T & C Aggressor vs Explorer

[richhagelin]

Going to T&C for liveaboard in Oct. Would appreciate comparisons between the Aggressor operation and the Explorer operation.

Thanks,

Rich Hagelin

 

[Wookie]

The Captain of the Explorer is a great friend of mine, used to work with me a million years ago, and has the reputation for having an awesome crew. The Explorer is quite a bit larger than the Aggressor. The cook gets rave reviews.

The Aggressor Captain has an awesome radio voice. That's as close as I've gotten to that boat.

 

[gizmo1972]

Trust me the captain of the Aggressor has alot more than the radio voice she runs a an awsome boat the crew second to none! both boats do the same route the explorer is a larger boat and does swing alittle on the morrings they go from different marinas explorer goes from ship yard which is a fairway away from shops n bars (last night meal) Ken is a great captain , Aggressor is in turtle cove marina lots of shops n bars the hot tub on the Aggressor is always nice for cocktails under the stars and the hot towels after every dive is very nice the cabins are very nice large camera table and dip tanks hot showers on the dive deck . the crew do everything for you except the dive (yes ive been on this boat a few times!!!) its Amazing!

---------- Post added August 11th, 2013 at 02:24 PM ----------

check out the web for deals on the boats so they work out around the same may be Aggressor a smidge lower call the office and chat

 

[diversteve]

Actually we found the Aggressor was slightly higher all in. Especially if Explorer has $300 off on the week you're going. I looked at both boats and there are some differences. They may not matter to you, but they did to me. Price is a really minimal difference because Aggressor bundles a fuel surcharge and I believe port taxes in their rate, Explorer you pay it separately. So Explorer's trip price appears initially lower.

Explorer has an extra deck. It's the flying bridge. It's covered, has padded benches and there's small stocked frig. up there. I slept up there a couple of nights. One curved flight of stairs down is the sundeck, it's on top of the dive deck. Explorer vents their compressor thru a slot between the benches on the dive deck and they hung the wetsuit rack above it. So while it's a little awkward on a full boat since you have to reach over people gearing up in front of it, it does a decent job of drying skins/light suits between dives.

Behind the dive deck is the salon/dining room. Behind that are most of the cabins. They're on the same level. There's two premium cabins upstairs in front of the sundeck and 3-4 below the main level (the cheapest ones) Inside stairs to go up or down also - and to the wheelhouse. There's no public access to the bow and no way to transit around the ship on the main deck as the lounge/cabins extend out to the waterline. Only the lower level cabins have bunks and portholes, everything main deck and above has beds and several large windows. They're big rooms comparitively for a LOB also, ours had a desk in the corner, closet and the bath. I'm 6'4 and could shower but getting thru the shower door was a little tricky since it's glass/metal. Plus a good sized nightstand between the beds. I guess the 2 premier upstairs cabins are even larger. We had #5 - a couple times we felt the heat from the kitchen in the bathroom.

When I looked at the Aggressor, they don't have the flybridge and all their cabins are belowdeck with portholes as is typical with most of their boats. They do have the personal flatscreens afaik. Also they have the hot-tub, Explorer doesn't. When we were on Explorer, they had one of the dinghies stowed on the sundeck, if everyone was down there it made it tight. About 6 of us regularly went up to the flybridge instead. From the Sundeck you can walk to the front of the ship but not around it - there's external access to the wheelhouse and the upper cabins.

What Wookie said, I liked Capt. Ken also. And the rest of the crew. Stan the cook is a legend - as are most lob chefs.

We often moored next to the Aggressor so I don't think either has an advantage there as far as route. I read an Aggressor trip report recently and they named the same dive sites we did. There was a couple days when we didn't see them so maybe the run the route backwards.

What gizmo posted is true for surface interval. If you're spending time b4/after Aggressor's location might be better. Although much of Provo's activity is near Grace Bay anyway. Friday night is dinner off the ship and they need you to leave by around 9AM Sat. We took the crew that could leave to dinner in Grace Bay. It was about a $10 ride in a shared van they schedule. We camped out in the airport restaurant for about 3-4 hrs. since most of our flights left after 1PM. There's wi-fi there. Also wi-fi when you're tied up at the dock.

We arrived early in the afternoon, a crew member met us at the airport, took our gear and had their driver drop us at Salt Mills Plaza for lunch and to look in a few shops. He later picked us up around 4 when the rest of the pax arrived and took everyone to the boat. Probably a 15min. ride from town. Explorer was moored on the south side in a marina next to the police boats - there's maybe one store there and IIRC it was closed. It's shallow so they time the tides to get out/back. Even then we scraped something coming in.

hth, this info is about 2-1/2 yrs. old now. I always provide a link to Mike Southard's excellent trip report. He was there sometime before us. http://www.awoosh.com/Saudio/Saudio_Turks&Caicos.html

 

[gizmo1972]

the Aggressor has 2 chase boats one in the water ALL the time the other sits on the dive deck roof which is away from the sun deck and there is lots of room up there (we had meals up there it was amazing!) lots of sun loungers and shaded area too large cooler and ice maker up there too
the whole boat has so much room never tight for space!!!

 

[diversteve]

I can't speak for you but I never used or needed a chase boat the entire time week we dove on the Explorer.
I don't think they untied it except for once when the crew used it to work on a mooring while we were diving.

So whether the Aggressor has 1,2 or 3 boats in the water seems irrelevant.

Aggressor doesn't have one of these either:



The flybridge also has a grill and a refrigerator stocked with alcohol daily.

If you've been on both boats, how about a comparison?

If you haven't was anything I posted about the Aggressor Incorrect?

 

[gizmo1972]

nope all good lol
both boats work close together it would seem
they never needed there rescue boats either the point i was making was explorers boat takes up alot of guest space thats all
but some times they leave one behind at the marina

 

[KeithG]

Both boats do a very similar itinerary although they leave from different docks (explorer draft is too deep to reliably get into Turtle Cove). And they do co-operate beyond swapping bug spray and toilet paper. On a recent trip the explorer captn had to decide which crew member to transfer to the aggressor for the next week as the aggressor was going to be short 2 crew.

The boats are the same size, except explorer has 1 more level and carries 2 more divers. Rooms are bigger on explorer. 10 diver rooms split across 3 levels versus 9 rooms below deck on Aggressor.

In it's previous life the explorer was a corporate party boat. So it's fit & finish is a step above the rest of the caribbean live aboards.

We have been on the Explorer a handful of times and captn Ken is top notch. Stan the cook is a legend, but I think I have his menu memorized. We have always had good crew on explorers boats.

 

[BDSC]

I was on the Explorer boat this past April and the food was great, the boat was great, but the crew was the very best I have ever had on any liveaboard! I honestly can't think of a single complaint I had all week. I have heard good things about the Aggressor boat as well but we had two couples who had been on the Aggressor boat and liked the extra space of the Explorer boat.

But if all else was equal between the two I'd look at the management of the two companies and then decide. Explorer Ventures wins hands down.

Just checked and the Explorer boat has a $300 off special for October 5th - 12th.

 

[Hintermann]

Cannot comment on the Explorer but the crew of the Turk & Caicos Aggressor is the best of my 15 liveboard cruises so far. Captain Amanada Smith is certainly something both professionally and personally and the rest of the crew make a very friendly and enjoyable companions for the trip, without a single exception.