I was on the Okeanos Aggressor in early February 2004. It takes 36 hours to get out to the island. On our trip, the boat broke down just after we left the dock and because of the tides we could not return to the dock so they had to repair the boat just outside the harbor which took 12 hours. For this reason we spent 48 hours on the boat to get to the island.
I had been warned in advance that the passage to the island could be rough but the sea was as flat as a board all the way out, all the time we were there and all the way back. It was nice and sunny, no rain, the water was warm and although there was current, it was not too strong. The bad news is that the hammerhead sharks prefer the times when it is cold and rainy and the water rough like in November. We saw hammerheads but not mass quantities but rather one or two here and there. There is also no pretty coral there, the bottom is basically rocks. In summary, when we were there in Feb. the diving was nice and easy but may not meet expections as far as sealife. They gave us radio transmitters to wear on our BC's so that if we got carried away in current we could deploy the transmitter and they could find us.
The diving is done from two small boats called pangas. The divers on the boat were divided into two groups and you dove from the same panga the whole trip. The equipment was left on the panga and the tanks were refilled on the boat. You simply got on the panga and put on your equipment there. Because there was little current, I preferred to put my equipment on and off in the water. Nitrox was of course available but they requested that we not try to verify the oxygen percentage as this would be difficult because they didn't want so many people trying to get on the panga between dives. Most people seemed okay with this.
The boat itself was probably one of the least nice Aggressor boats that I have traveled on. There are rangers that live on the island and the boat brings out supplies to them and much of this was lying on the deck. It seemed a lot like a work boat.
In general, I have been on Aggressor boats in many different locations (Fiji, Palau, Belize, Turks, Red Sea and Cocos) so I feel pretty good about their operation. I will be on the Cayman Aggressor a week from now.
Hope this information helps.
I had been warned in advance that the passage to the island could be rough but the sea was as flat as a board all the way out, all the time we were there and all the way back. It was nice and sunny, no rain, the water was warm and although there was current, it was not too strong. The bad news is that the hammerhead sharks prefer the times when it is cold and rainy and the water rough like in November. We saw hammerheads but not mass quantities but rather one or two here and there. There is also no pretty coral there, the bottom is basically rocks. In summary, when we were there in Feb. the diving was nice and easy but may not meet expections as far as sealife. They gave us radio transmitters to wear on our BC's so that if we got carried away in current we could deploy the transmitter and they could find us.
The diving is done from two small boats called pangas. The divers on the boat were divided into two groups and you dove from the same panga the whole trip. The equipment was left on the panga and the tanks were refilled on the boat. You simply got on the panga and put on your equipment there. Because there was little current, I preferred to put my equipment on and off in the water. Nitrox was of course available but they requested that we not try to verify the oxygen percentage as this would be difficult because they didn't want so many people trying to get on the panga between dives. Most people seemed okay with this.
The boat itself was probably one of the least nice Aggressor boats that I have traveled on. There are rangers that live on the island and the boat brings out supplies to them and much of this was lying on the deck. It seemed a lot like a work boat.
In general, I have been on Aggressor boats in many different locations (Fiji, Palau, Belize, Turks, Red Sea and Cocos) so I feel pretty good about their operation. I will be on the Cayman Aggressor a week from now.
Hope this information helps.
