Kona Aggressor questions

[robint]

I'm going to take as many pictures wet & dry as possible, and I will be writing a report (on the plane?).

On the $$- you're just not trying hard enough to convince yourself! If you're really considering it, I would contact Joeli at Nai'a, and try to work a deal :cool2: Space still available on 6/26!

Like you, I understand some peoples lack of interest in a LA- heck I was in the quad-room with 3 strangers* on the T&C Aggressor which was "challenging" at times. However, the total focus on diving with no "decisions" to make, or shoes to wear for a week was so worth it! *Won't be doing that again, though.

Good luck with your planning!

we're looking at the trip for 2011, already have things planned for this year. (we just got back from Cozumel a month ago, diving locally this summer/fall, going to NC to wreck dive in July, probably a short trip out to Calif again, too).

robin

 

[Shasta_man]

I'm with you RobinT. Dive, dive, dive on the liveaboard then the rest of the trip. "Sometimes, don't-know-what-I'm-doing, hold my hand, fight with the wife, I forgot my stuff" divers don't usually plunk down 2-3 grand for a week boat trip. You also get some interesting observations like the mute jerk at the beginning sometimes turns out to be better than the gregarious BSer.

 

[ewaiea]

we're looking at the trip for 2011, already have things planned for this year. (we just got back from Cozumel a month ago, diving locally this summer/fall, going to NC to wreck dive in July, probably a short trip out to Calif again, too).

robin

Do the Kona Aggressor over the Fiji Resort, it's so much better. The crew rocks, the food is the best I've had on a liveaboard yet, and if you liked the diving in Kona the first time, you'll like it on the trip back as well.

I did the KA last August, arriving from my home in Honolulu. I decided to get in the day of the charter and leave the day I disembarked because I'd done the whole Big Island thing many times and was in a time crunch with work. I would advise since you're flying from the mainland that you stay a night in the King Kam Hotel the night before the charter - it'll give you a chance to unwind so the day of boarding is ultra non-stressful. This is always a good idea on almost any liveaboard. But if you're luggage is delayed - it's nothing the crew hasn't seen and dealt with before.

Fiji would be awesome but you'll want to maximize diving time and you can't do that land based. If you go to Fiji you'll definitely want to do the liveaboard option - I plan to go one of these years - perhaps on the Island Dancer, but there are other places I want to hit first like Palau, Cocos Island, Galapagos, Belize, etc.

I think you'd have a blast on the Kona Aggressor II with a couple days of sight-seeing afterwards.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1696541502&v=app_2392950137&ref=profile

I have trip videos for the Kona Aggressor II and the Peter Hughes Star Dancer - see link above, let me know if it gives you any problems.

 

[Doubler]

Robin,
When you sit down and do the math you are correct it is 2K more. That 2k includes at least 2 to 3 more dives a day and all meals. Last I checked round trip from LA to Nada is $800. You actually come out a head if you add in extra dives and meals at most resorts. When I go on a dive trip I want to dive and not spend half my day wandering around a resort.

 

[robint]

thanks for posting the link to the videos shot on your trip. I enjoyed watching them. So did he insert some stock footage or did you really see pilot whales? Wasn't that what was in that one section? Also... I think I have read that the Aggressor puts a DM in water for each dive but you don't have to go with them, you can do dives on your own... true?

We are still debating the pros and cons of KA vs. land-based trip to Fiji.
We do want to go to Fiji for sure, but we are reading so many mixed reviews of land-based dive ops, good vis and bad vis, only 2 dives per day in most cases, some places have shore dives... so much to consider. The liveaboard would give us a chance to do more dives per day. Still thinking...


robin

 

[ewaiea]

thanks for posting the link to the videos shot on your trip. I enjoyed watching them. So did he insert some stock footage or did you really see pilot whales? Wasn't that what was in that one section? Also... I think I have read that the Aggressor puts a DM in water for each dive but you don't have to go with them, you can do dives on your own... true?

We are still debating the pros and cons of KA vs. land-based trip to Fiji.
We do want to go to Fiji for sure, but we are reading so many mixed reviews of land-based dive ops, good vis and bad vis, only 2 dives per day in most cases, some places have shore dives... so much to consider. The liveaboard would give us a chance to do more dives per day. Still thinking...


robin

Those were pilot whales, thanks for noticing and I'm glad you liked the videos. Allow me to elaborate, the Kona Aggressor goes offshore between dives 2 and 3 while the guests have lunch. The captain meanwhile looks for dolphins and pilot whales (and humpbacks if in season - but no chance of getting in the water with them due to local laws). We did run into a pod of pilot whales and we jumped in the water about 200 yards ahead of them in their path and they swam right up to us - probably about a dozen of them. There was even a mother with a baby in her teeth - probably a still born. We let her swim off into the depths and left her alone, but the rest of the pilot whales stayed with us for about 20 minutes or so, they looked us right in the eye - just amazing creatures. We also dove AuAu Crater that day in the afternoon, DO NOT miss a dive at that site, it was awesome! Day 3 of the charter was probably my favorite. We did the Manta Dive on day 4 and that was cool, but it wasn't as cool as AuAu Crater and the pilot whale experience.

They always go offshore to look for the whales and dolphins but the animals usually don't cooperate, so you're seeing the exception rather than the rule but if you're motivated enough the captain might try a little harder to get you an encounter - just let them know and hope for the best.

FYI - the picture in my avatar is of me snorkeling within about 12 feet of a pilot whale, the pilot whale just wasn't in the picture. It was taken on my Kona Aggressor trip - that picture bring back some happy memories.

As far as dive masters, if you have a dive buddy and you want to do your own thing the crew is cool with that as long as you come back within a reasonable amount of time. But usually everyone stays in a group, but the group is pretty spread out. It wasn't uncommon to have a dive master leading, and Patty (the chief steward and assistant instructor) to be bringing up the rear. They don't try and control what you do - they help spot critters and they're quite good at it.

Also, I advocate a Hawaii trip in summer - you'll have warmer waters (78-80, as opposed to 72-74 in the winter) and lighter winds and less rain. You'll see humpbacks in the winter, but if that's not too terribly important to you, than I'd go in summer.

I can't wait to do my next Aggressor, I'm heading for Palau next February!

 

[robint]

thanks! Great info.

When we did our land-based trip our boat capt went looking for dolphins and whales during surface interval one day and we saw some pilot whales but didn't get in water with them. He said he wouldn't let us as they can be rather aggressive with divers. Don't know if that is true or not. Our other big complaint about the land-based diving is that the DMs must lead every dive and everyone must stay together... and they go waaaay too fast for me and Ron. We want to stop and watch fish behavior, take photos and video, not rush at mach speed. (we had a DM one day go so fast he almost lost the entire group on one dive and had to come back and look for us!) As far as diving with the group... we did 2 trips on Nekton and loved the fact that everyone went their own way (except for a couple of drift dives where everyone had to stay together). It really spoiled us being able to do our own thing.

Out in Calif the dives are same way... at each new dive site the briefing goes: "max depth at this site is XX, gate is open, be back on boat by XXX time, have a good dive!" It really was scary our first trip, but once you get used to it, you're spoiled. You can do whatever you want as long as you are back on boat on time. For photographers and videographers it is perfect.

You are going to love the liveaboard diving in Palau, but you will have to stay together as a group as it is all drift diving done from a skiff.

robin

 

[johnspierce]

We did the KA a couple of years ago and I thought it was fantastic! Saw Mantas on 4 separate dives, had opportunity to snorkel with a pod of dolphins, saw a big Hammerhead at AuAu Crater. Lots of nudibranch, turtles, eels, frogfish and as said before the food was fantastic.

Oh, and on most dives with my wife, sister-in-law and her husband, after the first day when they figured out we knew what we were doing, they just left us alone to do our own thing on the dives. At one particular site called Garden Eel Cove we did two dives with just the four of us and saw multiple Mantas at about 40ft. Curious critters, they kept circling and swam with us. They were obviously not feeding since their cephalic lobes were "curled" and not open like when they are scooping plankton.

I would do the KA Aggressor again in a New York Minute!

Picasa Web Albums - John - Kona Hawaii -...

JP

 

[ewaiea]

We did the KA a couple of years ago and I thought it was fantastic! Saw Mantas on 4 separate dives, had opportunity to snorkel with a pod of dolphins, saw a big Hammerhead at AuAu Crater. Lots of nudibranch, turtles, eels, frogfish and as said before the food was fantastic.

Oh, and on most dives with my wife, sister-in-law and her husband, after the first day when they figured out we knew what we were doing, they just left us alone to do our own thing on the dives. At one particular site called Garden Eel Cove we did two dives with just the four of us and saw multiple Mantas at about 40ft. Curious critters, they kept circling and swam with us. They were obviously not feeding since their cephalic lobes were "curled" and not open like when they are scooping plankton.

I would do the KA Aggressor again in a New York Minute!

Picasa Web Albums - John - Kona Hawaii -...

JP

John's photos really helped me last year with planning my trip - especially since he had pics and feedback of the quad cabin too! Thanks again for that John!

Eric

 

[ewaiea]

thanks! Great info.

When we did our land-based trip our boat capt went looking for dolphins and whales during surface interval one day and we saw some pilot whales but didn't get in water with them. He said he wouldn't let us as they can be rather aggressive with divers. Don't know if that is true or not. Our other big complaint about the land-based diving is that the DMs must lead every dive and everyone must stay together... and they go waaaay too fast for me and Ron. We want to stop and watch fish behavior, take photos and video, not rush at mach speed. (we had a DM one day go so fast he almost lost the entire group on one dive and had to come back and look for us!) As far as diving with the group... we did 2 trips on Nekton and loved the fact that everyone went their own way (except for a couple of drift dives where everyone had to stay together). It really spoiled us being able to do our own thing.

Out in Calif the dives are same way... at each new dive site the briefing goes: "max depth at this site is XX, gate is open, be back on boat by XXX time, have a good dive!" It really was scary our first trip, but once you get used to it, you're spoiled. You can do whatever you want as long as you are back on boat on time. For photographers and videographers it is perfect.

You are going to love the liveaboard diving in Palau, but you will have to stay together as a group as it is all drift diving done from a skiff.

robin

I completely agree, I dive here on Oahu but it's the same story, nothing but people looking for the "white whale" or the largest shark on earth, and if we see a hard to find leaf scorpionfish its like we stop, glance at it, and move on! I hate it! Plus, the dive masters double as octopus wranglers and I hate that, there's a difference between "working" the critter and straight up harrassing it! Liveaboards (at least Peter Hughes and Aggressor in my short experiences) have much more respect for the environment. On the Star Dancer the captain noticed one of my pics of an anemone shrimp sitting in an environment he would never be and he asked me if the dive guide put it there - I told the truth and answered yes and he said he would talk with the dive guides. Apparently they know that he'll dock their pay if they start harassing marine life. Perhaps somewhat extreme but hey, if they were warned then what can you say?

Liveaboards are also exposed to your diving abilities throughout the week so the crew gets a good feel for your comfort level in the water and gives you your space and doesn't move overly fast - always a high selling point for me too. I used to like doing my thing, but now that I do macro photo almost exclusively, being with the guide helps. But when they move slowly that helps out alot - gives you a chance to get better "photos" instead of "snap shots".

Glad I could be of help, let me know if you have any other questions.