Trip Report *live* Indo Aggressor Komodo deep South trip quarantine @ LBJ March 2024

[Luca Brasi]

Hey Wayne Brown, CEO , you like to post online and brag about aggressor, where are you now???

 

[bakodiver391]

There is one aspect of this report (among many) that makes no sense. Why did the port captain close the port if other divers were still able to board speedboats and dive locally. This seems to be a feature of third world countries ( Cozumel port closures come to mind), where an over- zealous official takes it upon himself to impose restrictions on navigation outside the actual port based on possible bad weather that never eventuated. Such navigation decisions are ultimately the responsibility of the vessel captain, and rightly so. An over-officious port official is just another layer of corrupt incompetence. Perhaps would-be live-aboard customers should write the tourism board of such countries where this has happened and let them know why they will not be booking trips through such a port of departure.

 

[cetacean]

@bakodiver391

Well, given that 99% of the boats that dive Komodo leave from that port your suggestion isn't very realistic.

Have you ever been to Labuan Bajo?

 

[tsuyoshi]

[USER=413835]@bakodiver391
[/USER]

Exactly. Do u realize the irony in complaining to corrupt 3rd world government? Honestly I even fancied perhaps we could bribe the port authoritie while stuck on board.
The point to make here is that we booked with 1st world based companies and they deal with us as the 3rd world governments perhaps would do. Other local operators LBJ as we learned were open & honest with their customers while providing help to salvage their trip.

Not only did we get stuck in town so the trip could be considered "legimate" in Aggresors statements, it further disrupted our attempts to rehash the trip. I scrambled to rebook flights and only to find last minute airline cancellations after booking because of bad weather forecast. Good thing I had a few more extra days for plan C in Tulamben.

How about if we may need evacuations?

 

[outofofficebrb]

What the Indo Aggressor did is very unacceptable. In a sense, the corporate Aggressor office’s stance is even worse by standing behind the Indo Aggressor’s actions. Their refusal to do anything or help is unbelievable. One would think it affects the entire brand position of the fleet and kills any confidence from customers so they would be motivated to do something, let alone just based on principle. I’m not one to put the burden on the operator for things they can’t control such as weather, nor do I expect them to fully refund people. (A credit is reasonable and there is also the burden on the customer to be insured appropriately.) However, there is so much going on here that this is a very different situation. I still can’t believe this is happening. While I had a great experience on the Raja Ampat Aggressor in 2017, I have no plans to book an Aggressor trip again based on their stance when alarming issues like this emerge. Now is the time to make it right and/or let the op know that this behavior and actions are not acceptable.

 

[mattvish]

Why did the port captain close the port if other divers were still able to board speedboats and dive locally

The Komodo LOBs embark from Labuan Bajo on the Island of Flores; it's about 6nm to the dive sites in the national park, which was closed to all boats as far as I know. There are a few dive sites around Labuan Bajo, but especially in the rainy season, they're not even worth mentioning. Speed boats were allowed to stay at the coast. The best option, in my humble opinion, would have been to get to Maumere, a 6-8h drive, but with nice diving as well.

 

[mattvish]

Exactly. Do u realize the irony in complaining to corrupt 3rd world government? Honestly I even fancied perhaps we could bribe the port authoritie while stuck on board.
The point to make here is that we booked with 1st world based companies and they deal with us as the 3rd world governments perhaps would do. Other local operators LBJ as we learned were open & honest with their customers while providing help to salvage their trip.

I will listen for rumors of this harbor master... The closure for 9-10.3 was for sure justified, but the local pros are really wondering about the decision to clsoe the rest of the week. However, most of them also did not mind a couple of days off... The weeks before were very busy, with no rain and lots of mantas.

How about if we may need evacuations?

Always a bit more of a risk in developing countries... but I wouldn't worry... plenty of boats in the harbor

 

[roadstoadventure]

@tsuyoshi Thank you for sharing your story and I'm sorry you had to go through all of that.

For what it's worth, I just saw this posted on an Aggressor FB group: "My Indo Aggressor trip this coming May was just canceled. Indo Aggressor is gone from the website as well. The email just said that the license had been terminated. I've not been able to discover anything else yet. Full refund and an offer to pay up to $400 towards airline penalties if not covered by insurance."

 

[Joneill]

I don’t get why Agressor didn’t cancel the trip due to the port closure as that would have allowed folks to file a claim with their trip insurance. By not doing this, they pretty much screwed folks in 2 ways: #1: they didn’t deliver the trip that folks paid for and won’t refund and #2: they likely made it impossible to file an insurance claim for a cancelled trip??? Makes zero sense and incredibly bad customer service!

 

[Indah]

There is one aspect of this report (among many) that makes no sense. Why did the port captain close the port if other divers were still able to board speedboats and dive locally. This seems to be a feature of third world countries ( Cozumel port closures come to mind), where an over- zealous official takes it upon himself to impose restrictions on navigation outside the actual port based on possible bad weather that never eventuated. Such navigation decisions are ultimately the responsibility of the vessel captain, and rightly so. An over-officious port official is just another layer of corrupt incompetence. Perhaps would-be live-aboard customers should write the tourism board of such countries where this has happened and let them know why they will not be booking trips through such a port of departure.

If an accident happens which could have been caused by predicted bad weather, the port authority is fully responsible....for the larger ships. The smaller ones do not need a daily permit to go out. Often the port authorities in Indonesia have been accused in the past of being too lenient. Some captains are idiots and think they know better. At this website you can always look at the forecast: BMKG | Badan Meteorologi, Klimatologi, dan Geofisika