Jardines Aggressor - Cuba Liveaboard

[dabutler55]

Just got back from the Jardines Aggressor a week ago. AMAZING trip! Every single part was a great experience. Havana is not what I was expecting. Instead of a city stuck in the 50's, it is a city that has been deteriorating since the 50's. It must have been a spectacular city in the 30's and 40's. The accommodations there by OFY are really great as are the guide led tours of the city. The Jardines Aggressor is a beautiful boat; the nicest live aboard I have been on. We had a master room so we had plenty of space, a normal sized bathroom (full shower), and picture windows. The crew was extremely accommodating and the food was awesome. Nothing was left out. But...the diving! We had 16 people on our trip; our experiences covered almost all diving areas in the world. Everyone agreed that it was absolutely the best ever. The reefs are gorgeous and healthy. The fish are friendly (especially the big groupers) and abundant. Reef sharks were constant companions, and we saw some Silkys. The water temp was 86- 87 on every dive. Viz wasn't as much as we would have liked; usually around 60 ft. They said it had to do with the Summer rain on the island. They said Winter is the best time to make the trip.

The number of divers allowed into Jardines de la Reina is now 2000/year. I expect that the pure beauty and pristine nature won't last for long.

Sorry for the redundant reply. I thought I was on a different thread.

 

[Joe Cool]

Thanks for the update!

 

[chillyinCanada]

DaButler, I was in Cuba near the beginning of my dive life, many years ago now. To me Havana was like a much older woman, who you could tell had been very beautiful in her youth. To read your words resonates but also makes me sad, because all those many years ago, there were pockets within Havana that were in the process of renewal. Your description leaves me believing that while some spots may have been improved, the passage of another 20 years has brought them back to earlier conditions.

Truly an amazing country that's going to change quickly soon enough. Part of me feels very sorry about that while the other part of me rejoices for what I hope will become new freedom of choices for the people.

I'd love to go back and dive the Gardens of the Queen very soon but with the Canadian dollar like it is . . .sigh, not gonna happen.

Anybody else who's looking for a trip, singledivers.com has one coming up in October, I think it is.

 

[reefman]

thanks for the report. looking forward to our trip aboard the jardines aggressor(and Havana) beginning july 14th(group charter). will post a trip report upon returning,,,,,,,,,,,,,


reefman
key largo

 

[hilljo88]

Just got back from the Jardines Aggressor a week ago. AMAZING trip! Every single part was a great experience. Havana is not what I was expecting. Instead of a city stuck in the 50's, it is a city that has been deteriorating since the 50's. It must have been a spectacular city in the 30's and 40's. The accommodations there by OFY are really great as are the guide led tours of the city. The Jardines Aggressor is a beautiful boat; the nicest live aboard I have been on. We had a master room so we had plenty of space, a normal sized bathroom (full shower), and picture windows. The crew was extremely accommodating and the food was awesome. Nothing was left out. But...the diving! We had 16 people on our trip; our experiences covered almost all diving areas in the world. Everyone agreed that it was absolutely the best ever. The reefs are gorgeous and healthy. The fish are friendly (especially the big groupers) and abundant. Reef sharks were constant companions, and we saw some Silkys. The water temp was 86- 87 on every dive. Viz wasn't as much as we would have liked; usually around 60 ft. They said it had to do with the Summer rain on the island. They said Winter is the best time to make the trip.

The number of divers allowed into Jardines de la Reina is now 2000/year. I expect that the pure beauty and pristine nature won't last for long.

Sorry for the redundant reply. I thought I was on a different thread.

I'm just back from OFY, OFAC compliant trip. 2 nights in Havana, 7 nights on Aggressor. I second Dabutler55's comments. Havana's a great city to visit. People could not be nicer:friendly, helpful. Zero street crime in Havana. Great to stroll the old city at night admiring the architecture and music coming from every other small restaurant. OFY program provides marine biology lecture in Havana as well as on boat. Long bus ride from Havana to Jucaro to board boat, but well organized. 50 miles to offshore Jardines which are about 100 mile long series of cays. The topography is characterized by mangroves leading to sea grass to a fringing reef from 30-90 feet deep. Then there is a drop off to 1,000+ meters. Incredibly healthy reefs with schools of fish everywhere. Lots of white tip reef sharks, silkies, nurse sharks, rays, grouper, tarpon as well as typical shallower reef fish. Our dive guide was also especially good at finding octopus and nudibranchs.The daily schedule is 3 dives a day, an afternoon snorkel or cay visit and a night dive. Dives are a baclward roll from tenders. Some of the smaller divers struggled a bit with entry and exit, but the dive guides and tender captain were always helpful in grabbing gear or steadying divers. We had two dives cancelled due to weather. The Aggressor is able to reposition to the lee of the cays to avoid most of the weather, but there's not much to be done with a popu

 

[hilljo88]

Sorry to double post. I didnt quite finish the first one when it "self-posted".

I'm just back from OFY, OFAC compliant trip. 2 nights in Havana, 7 nights on Aggressor. I second Dabutler55's comments. Havana's a great city to visit. People could not be nicer:friendly, helpful. Zero street crime in Havana. Great to stroll the old city at night admiring the architecture and music coming from every other small restaurant. OFY program provides marine biology lecture in Havana as well as on boat. Long bus ride from Havana to Jucaro to board boat, but well organized. 50 miles to offshore Jardines which are about 100 mile long series of cays. The topography is characterized by mangroves leading to sea grass to a fringing reef from 30-90 feet deep. Then there is a drop off to 1,000+ meters. Incredibly healthy reefs with schools of fish everywhere. Lots of white tip reef sharks, silkies, nurse sharks, rays, grouper, tarpon as well as typical shallower reef fish. Our dive guide was also especially good at finding octopus and nudibranchs.The daily schedule is 3 dives a day, an afternoon snorkel or cay visit and a night dive. Dives are a baclward roll from tenders. Some of the smaller divers struggled a bit with entry and exit, but the dive guides and tender captain were always helpful in grabbing gear or steadying divers. We had two dives cancelled due to weather. The Aggressor is able to reposition to the lee of the cays to avoid most of the weather, but there's not much to be done with a popup thunderstorm. Viz was about 40-60 feet for most dives. Viz is supposedly better at other times. The Jardines Aggressor was apparently recently refit. It seemed spotless. Dive deck was spacious, well laid out. Not a lot of deck space otherwise. No wifi. Crew of 13 (for 16 divers) were incredibly nice. Food ok to good. Pasta was excellent. My understaning is that there is only one other liveaboard operating: the Avalon, which is associated with the owners of the Aggressor (not Wayne and Wayne). There is a small staging area in the Jardines for fly fisherman and supporting staff called Tortuga. Aside from these few vessels, you wont see anyone else out there.

I would do this trip again in a heartbeat.

 

[JaneDoe]

Hi everyone! I've enjoyed reading people's experiences here on Jardines Aggressor I and it's getting me excited for my trip in January!

I just thought I'd mention that we've chartered the boat and have 3 spots left for our trip from January 5 - 14, 2017. The downside is the prices go up as of 2017, but the good news is that we locked in the old 2017 rate so instead of being $4,899 it's $4,399. And it's the best time of year for excellent visibility.

You can check out all the details here.
Land and Liveaboard trip to Cuba