Questions about the Cayman Aggressor

[dmoore19]

You could always look at the Captain's log to get an idea of where and make educated guesses as to how long the Aggressor was in one spot.

I spent 10 days on the Cayman Aggressor in late July early August 2014. There was no shark chumming. The boat moved 2 or 3 times a day as I recall. Looking at my log book I only saw one place that we had more than 2 dives in a row. Most of them around LC.

Things may have changed since then, if I remember correctly the Captain was Tom, it was either his last or next to last trip before retiring.

I would go again without hesitation. The trip for me was the best dive trip I have ever taken.

 

[Drew Sailbum]

Who "owns" the mooring buoys?
...

The dive site moorings are installed and serviced by the Cayman Islands Department of Environment. IIRC a few moorings for commercial ships (cruise ships and cargo ships) are installed and maintained by the Port Authority of the Cayman Islands.

It is a mismash with regards to some of the other assorted buoys. Buoys marking safe channels through the reef (such as is East End and the North Sound) are the Port Authority's responsibility. Buoys marking the boundaries of marine protected areas are the DOE's responsibility. And some of the buoys marking safe paths for navigation inside the reef in East End are installed and maintained by the East End dive operators, including three moorings inside the barrier reef.

 

[KathyV]

Thank you all for the information you have provided. Clearly this is a more complex issue than it may have seemed on the surface and there are obviously at least 2 sides to every story.

I am glad to hear that the Cayman Aggressor isn't chumming for sharks and they still provide an excellent vacation experience because we remember it as one of our all-time best dive trips.

As far as the comments made by the land-based divemaster, I still think it is a bit unwise to bad-mouth the competition in front of the customers - it rarely reflects well on the person doing the talking. But I can now understand why the locals might view the Aggressor as a big pain in the neck. And sometimes people get frustrated and may become indiscreet.

And I still think that the locals and the visitor should figure out how to work together to their mutual benefit and the benefit of this very special Caribbean island and spectacular reef system.

 

[zf2nt]

Kathy, I know that Drew is giving you absolutely straight info here. I dive from shore on Little Cayman almost every day during the winter, so have had plenty of opportunity to watch things evolve over the years.

I would make a suggestion that you try to find somebody who has had recent experience on CA. In years past I often heard people rave about the operation. And as I watched them on the reef you could tell it was an extremely laid back operation. Last winter, though, I was kind of surprised to see that divers off CA always went in and out at the same time and stayed together as a big group. In the past, I might bump into just a few divers from CA but it was never a big group. Then I talked with somebody last year who had been on CA and came away with some negative feelings. He complained that there was a lot of pressure from the crew for everybody to sign up to use Nitrox and then he felt like they were kind of herded around on the dives. That was my own feeling about a trip I took on Komodo Aggressor (a.k.a. Komodo Dancer) a couple of years ago, so I can't help but wonder if the franchise operation pushes this sort of thing.

In any case, I do think the way they run their diving may vary a bit from time to time depending on who is in charge of the diving. That's why I think it would be worth your time to try to find somebody with very recent experience.

 

[dmoore19]

Don't know if it has changed. When I was on the boat there was always a guide offered. The guide would offer a tour and you could go with them or you could go out on your own. It was clearly stated when we went through the welcoming brief that when the boat was tied up the pool was open. The only requirement made was that you had a buddy with you. I hope that hasn't changed.

 

[ronscuba]

Just got back from a trip on the Cayman Aggressor.

No chumming. The boat moved sites regularly. Sometimes 1 dive, sometimes 2 dives per site. Divers were given the option to follow the guide or go on their own. For the most part, divers split into 3 groups. One followed the guide, the other 2 groups went off on their own.

The whole boat dove nitrox as far as I know. Never noticed any pressure to do so. This is normal for liveaboards in my experience as you do a liveaboard to dive a lot and nitrox is a no brainer in my opinion.

We dove day 1 and 5 on Grand Cayman, days 2,3,4 on Little Cayman. A night dive and a day dive on the Tibbets at Cayman Brac on day 3.

I'd be happy to answer any other questions.

 

[zf2nt]

I just got back to CA last night after 3 months on Little Cayman, and while there I was out shore diving almost every day when it was calm enough. What I saw of the Aggressor is completely consistent with everything ronscuba mentioned. The boat usually showed up on Little Cayman on Tuesday mornings, though there was one week when they were there on a Monday. And the boat normally stuck around for 3 days. They move the boat a couple of times each day, so nobody can complain about them monopolizing any site. They are definitely good citizens.

 

[BDSC]

My only beef with the Cayman Aggressor is what someone else has already mentioned. Food refuse scattered on the bottom. Now everything that I saw was biodegradable I suppose, but I don't go diving to drop down on a dive site to find egg shells, orange peels, banana peels, etc. That has been the only complaint I ever heard from any of the DMs with Reef Divers.

 

[KathyV]

Don't know if it has changed. When I was on the boat there was always a guide offered. The guide would offer a tour and you could go with them or you could go out on your own. It was clearly stated when we went through the welcoming brief that when the boat was tied up the pool was open. The only requirement made was that you had a buddy with you. I hope that hasn't changed.

That would really annoy me, too!

 

[Doctorfish]

I've been out with Reef divers a lot and find that comment hypocritical.
Orange peels, watermelon rind, apple cores etc. always seem to go over the side on their boats as well.

not that there is anything wrong with that, but people who live in glass houses.......