Cayman or Belize Liveaboard?

[Brodydog]

Trying to decide wether to take the Cayman Aggressor or the Belize Sun Dancer II trip in either Sept or Oct next year. Would like to hear opinions from anyone who has done both as to which of the 2 trips was your favorite and why. What differences did you see in the boat and in the diving itself? Does one have more reef life, more color, swim thrus, diverse topography, etc. ?

I have been to Roatan and Cozumel, but never to Belize. Does Belize diving compare to either of these two?

And I have not been able to find very much on recent Cayman Agg trips so any opinions on that trip are appreciated also.

 

[Doubler]

I have been on the Belize Aggressor three times and the Cayman Aggressor once.
Cayman Aggressor is a very nice boat and Bloody Bay Wall on Little Cayman is rumored to be some of the best in the Carribean. My one trip just happened to coincide with Hurricane Ike so diving kinda really sucked. I plan on doing the CA again. Georgetown GC is a world different the Georgetown Belize.
Belize has great wall dives. On most sites you are moored at 40ft right above the wall. Lots of fish,turtles, eagle rays and the occasional shark. I've done Blue Hole once and got to tell you it is just a down and up in a cold dark hole. Big whoop.
The Sun Dancer moors on the same pier as the Belize Aggressor at the Radisson Fort George pier. We always go down the day before and stay at the Radisson, usually last night also, saves on the get off the boat hassle at 0800 and flights don't leave till about 1100. The SD is larger than the BA and CA, has larger cabins. The dive deck and camera tables on the Aggressors are better laid out and roomier. Either trip would be great with, dependent on air fare, the SD probably being the cheaper of the two. The Sd and BA dive the same sites at the same time usually so diving is exactly the same with either boat.

 

[Darnold9999]

I have done Belize on the Sun Dancer and Nekton and Cayman on the Nekton. Not done Aggressor, but the diving is the same for all the boats. Slight preference for diving at Cayman. Bloody Bay wall is pretty good diving for the Caribbean. However the diving in Belize is nice as well. The most significant difference is the time you spend on land. Belize is more interesting - spending a day or two on land to visit the zoo, or visit a mayan ruin is more interesting than spending a day or two on Cayman shopping.

Both are good trips

 

[lmorin]

We wanted to do a Caribbean liveaboard and there were a lot of choices. We decided on Belize with Sun Dancer rather than other places because we felt that we'd hit a larger variety of dive sites around the numerous Belize islands. The boat and crew were very good and our overall trip was great with some of the dive sites truly picturesque -- mountain ranges of coral rising sharply up from sandy banks, then dropping precipitously on the other side into the deep blue ocean with reef sharks and eagle rays regularly around. We also did one of the land excursions from Belize City (Mayan ruins) on our last half day and greatly enjoyed it.

 

[DeputyDan]

Darnold9999 posted what I would have said.

We did the cayman's on the Nekton boat and Belize on the PH boat.

Thought the Cayman's diving was better but Belize was good. Belize inland was hands down top notch. Of all the trips we have ever done my teenager kids liked inland Belize with a side trip to Tikal the best.

 

[MN Lakeman]

I too have enjoyed liveaboard diving in both Belize & Caymans. Nekton in Belize - impressive variety of divesites with encounters w/ eagle rays, sharks & even a couple dolphins. I'm considering a January trip there w/ my teenage son this January w/ Aggressor, as they have a nice promotion discount that month. 'Dove Cayman Aggressor - outstanding crew & nice boat. I've been all over the Caribbean, & Bloody Bay Wall is easily the most spectacular: healthy & abundant reef life, swim throughs, great clarity...but a word of caution: if a bad weather system comes through, the captain may choose NOT to make the big crossing from Cayman to Little Cayman, so this may or may not be a factor in your decision.