef, and emerging out at 100 feet where we were met by three Caribbean reef sharks that seemed very inquisitive and giving all divers the ‘once over’ as they swam with us all along the wall, even following us back over the reef and up into the shallows. John came head to head with one of the sharks and we are not sure who was more surprised! Turtles were also thrown into the mix; we didn’t know where to look. Jose took shelter hiding behind the Captain when the sharks came too close . All good fun. But let’s not forget about the unique sailfin blennies that were very brave coming out of their holes to show us who is boss!

Wednesday. An awesome pre-breakfast dive produced a few turtles, the old anchors and a baby nurse shark at Nancy’s Cup Of Tea. Marianne was busy buddy-swapping, but all made it back in the end. The Great Wall was the next stop. Here we enjoyed lots of lobsters, flounders, feeding hawksbill turtles, and a huge green turtle that drifted on past as we did our safety stop. ‘Freddie’, the original friendly grouper, also came out to say goodbye to us all before we headed back over to Grand Cayman.

Thursday. Back on Grand Cayman and we were slowly working our way back to civilization where Babylon was our morning dive. This is always a great site with its beautiful wall and hanging gardens of colorful sponges and corals. Hammerhead Hill was next and what an incredible dive!!! Spectacular silversides swarming over the wall, large snappers, schools of reef fish and amongst it all, a free swimming moray eel hunting lionfish…and, to top it off, Five, yes FIVE, Eagle Rays glided right next to us and swirled around for a double take. Everyone was buzzing with excitement back on the deck. Stingray City was next – what a busy day. Everyone had fun with the rays, taking lots of photos and video. It was 70 minutes of hilarious fun! This was actually organized chaos at its finest, however everyone had a wonderfully fun time with battle scars to prove it! We then moved over to the newest wreck here in Cayman, the wreck of the Kittiwake. This is a former US Navy submarine tender that was intentionally sunk, just over two years ago, to make another awesome wreck dive in the Cayman Islands.

Fridays always come too fast, and Big Tunnels in West Bay was our first dive of the day. A series of cuts, caves, crevices and tunnels make for a fun dive with tarpon in the caves and a beautiful eagle ray spotted off the wall. Devil’s Grotto was our final dive site and is always a favorite with the crowd. This week we enjoyed 1000’s of silversides inside the ‘caves’, with shafts of sunlight dancing down amongst them – simply an amazing sight to see, with the resident tarpon feeding and exploring the ins and outs of the grotto.

All too soon it is time to wash down the dive gear, pack those bags, and watch the crew scrub down the boat. But there is still the Captain’s Cocktail Party and a few awards to give out!!

Congratulations to Sharda, Nick, Pierre, and Joe for completing their Nitrox course on board this week. Also to Marianne for clocking up over 100 dives!!!! Well done.

Thank you to everyone for an incredible week, both above and below the water. Safe travels and safe diving. We look forward to seeing you all again for another week of ‘Eating, Sleeping and Diving’ aboard the Cayman Aggressor IV.

The CAIV Capt and Crew

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Cayman Aggressor IV Captain’s Report June 22 – 29, 2013

Water temp: 85F+
Air Temp: 80s
Vis: 80-100ft+
Wet suit: 3mm or skin or nothing!

The sun was shining when we departed Georgetown dock for another week of fun in the sun! Eighteen excited guests were ready for a week of diving, eating, and sleeping Cayman-style and there was no better way to start the week than with a short cruise up Seven Mile Beach while enjoying a lovely BBQ dinner and awesome sunset!

Sunday. The wreck of the Doc Poulson was up first and was a perfect site to start our week. The wreck is in 50ft and there are always plenty of critters handing out, including our resident green eel! A nearby nice drop off also brought in a turtle and an eagle ray, garden eels, and plenty of jacks made for a great dive. Stingray City was up next. Always a highlight of the week and this week was no exception! They were hungry and feisty and even decided one of our guest’s arm tasted just like squid! Hammerhead Hill followed and here we enjoyed another pinnacle and shear drop off, while also exploring the ledges and swim thru’s off the edge of the wall. Three eagle rays and a couple of turtles were spotted. The vis was incredible, and we all agreed that Hammerhead Hill is one of the best dive sites in Grand Cayman.

Monday. After a late night crossing we made it over to Bloody Bay in Little Cayman. Randy’s Gazebo was up first. Crystal clear water with 150ft+ vis made diving around the two chimneys, the archway, the shear wall, and swimming with more turtles than at Sea World a great way to start our morning. The Meadows was our dive site of the afternoon and what wonderful diving was had. You name it we saw it, and photographed it too! We encountered turtles, sharks, eagle rays, schooling jacks, barracuda, friendly groupers, green and spotted eels, and so much more. The night dive produced all the usual’s including crabs, two sleeping turtles, lobsters and several wonderful octopus! What a great day!

Tuesday. Leah Leah’s Lookout was our morning site. Here we got to enjoy the crevice that runs from the 20ft shallows out to the wall at 100ft! Today we had incredible visibility along with just a little current. We were treated to reef sharks, another sleeping nurse shark, and two spotted drums. 3 Fathom Wall was the afternoon site; three dive sites in one make for plenty of exploring and enjoying all the marine animals. Eagle rays, sharks, scorpion fish, and turtles to name just a few! We cruised over to Cayman Brac for the night dive on the wreck of the Russian Destroyer 356. All the night divers, with finds of slipper lobsters, crabs, octopus, pufferfish, green eels, and midnight parrotfish, enjoyed another great dive. Wow!

Wednesday. We awoke still at Cayman Brac to enjoy diving in the daytime the wreck of the Russian Destroyer. Eight brave souls decided that they wanted to dive before breakfast! So off we went and everyone enjoyed exploring the ins and outs of this wreck. The vis was excellent and plenty of pics were taken around the bridge and stern gun. Of course, the guys enjoyed going inside the wreck and exploring the engine rooms and saying hello to ‘Oscar’, our 300lb Goliath grouper. The weather was on our side, so we stopped at Boatswain Point on the east side of Little Cayman for a quick dive before heading back to Bloody Bay! Bus Stop was the afternoon site and this is believed to be one of the best dive sites in the Caribbean! ! Golden coneys, queen angelfish, sleeping stingrays, lobsters, rainbow squid, Nassau groupers, plenty more reef sharks, and a beautiful eagle ray all were spotted, along with sail fin blennies.

Thursday. Once again we had several guests get up at 5:30am for the pre-breakfast dive at Nancy’s Cup Of Tea, and what a great time we had! The reef was waking up, as were the divers, and it was a great way to start the day. Breakfast afterwards tasted so-o-o much better. Another awesome dive at Nancy’s before we moved over to Donna’s Delight for a quick dive before lunch! The Great Wall was our final site in LC and our guests loved the shear drop off and meeting ‘Freddy’ and his band of friendly groupers! What an incredible way to finish off our 4 days in Little Cayman - and to put the cherry on the cake, Sam and his gang from Skin N Scuba Dive Shop swam with a giant loggerhead turtle! Wow!

Friday. A smooth crossing back to Grand Cayman put us back on the West Bay and just two dives left to enjoy! Sand Chutes Wall and the wreck of the Kittiwake. Here we find plenty of places to explore, with plenty of bottom time, and plenty of critters, being that the deepest point of the wreck is only 60 ft. Devil’s Grotto was our last dive of the week and it is always a favorite. Swim thru’s, caves, cracks, and crevices were there for the exploring. Today we were treated to the schooling silversides by the zillions! Just amazing! And what a great way to end an awesome week of diving with awesome weather and awesome guests!

Congrats go out to Dawson for becoming the newest Certified Junior Diver in the fleet. Thank you to group leader Sam for bringing a lovely bunch of divers from Missouri. Now all that’s left to do is wash our gear and get ready for a cold drink or two at the farewell party.

A BIG thank you goes out to you all for making this yet 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 June 29 – July 6, 2013

Water temp: 85F+
Air Temp: 85F+
Vis: 80ft+
Wetsuit Req: 3mm

Start your engines for another incredible week in the Cayman Islands. Several familiar faces, and many new ones who were experiencing their first LiveAboard week of diving Aggressor-style joined us. The wind was calm and once we boarded every one 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! This is a shallow tugboat wreck in 50 feet of water with an easy 20 yards swim to the drop off. Plenty of critters were around today and everyone enjoyed getting back into the water and getting wet. A perfect spot for our check-out dive! . We cruised over to the Sand Chutes Wall and the wreck of the Kittiwake for the afternoon dives. Here we had plenty of places to explore with plenty of bottom time, being that the deepest point is only 60 feet. The engine rooms, recompression chamber, galley, mess, and bridge were all checked out, as well as the swim throughs and drop off. The wind was picking up so we decided to spend the entire day wreck diving on the west side before heading up to the north side.

Monday. After a calm night’s sleep, we awoke to the calmer seas of the north side! Here we enjoyed two morning dives at Hammerhead Hill with its shear wall and plenty of cracks and crevices to explore! Four eagle rays in formation, a free-swimming green eel, and schools of majestic silversides made for an exciting morning of north wall diving. Stingray City was the afternoon site and here we enjoyed 1 hour of hilarious fun! This was organized chaos at its finest, however everyone had a great, fun time with battle scars to prove it. Mike ended up winning a free t-shirt for his hickey of the week!

Tuesday. After a bit of a bumpy 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 stingray, nurse shark and plenty of reef critters were on hand to greet us. Meadows was the afternoon site, and what a great afternoon it was as we had two dives here 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, a school of squid, and a couple of reef sharks. The night dive produced all the usual suspects including channel crabs, sharks, turtles, lobsters, octopus and plenty of reef squid! We had an incredible day of diving, CAIV style!

Wednesday. Lea Lea’s Lookout was our morning dive site. Here we enjoyed exploring 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 groupers, and more lobsters than we could all eat! 3 Fathom Wall was the afternoon site. What a blast! It really is three dive sites in one; the shear wall, swim thru’s, and shallow reef made for a fun afternoon. We are not forgetting about the friendly groupers, spotted drums, beautiful scrolled filefish, golden coneys, turtles, and yellow-headed jaw fish with eggs that were spotted! Another great night dive was enjoyed as we were joined by a giant green eel, lobsters, crabs, hundreds of reef squid, and a sleeping turtle. Not too shabby I’d say!

Thursday. An early pre-breakfast dive is always a great way to start the day and today we had only two brave souls who entered the water before 6:00 am and who were also half asleep. The edge of the 20 foot drop off produced plenty of critters including, eagle rays, turtles, nurse sharks, angelfish, scrawled filefish and a couple more sharks. The Great Wall was our last stop here in Little Cayman before heading back to Grand Cayman and this site with its 20 foot shallow reef, dropping off to 6000 feet makes for an awesome afternoon dive. ‘Freddie’ and his band of groupers came by to visit with us, as did another couple of turtles.

Friday. Just two dives left to enjoy this morning with the first being at Big Tunnels! One more incredible wall dive to finish the week’s deep dives before we moved over to Devils Grotto for our last dive of the week. This site is always a favorite and this week we were treated again to the schooling silversides and the tarpon, jacks and groupers that come in for the “All you can eat” buffet! Now all that’s left to do is wash our gear, and get ready for a cold drink or two at the farewell party.

We now have a new Open Water Diver, Catherine. She arrived with no open water dives, and completed the SSI OW class, finishing the week newly certified with 18 dives, WOW! Congrats go out to Jesse, Buddy and Catherine for passing their SSI Nitrox course, and Carlyn for completing her SSI Night Diver course. And Happy Birthday to Sybille. Also a BIG thank you to the rest of the gang 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 July 6 – 13, 2013

Water temp 85F+
Air Temp 87s
Vis 80 ft+
Wetsuit req 3mm shorty or less

This week we had the pleasure of 15 happy divers coming to spend a week onboard the CAIV. Once the last couple came onboard, we started the engines and 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! This is a shallow tugboat wreck in 50 feet 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! A short, calm cruise over to the north side put us on Hammerhead Hill. Here we get to enjoy our first true Cayman wall dive. Today we were treated to schooling silversides, two eagle rays, turtles, and a quick glimpse of a reef shark! Babylon was next. What an awesome site with a shear wall complete with a beautiful pinnacle covered in soft corals. Viewing the colorful red rope sponges and two turtles made for a great afternoon dive

Monday. After a bumpy 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 accompanied by 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, so did an eagle ray, several turtles, nurse shark, giant green eel, a couple of 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!

Tuesday. Leah Leah’s Lookout was our morning site. Here we get to enjoy the crevice that runs from the 20 foot shallows out to the wall at 100 feet! Today we had incredible visibility, and a little current. We were treated to reef sharks, another sleeping nurse shark, two spotted drums, mating groupers, and more lobsters than we could all eat!! Bus Stop was the afternoon site and is believed to be one of the best dive sites in the Caribbean! Golden coneys, queen angelfish, sleeping stingrays, lobsters, rainbow squid, Nassau groupers, plenty more reef sharks, and a beautiful eagle ray all were spotted. For the night dive more nocturnal critters came out to play with more crabs, more lobsters and another octopus! Wow, what a great day of diving!

Wednesday. Today the ocean was like a lake, and after a beautiful morning cruise to the east end of Little Cayman we enjoyed two dives on virgin sites where very few divers have dove before! A shear wall, swim thrus, sharks, eagle rays, turtles and plenty of curious reef fish were all spotted. Cumbers Caves was up for the afternoon. This is 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 let’s not forget the sail fin blennies hunt.

Thursday. Six hardcore (or hard headed?) braved the early 5:45 am dive at Nancy’s Cup Of Tea. Here we found another beautiful teacup pinnacle with plenty of shark action, along with a turtle, eagle ray, several very old anchors and a giant 10 foot nurse shark. The Great Wall was our last stop here in Little Cayman before heading back to Grand Cayman. This is a 20 foot shallow reef dropping off to 6000 feet and makes for an awesome afternoon dive. ‘Freddie’ came by to entertain us, and to also get their fair share of attention as did another couple of turtles, angelfish, a sleeping nurse shark and a several giant lobsters.

Friday. We had another bumpy crossing back to Grand Cayman where we stopped at our first site of Sand Chutes Wall and the wreck of the Kittiwake. Here there are plenty of places to explore with plenty of bottom time being that the deepest point is only 60 feet. Jam and Craig completed their SSI Deep dive here and Jack finished his SSI Wreck class. And as always, Devils Grotto was our last dive of the week. Once again we enjoyed seeing the schooling silversides and the tarpon enjoying an “All You Can Eat” buffet. This site 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.

Congrats also go out to Daren for passing his SSI Nitrox class, and to all for making this, another wonderful safe week of Aggressor diving in the Cayman Islands.

Until next time…
Cayman Aggressor IV crew