OP
Trip Report Turks & Caicos Aggressor II 4/21-4/28 Trip Report
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OP
drrich2
Contributor
6.) There was at least one guide every dive. Typically, the guide would head to the wall, drop down pretty deep, move along the wall awhile (maybe to the 20 or 25 minute point?), turn, work up the wall heading back, then spend time exploring the shallow shelf. Guides often moved along the wall quite deep (I’d guess 70+ feet at times), pointing out critters. As usual on live-aboard trips I ‘helicoptered’ - hovering maybe 15 - 20 feet above the guide to conserve gas, reduce nitrogen loading and use the guide as, well, a guide to get back to the boat! Tend to get back around the boat at maybe 45 minutes, give or take, but often mill around near the boat until air low. Most of our dives didn’t have time limits; you were free to dive your tank. Some buddy pairs went their own way.
7.) I didn’t ask about solo diving; the navigational concerns, at times significant distance from boat to wall, and potential for running low on gas put it outside my comfort zone. A sign mentioned buddy diving as a recommendation. That said, my only ‘buddy’ was the group, following the guide, and that was fine...nobody fussed at me about that. So no excessive nanny state! And you can head up to the dive ladder and haul out alone, crew always ready to take your camera and fins.
8.) There’s a PVC hang bar hung from chain where you can sit, watch the bottom, ‘play Superman’ while the boat swings and do your safety stop. Good for dragging out dive times a little...
9.) For night dives - we were warned Caribbean Sea wasps (small, cuboidal looking jellyfish with 4 tentacles and a very painful sting, assuming they’re like what stung me in Bonaire) sometimes appear at night, mainly in the 1st 8-feet of water. And me in a 3-mm shorty wanting to do all the dives and get an Iron Diver medallion. Thankfully, they didn’t show up. From what I was told it varies too much to give a good estimate as to how often they do. After night dives, you can get hot chocolate with option for marshmallows and/or Jamaican rum cream.
10.) Macro - Captain Amanda Smith the Engineer Robert Smith both have an evident passion for small life - such as decorator crabs, cleaning shrimp, blended, etc... Even if you don’t do Rob.’s black-light night dive searching them out by fluorescence, this turned out to be a surprisingly ‘macro trip’ due to their efforts.
11.) Gas Concerns. I heard they had some 100-cf tanks, and asked for one via my Diviac agent. On the boat, I mentioned it and they brought me a 100-cf HP (3442 noted on tank neck) steel tank. Very glad I had that. My SAC varied, but the Cobalt 2 gave overall dive SACs mostly around 0.56 cf/min. But one dive, when there was mild persistent current to swim against for quite awhile, the swim back from the wall was significant, and my big, chubby self was blowing through gas fast (SAC 0.71 cf/min.), I ran low on gas. I signaled the guide, he stayed with me, went up and hung for my safety stop, surfaced with and accompanied me as I surface back swam to the boat (no, they didn’t have to send the ‘dingy of shame’ (as I’ve heard it called elsewhere) after me - I’d have been mortified). I completed my safety stop and had air to fully inflate my BCD at the surface, but I nearly drained the tank. I was pleased with the guide’s response, and think the guides kept a discreet eye on me afterward. Good support, but the moral of the story is, these dives often average deep, and you can go through a tank.
Which raises the question of how so many people get by with 80-cf tanks on these trips? Air hogs beware!
12.) Lionfish - variable numbers but more than I’d like. From what Robert told me, they don’t spear them as it’s too dangerous with the sharks around.
13.) Topside – There’s a constant breeze, from mild to strong. The boat swung about on its mooring at times (made riding the hang bar fun); it didn’t rock a whole lot, but if you’re prone to sea sickness, bring your med.s! No shortage of mouthy birds hanging around. Gary pointed out a shark chasing the boat, hoping for a hand out. A pod of dolphins popped around us during transit.
7.) I didn’t ask about solo diving; the navigational concerns, at times significant distance from boat to wall, and potential for running low on gas put it outside my comfort zone. A sign mentioned buddy diving as a recommendation. That said, my only ‘buddy’ was the group, following the guide, and that was fine...nobody fussed at me about that. So no excessive nanny state! And you can head up to the dive ladder and haul out alone, crew always ready to take your camera and fins.
8.) There’s a PVC hang bar hung from chain where you can sit, watch the bottom, ‘play Superman’ while the boat swings and do your safety stop. Good for dragging out dive times a little...
9.) For night dives - we were warned Caribbean Sea wasps (small, cuboidal looking jellyfish with 4 tentacles and a very painful sting, assuming they’re like what stung me in Bonaire) sometimes appear at night, mainly in the 1st 8-feet of water. And me in a 3-mm shorty wanting to do all the dives and get an Iron Diver medallion. Thankfully, they didn’t show up. From what I was told it varies too much to give a good estimate as to how often they do. After night dives, you can get hot chocolate with option for marshmallows and/or Jamaican rum cream.
10.) Macro - Captain Amanda Smith the Engineer Robert Smith both have an evident passion for small life - such as decorator crabs, cleaning shrimp, blended, etc... Even if you don’t do Rob.’s black-light night dive searching them out by fluorescence, this turned out to be a surprisingly ‘macro trip’ due to their efforts.
11.) Gas Concerns. I heard they had some 100-cf tanks, and asked for one via my Diviac agent. On the boat, I mentioned it and they brought me a 100-cf HP (3442 noted on tank neck) steel tank. Very glad I had that. My SAC varied, but the Cobalt 2 gave overall dive SACs mostly around 0.56 cf/min. But one dive, when there was mild persistent current to swim against for quite awhile, the swim back from the wall was significant, and my big, chubby self was blowing through gas fast (SAC 0.71 cf/min.), I ran low on gas. I signaled the guide, he stayed with me, went up and hung for my safety stop, surfaced with and accompanied me as I surface back swam to the boat (no, they didn’t have to send the ‘dingy of shame’ (as I’ve heard it called elsewhere) after me - I’d have been mortified). I completed my safety stop and had air to fully inflate my BCD at the surface, but I nearly drained the tank. I was pleased with the guide’s response, and think the guides kept a discreet eye on me afterward. Good support, but the moral of the story is, these dives often average deep, and you can go through a tank.
Which raises the question of how so many people get by with 80-cf tanks on these trips? Air hogs beware!
12.) Lionfish - variable numbers but more than I’d like. From what Robert told me, they don’t spear them as it’s too dangerous with the sharks around.
13.) Topside – There’s a constant breeze, from mild to strong. The boat swung about on its mooring at times (made riding the hang bar fun); it didn’t rock a whole lot, but if you’re prone to sea sickness, bring your med.s! No shortage of mouthy birds hanging around. Gary pointed out a shark chasing the boat, hoping for a hand out. A pod of dolphins popped around us during transit.
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OP
drrich2
Contributor
Often the view from the boat was of ironshore, not sandy beach, but it was still beautiful.
Some Conclusions.
I had a really good time. Very well-run operation. Nice, clean yacht, good, competent and likeable staff, good and varied food, and a lot of good wall diving. Enjoyed Rob’s somewhat dry sense of humor and his and Amanda’s passion for the diving.
It wasn’t as ‘sharky’ or packed with rays as I expected, the reef wasn’t as lush as I’d have guessed, gas consumption can get ‘challenging’ as profiles tend to average deep, and from my limited range of regional experience, I’m going to give it to the Caymans as ‘best diving in the Caribbean’ I’ve seen so far (though Belize was close; the Cayman’s animals were more approachable).
That said, I’d already been to Belize and the Caymans, wanted to try a new destination, my gas consumption was under better control than it used to be, and there’s a lot to be said for trying new experiences and pushing your limits a bit to grow. Otherwise, I’d still be going back to Bonaire (were I’ve been 8 times). This was a good trip to make for me, where I’m at in diving.
Be mindful I didn’t experience French Cay, hurricane damage will slowly ‘heal’ over time, and other divers with different perspectives will have a different experience of Turks & Caicos diving, so take my report with a grain of salt.
I’d’ recommend this trip, with realistic expectations, diving nitrox, if your gas consumption is at least decent and you’re comfortable with deep profiles, and if you’ve got any doubts, reserve one of those 100-cf tanks ASAP.
A special thanks to the crew who helped make it all happen.
Some Conclusions.
I had a really good time. Very well-run operation. Nice, clean yacht, good, competent and likeable staff, good and varied food, and a lot of good wall diving. Enjoyed Rob’s somewhat dry sense of humor and his and Amanda’s passion for the diving.
It wasn’t as ‘sharky’ or packed with rays as I expected, the reef wasn’t as lush as I’d have guessed, gas consumption can get ‘challenging’ as profiles tend to average deep, and from my limited range of regional experience, I’m going to give it to the Caymans as ‘best diving in the Caribbean’ I’ve seen so far (though Belize was close; the Cayman’s animals were more approachable).
That said, I’d already been to Belize and the Caymans, wanted to try a new destination, my gas consumption was under better control than it used to be, and there’s a lot to be said for trying new experiences and pushing your limits a bit to grow. Otherwise, I’d still be going back to Bonaire (were I’ve been 8 times). This was a good trip to make for me, where I’m at in diving.
Be mindful I didn’t experience French Cay, hurricane damage will slowly ‘heal’ over time, and other divers with different perspectives will have a different experience of Turks & Caicos diving, so take my report with a grain of salt.
I’d’ recommend this trip, with realistic expectations, diving nitrox, if your gas consumption is at least decent and you’re comfortable with deep profiles, and if you’ve got any doubts, reserve one of those 100-cf tanks ASAP.
A special thanks to the crew who helped make it all happen.
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OP
drrich2
Contributor
My Costs:
Turks & Caicos Aggressor II:
Twin Share (cheapest option): $2,795 but 34% off sale.
Deposit: $738.00.
Due: $1,107.00.
Bed Tax: $110.00.
Nitrox: $100.00 (maybe $50; I had prior Aggressor trips).
Southwest roundtrip airfare: $583.16.
Projected Trip Cost: $2,638.16.
Nashville Airport Parking: $88.00.
15% Boat Tip (based on $3,000): $450.00. Note: My base cost for lower, but I put in a rough ‘all around’ tip figure to make this estimate relevant to others considering the trip. Tips are a critical part of crew income in the region.
Tips for Taxis, Porters: $30.00.
Supper the last evening (with tip): $30.00.
Airport Food round trip: $40.00.
Trip Video: $65.00.
Projected Total Trip Cost: $3,341.16.
So, ~ $3,350.00. Without the 34% off, it’d be $4,254.46, & that’s for the cheapest room category.
Note: Additional Considerations: I checked my reservation online 4-12-18 and it shows mandatory surcharges of $110 per trip National Park Fee, and $95 per week Port and Bed Tax (but remember I factored in $110 for ‘bed tax’ above). Also, on 4-20-18, I logged onto AT&T & purchased the $60 one time Passport option for my phone. Note Passport rates don’t apply at sea, but do on land. The wireless provider my iPhone picked up was FLOW; I don’t know how they work with AT&T billing-wise, but I could text my wife, and get e-mail if I turned on data roaming, when around Provo.
My Dive Info.:
Since I ‘helicopter’ around 15 – 20 feet above the guide during deep portions, and dove shallower on average than many others I saw, and I sometimes rode the hang bar (for fun or to extend dive times), keep this info. as ‘limited.’ And be mindful of the hang bar before judging some of my low end pressures. Also, from discussions with others over time I think my Oceanic VT3 reads about 1 degree low, so I corrected for that in my reported minimum temp.s. Logged EAN mixes were consistently good and tended to be a little on the rich side; mainly 32.x – 34.x. Pressures are from my Cobalt 2; the VT3 reads maybe 55 to > 100 PSI higher, so actual fills may’ve been better than shown here. Temp lows ran from 74 (others were skeptical those 2 dives were that chilly) to 79; the big majority were 79 degrees.
Dive. Duration. Max. Depth. Ave. Depth. Start Pressure. End Pressure.
1 57:30 73.9 feet. 36.58. 2998 PSI. 668.
2 58:00 74.65 43.72 3125 570
3 57:00 71.97 42.64 3036 647
4 65:00 71.97 (again) 40.79 3095 388 (yeah, too low!)
5 52:30 54.87 37.84 3366 1104
6 57:30 91.29 33.32 3108 613
7 59:00 75.89 38.12 3144 533
8 54.30 69.65 43.36 3037 442
9 57:00 84.01 50.87 3089 423
10 56.30 51.99 40.73 3091 601
11 47:00 78.07 46.34 2773 654
12 52:00 78.73 47.64 3096 726
13 49:30 105.13 44.12 2823 00 (Max. depth was quick dip for a photo).
14 52:30 67.89 48.75 3052 616
15 52:30 (again) 59.04 30.30 2963 1045
16 46.30 84.24 44.09 3104 871
17 54:00 72.85 46.23 3084 739
18 50:00 76.34 41.30 3092 879
19 52:00 71.15 45.19 3020 629
20 55:00 50.10 36.94 3169 914
21 50:00 81.92 43.10 3139 797
22 58:00 68.44 45.33 2921 330
23 48:00 57.38 34.60 3039 1109
24 56:30 75.43 41.85 3018 541
25 52:00 50.56 36.11 3097 1019
26 53:00 52.39 31.65 2969 974
27 54:00 48.83 31.87 3147 1064
Turks & Caicos Aggressor II:
Twin Share (cheapest option): $2,795 but 34% off sale.
Deposit: $738.00.
Due: $1,107.00.
Bed Tax: $110.00.
Nitrox: $100.00 (maybe $50; I had prior Aggressor trips).
Southwest roundtrip airfare: $583.16.
Projected Trip Cost: $2,638.16.
Nashville Airport Parking: $88.00.
15% Boat Tip (based on $3,000): $450.00. Note: My base cost for lower, but I put in a rough ‘all around’ tip figure to make this estimate relevant to others considering the trip. Tips are a critical part of crew income in the region.
Tips for Taxis, Porters: $30.00.
Supper the last evening (with tip): $30.00.
Airport Food round trip: $40.00.
Trip Video: $65.00.
Projected Total Trip Cost: $3,341.16.
So, ~ $3,350.00. Without the 34% off, it’d be $4,254.46, & that’s for the cheapest room category.
Note: Additional Considerations: I checked my reservation online 4-12-18 and it shows mandatory surcharges of $110 per trip National Park Fee, and $95 per week Port and Bed Tax (but remember I factored in $110 for ‘bed tax’ above). Also, on 4-20-18, I logged onto AT&T & purchased the $60 one time Passport option for my phone. Note Passport rates don’t apply at sea, but do on land. The wireless provider my iPhone picked up was FLOW; I don’t know how they work with AT&T billing-wise, but I could text my wife, and get e-mail if I turned on data roaming, when around Provo.
My Dive Info.:
Since I ‘helicopter’ around 15 – 20 feet above the guide during deep portions, and dove shallower on average than many others I saw, and I sometimes rode the hang bar (for fun or to extend dive times), keep this info. as ‘limited.’ And be mindful of the hang bar before judging some of my low end pressures. Also, from discussions with others over time I think my Oceanic VT3 reads about 1 degree low, so I corrected for that in my reported minimum temp.s. Logged EAN mixes were consistently good and tended to be a little on the rich side; mainly 32.x – 34.x. Pressures are from my Cobalt 2; the VT3 reads maybe 55 to > 100 PSI higher, so actual fills may’ve been better than shown here. Temp lows ran from 74 (others were skeptical those 2 dives were that chilly) to 79; the big majority were 79 degrees.
Dive. Duration. Max. Depth. Ave. Depth. Start Pressure. End Pressure.
1 57:30 73.9 feet. 36.58. 2998 PSI. 668.
2 58:00 74.65 43.72 3125 570
3 57:00 71.97 42.64 3036 647
4 65:00 71.97 (again) 40.79 3095 388 (yeah, too low!)
5 52:30 54.87 37.84 3366 1104
6 57:30 91.29 33.32 3108 613
7 59:00 75.89 38.12 3144 533
8 54.30 69.65 43.36 3037 442
9 57:00 84.01 50.87 3089 423
10 56.30 51.99 40.73 3091 601
11 47:00 78.07 46.34 2773 654
12 52:00 78.73 47.64 3096 726
13 49:30 105.13 44.12 2823 00 (Max. depth was quick dip for a photo).
14 52:30 67.89 48.75 3052 616
15 52:30 (again) 59.04 30.30 2963 1045
16 46.30 84.24 44.09 3104 871
17 54:00 72.85 46.23 3084 739
18 50:00 76.34 41.30 3092 879
19 52:00 71.15 45.19 3020 629
20 55:00 50.10 36.94 3169 914
21 50:00 81.92 43.10 3139 797
22 58:00 68.44 45.33 2921 330
23 48:00 57.38 34.60 3039 1109
24 56:30 75.43 41.85 3018 541
25 52:00 50.56 36.11 3097 1019
26 53:00 52.39 31.65 2969 974
27 54:00 48.83 31.87 3147 1064
OP
drrich2
Contributor
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OP
drrich2
Contributor
That's strange. I used Google for photo hosting, since I can never be sure about Photobucket will all the changes I've heard they've made (basically, I'm not paying $300 a year for photo hosting!), and what'll happen going forward. I prepared the post using Safari on my Mac, and using Safari, the photos show up fine. When I fire up Fire Fox, on the other hand, where a photo could be, I just see:
Not sure what to make of that. And I get that same effect trying with Safari on my iPhone.
Images were prepared by copying the image address, while viewing the photo in Google, into Scuba Board's insert image icon popup box.
Not sure what to make of this.
Richard.
OP
drrich2
Contributor
Using Safari on the other Mac, it's not working, either. I don't understand this. I've used Google as a photo hosting source before.
OP
drrich2
Contributor
I'll see about replacing with links to Photobucket, though P.B.'s website seems to be running on molasses....and clogged with ad junk.
Sadly, my efforts to format my dive data using spaces to line things up...apparently got ditched by the forum system and now looks like a mess. Oh, well.
Richard.
Sadly, my efforts to format my dive data using spaces to line things up...apparently got ditched by the forum system and now looks like a mess. Oh, well.
Richard.
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OP
drrich2
Contributor
Okay, after an extended session of nerve-plucking tedium with PhotoBucket, all the images should be working. I wanted to break up the text-intensive report with photos, but also offer people a look at the reef, rather than just trying to describe it.
Richard.
Richard.
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