Trip Report Trip Report: Cayman Aggressor IV, April 28-May 5, 2018

[keyshunter]

The Aggressor can (and does) moor on any double pin mooring. That is 2 pins driven into the bottom with a short chain between.
Aggie,
The next time you are in Cayman, check the mooring your boat is attached to. I guarantee there are more than 2 on LC.

 

[caydiver]

Wow Interesting thread. Lots of cutting and pasting and easy to lose track but there is definitely some misinformation out there. There are lots of ops that do 2T in the am and 2T in the pm so not sure where that comment comes from. In fact if you plan right you can do a night dive as well. If you have enough people to charter a six pack you can pretty do what you want as long as you watch your deco. I have probably between 500 and 600 dives in GC and still love it. Based on the West Side but often go out with friends who are with the two EE ops. My favorite dive site on the island is definitely Ghost Mountain. There are a couple of others where we throw the anchor in the sand and swim a bit that are pretty amazing but normally it happens with repeat customers who more than deserve the extra few miles when we can work it out. That said my other favorite "regular" sites are on the EE with the major exception of NW Pointe. I thought The Aggressor in The Galapagos was incredible, but honestly couldn't be bothered to do it here. Its so easy to fly over to the sister islands that it is a no brainer, it is easily done on Island Helicopters who actually offer dives on each island in a day and with the awesome food available on this island, I like the idea of getting my fill of dives and then enjoying what's on offer. Did it for 25 years before we made it home, so understand how it works from a visitor standpoint. Even on a budget it is totally doable to get in plenty of dives and enjoy the rest of the trip--best of both worlds. Would just add that we often see the Aggressor on the same sites we all use and I guess find it surprising. Not saying our sites aren't great, but if you are on a livaboard and can pick and choose, I guess it just amplifies that there is really good diving to be found all around. Keeping in mind that Grand Cayman is the top of an ancient mountain and the North Sound is the old crater with the massive drop off just to the east it is no wonder that the sites are relatively just minutes away from land and most SIT are done already at the next site discussing where to go to dinner If I was coming now on a dive-centric holiday I would pick Sunset House. The chap brought in to give it a well deserved make over is an awesome person and has an incredible dive pedigree. Sometimes all of us, no matter how good the past reviews are/were need a little shake up!

 

[KathyV]

Wow Interesting thread. Lots of cutting and pasting and easy to lose track but there is definitely some misinformation out there. There are lots of ops that do 2T in the am and 2T in the pm so not sure where that comment comes from. In fact if you plan right you can do a night dive as well. If you have enough people to charter a six pack you can pretty do what you want as long as you watch your deco. I have probably between 500 and 600 dives in GC and still love it. Based on the West Side but often go out with friends who are with the two EE ops. My favorite dive site on the island is definitely Ghost Mountain. There are a couple of others where we throw the anchor in the sand and swim a bit that are pretty amazing but normally it happens with repeat customers who more than deserve the extra few miles when we can work it out. That said my other favorite "regular" sites are on the EE with the major exception of NW Pointe. I thought The Aggressor in The Galapagos was incredible, but honestly couldn't be bothered to do it here. Its so easy to fly over to the sister islands that it is a no brainer, it is easily done on Island Helicopters who actually offer dives on each island in a day and with the awesome food available on this island, I like the idea of getting my fill of dives and then enjoying what's on offer. Did it for 25 years before we made it home, so understand how it works from a visitor standpoint. Even on a budget it is totally doable to get in plenty of dives and enjoy the rest of the trip--best of both worlds. Would just add that we often see the Aggressor on the same sites we all use and I guess find it surprising. Not saying our sites aren't great, but if you are on a livaboard and can pick and choose, I guess it just amplifies that there is really good diving to be found all around. Keeping in mind that Grand Cayman is the top of an ancient mountain and the North Sound is the old crater with the massive drop off just to the east it is no wonder that the sites are relatively just minutes away from land and most SIT are done already at the next site discussing where to go to dinner If I was coming now on a dive-centric holiday I would pick Sunset House. The chap brought in to give it a well deserved make over is an awesome person and has an incredible dive pedigree. Sometimes all of us, no matter how good the past reviews are/were need a little shake up!

In my experience, most Cayman dive ops offer dive packages based on 2 tank morning dives. You can add on additional dives but they frequently offer specialty dives in the afternoon like the Kittiwake of Stingray City that costs extra. Some dive ops offer packages with 2 tanks in the morning and 1 tank in the afternoon - and/or unlimited shore diving, weather permitting, if they have a house reef - and that can save money. And of course, you can find night dives being offered by different ops on various days, but it can get very pricey to add on several boat dives above the 2 tank morning dives.

Most of our diving in the Caymans has been land-based boat diving or shore diving, and it's been great, but we did do 1 Aggressor trip and that was great, too. We got a good deal on the Aggressor price and we were lucky and had fantastic weather and you could get up to 25 dives, including night dives and specialty dives like Stingray City - plus we had the chance to dive excellent sites off all 3 Cayman Islands during one trip. We had only been to GC up until the Aggressor trip, but on that trip we did most of our dives on Bloody Bay Wall, and we dived Brac and the Tibbetts too, as well as some good sites off GC. Ever since then we have been taking trips to Cayman that include GC and one of the sister islands.

It is true that the Cayman Aggressor is unusual as a liveaboard, because you are diving sites that are close to shore and easily available as land-based boat dives - but if the weather cooperates - you get to do a lot of diving and you have the chance to experience some of the best sites off of all 3 Cayman islands. And if you get a good deal on the cruise price, then the cost per dive for your trip ( including accommodations and meals) can be quite reasonable. But as I've said, if the weather doesn't cooperate, you can be stuck sitting on a boat just offshore of GC, and that wouldn't be much fun.

I think that there are a lot of terrific options for divers in Cayman, including land-based boat diving, shore diving, and liveaboard diving.

 

[caydiver]

Many smaller ops don't do "packages" per se. They do fit schedules, give pricing concessions etc., based on individual circumstances. Perhaps it is a comped dive, perhaps if someone is chartering the boat for a week, they get a discount on the charter price. We have guests that like to do 3T and we are certainly not the only op that does it. Many don't necessarily limit themselves to only doing The Kittiwake or Stingray City to afternoons. I guess if you sign up for a specific package that is what you are going to get, but there are many regular guests who prefer the freedom of not being tied to a package. Almost everyone's pricing is very competitive. It has to be, the margins are tight and there is a lot of competition. There is a fee paid to the government (CITA) and other costs for The Kittiwake so those are passed along as is the cost of nitrox by all the ops. Lots of folks go for the repetitive dive discount so package diving and the 2T/1T scenario is not the only way to go. We have guests who save up for the dive holiday and watch their expenses and we have guests that will do a private charter for 2 people for a week so I guess doing a package is not the only way to save money.

 

[KathyV]

Many smaller ops don't do "packages" per se. They do fit schedules, give pricing concessions etc., based on individual circumstances. Perhaps it is a comped dive, perhaps if someone is chartering the boat for a week, they get a discount on the charter price. We have guests that like to do 3T and we are certainly not the only op that does it. Many don't necessarily limit themselves to only doing The Kittiwake or Stingray City to afternoons. I guess if you sign up for a specific package that is what you are going to get, but there are many regular guests who prefer the freedom of not being tied to a package. Almost everyone's pricing is very competitive. It has to be, the margins are tight and there is a lot of competition. There is a fee paid to the government (CITA) and other costs for The Kittiwake so those are passed along as is the cost of nitrox by all the ops. Lots of folks go for the repetitive dive discount so package diving and the 2T/1T scenario is not the only way to go. We have guests who save up for the dive holiday and watch their expenses and we have guests that will do a private charter for 2 people for a week so I guess doing a package is not the only way to save money.

I agree with all that, but I still think that the Aggressor represents another option to consider for folks that want to do a lot of Cayman diving; despite the fact that most dive sites are accessible from shore. And it can be an economical option if you get a good price and do a lot of dives.

We keep coming back to Cayman to do land-based boat dives and shore diving. We are not interested in doing another trip on the Cayman Aggressor (because we are getting older and no longer want to do that much diving) but I'm glad that we did it once!

 

[drrich2]

I agree with all that, but I still think that the Aggressor represents another option to consider for folks that want to do a lot of Cayman diving; despite the fact that most dive sites are accessible from shore.

It is indeed. My 2016 trip, it allowed me to get in 25 dives, to dive by all 3 Cayman islands (mostly Little Cayman), very simple logistics & easy advance cost determination, and by willingness to room with a same gender roommate, no single supplement (unlike some land-based accommodations), plus no need to rent a car. I didn't face the extra cost of 'eating out' (said to be pricy) or the hassle of preparing my own meals. Booking during a big Aggressor sale knocked the price way down.

I'm not saying the live-aboard option 'beats' the land-based; different people have different needs. But it is a good choice for some of us.

Richard.

 

[caydiver]

Absolutely just want folks to realize that the 2T/1T and afternoon “specialty” dives are not the norm unless I guess you go the package deal route. I think it is also a totally different situation being a solo rather than traveling with family as well. We made wonderful friends on The Galapagos Aggressor trip!!

 

[KathyV]

It is indeed. My 2016 trip, it allowed me to get in 25 dives, to dive by all 3 Cayman islands (mostly Little Cayman), very simple logistics & easy advance cost determination, and by willingness to room with a same gender roommate, no single supplement (unlike some land-based accommodations), plus no need to rent a car. I didn't face the extra cost of 'eating out' (said to be pricy) or the hassle of preparing my own meals. Booking during a big Aggressor sale knocked the price way down.

I'm not saying the live-aboard option 'beats' the land-based; different people have different needs. But it is a good choice for some of us.

Richard.

I think that there may be some negative feelings about the Aggressor among some of the Cayman dive ops. I am not pointing fingers at any specific dive op but one time we did encounter some hostility in Little Cayman. Perhaps it's because they compete for the sites that are available to the land-based dive ops, but I am sure that the Aggressor also has to pay the fees required by the harbor, the government, and CITA.

A few years ago, we were staying on Little Cayman and the 2 divemasters on our boat made several, small, spiteful comments about the Aggressor, like never referring to it by name and calling it that "Big ugly boat over there!"

Finally, a diver on our boat asked about the comments, and one of the divemaster went into a tirade against the Cayman Aggressor.

He said that they "always grab the best sites" and that they "sit on one site all day and never move the boat", and that they "don't care about the environment" and that they "chum for sharks!"

I thought that his comments were surprising and rather unprofessional, but I am sure that the Aggressor does grab the best sites first because they don't have to go back to the resort, but they always moved the boat at least twice per day - to grab another great site - and that was fine with me when I was on the boat! But they always seemed respectful of the environment on our trip, and they did NOT chum for sharks.

Anyway, there may be some antagonism between the Aggressor and some of the local dive ops, at least on Little Cayman. We didn't encounter any negative comments about the Aggressor during our most recent trip to LC, but there was bad weather the first couple of days and the Aggressor didn't make the crossing, but I still feel that the Aggressor represents another option to consider for divers that want to come to Cayman and do a lot of diving.

 

[KathyV]

Absolutely just want folks to realize that the 2T/1T and afternoon “specialty” dives are not the norm unless I guess you go the package deal route. I think it is also a totally different situation being a solo rather than traveling with family as well. We made wonderful friends on The Galapagos Aggressor trip!!

I agree, you are definitely able to work out your own diving arrangements with many ops on Cayman - that's one thing we like so much about visiting Cayman! Since we like to also do some shore diving while on GC, it gives us options that we can adapt to our plans and the weather. Lately, I have also seen some of the Cayman dive resorts offering specials aimed at single travelers, especially during the off season, so that's a nice option.

 

[caydiver]

Certainly haven't heard anything like that and wouldn't repeat it if I did. Facts are facts and hearsay is hearsay and can lead people to unfair negative or positive views that are created with no basis whatsoever. The Aggressor has a different business model that land based ops so really doesn't affect us one way or the other. I totally agree that it is unprofessional and unworthy to make allegations about other ops, that said if they actually are chumming or remaining on popular dive sites once their divers have done the dive and are back on the boat, the comments are fair enough as long as the person making the comments has first hand knowledge of what they are saying. Some ops have better reputations within the business circle than others, but that should remain within the circle. When ops change hands or get new managers or even change their business model, okay ones can become great ones and great ones can become so-so just like any other business. Can't speak for ops in LC, but here we all go to the same regular meetings and if there is a problem we hash things out there not in public. Those meetings involve the entire water sports industry. Only problem I have with The Aggressor is that a few of their guests still owe us beer. Came up on the wrong mooring and actually thought our little boat was the one they got off . . . have to wonder where people leave their brains sometimes