Utila Aggressor II Captain's Logs

[Aggressor Adventures]

Utila Aggressor II Captains Log April 7 - April 14, 2012

Log Date: Saturday, April 14^th 2012
Entry By: Utila Aggressor II Crew Member

Crew:
Captain/Video Pro: Nestor Vidotto
First Mate: Luis Wesley
Bosun: John Bodden
Instructor/Photo Pro: Naja Alvarado
Chef: Candy Collins

Saturday, April 7^th
The sun was shining as the excited guests stepped aboard the lovely Utila Aggressor II and they looked around in awe at the luxury that surrounded them. The friendly crew was ready to help them with their things and get them set up at their own personal dive lockers. There was also a variety of cold drinks and appetizers for them to enjoy.

After relaxing and getting settled into their luxurious quarters everybody gathered in the bright salon for Captain Nestor to introduce the crew and deliver a humorous and informative Captain’s and Safety briefing. For dinner we all had some delicious barbecue chicken, potato salad, breadfruit and green salad with apple crumble for desert. That evening the guests enjoyed some wine as they sat around the hot tub under the starry night sky. Everybody was filled with anticipation for the coming week.

Sunday, April 8^th(Visibility: 60-80ft; Wind: E 9 mph; Water Temperature: 79F; Wetsuit Recommended: 3mm)
As the morning sun danced across the clear Caribbean waters the guests rose and prepared for the wonderful diving found around Utila. Instructor Naja gave a humorous and informative Dive and Deck Briefing and then the crew helped everyone get into their gear. We started off at a fabulous site called Blackish Point. Everybody was blown away by all of the things we saw there including a large midnight parrotfish and a green moray that was guarding our mooring line from intruders.

From there we headed over to The Great Wall, which has a beautiful drop off as well as some interesting sand patches tucked between the coral heads. While diving there the guests were excited to see a juvenile trumpetfish smaller than a finger and five blue spotted eagle rays. It was a beautiful start to what would be a beautiful week.


The Chef had prepared a delicious lunch of jalapeno soup and chicken and shrimp paiya, which the guests enjoyed as we traveled to the next site of the day. We tied up at Brown Bank and finished up our day of diving there. We dove amidst some beautiful soft corals where we saw a balloon fish and a hawksbill turtle. Later that night we saw the hawksbill turtle again, although this time he was sleeping under an overhang. It was a great way to end our first day of diving.

Monday, April 9^th(Visibility: 60-80ft; Wind: SE 4 mph; Water Temperature: 79F; Wetsuit Recommended: 3mm)
At the crack of dawn divers began to rise anticipating all that was awaiting them. After a warm breakfast of ham and cheese omelets, fried plantains and bacon, which prepared the divers for the day ahead, it was time for the real fun to begin. The first dive was at a lovely site named The Pinnacle. The divers enjoyed going through a little swimthrough down near the base of the wall, as well as a little pipefish peeking out from the coral. It was a lovely way to start the morning.


That afternoon we tied up at a small wreck called Rojan’s Wreck on the south side of Utila. The divers had a wonderful dive here where they were lucky enough to see the incredibly rare juvenile stargazer. Captain Nestor found it buried under the sand and held the tiny creature carefully in his hand for the guests to see. It was an incredible experience.

Later that afternoon we headed over to Jack Neil’s Reef where we had a splendid dive discovering all the critters hidden in the sand. We were blown away to see an electric ray peeping up at us from under the sand, an elusive toadfish and a big yellow seahorse. That night Instructor Naja did a fish identification game with the guests. It was a hilarious way to end a great day on the Utila Aggressor II.

Tuesday, April 10^th(Visibility: 60-80ft; Wind: SE 4 mph; Water Temperature: 79F; Wetsuit Recommended: 3mm)
We woke up bright and early to start off with a dive at a wreck called the Halliburton, which was sunk intentionally on the southern side of Utila for diving purposes. The guests got to explore the different rooms and swimthroughs it provided, including exploring the engine room from where the cargo used to be kept.

That morning the graceful Utila Aggressor II traversed the seas towards the islands of Cayos Cochinos. We had a late morning dive at a secluded seamount called Coco’s Sea Mount. The guests were blown away by the number of fish here. We enjoyed playing with some ocean triggers and a big school of bar jacks.

From there we headed over to the island of Roatan. During the crossing everybody was overjoyed to see a number of pilot whales appear around the boat gently rising above the water before one again slipping into its deep abyss. Captain Nestor carefully maneuvered the yacht so we could jump in and snorkel with the incredible creatures. They swam around with us for ages, unafraid, with the baby pilot whales mimicking their mama’s movements. It was magical.

The first dive in Roatan was at a site called Cara a Cara, meaning “face to face” in Spanish. The sharks that normally hang around here were either off mating or having their babies, but we still had a great dive where we saw a colony of yellow headed jawfish, a juvenile spotted drum and we gathered a ton of lionfish.

Later that afternoon tied up to a wreck called Mr. Bud off the southern coast of Roatan. The guests had a great time exploring the different swimthroughs and rooms it offered and the juvenile spotted drum swimming around on the top of the boat. That night we were amazed to see a juvenile octopus and another octopus that wanted to be a movie star. He played around with us in the open for over half an hour, including flying off the wall at Instructor Naja, and repeatedly going up against her leg. In the end we finally had to leave him and end the dive or he would have played with us all night. It was a fantastic way to end the day.


Wednesday, April 11^th(Visibility: 60-80ft; Wind: NE 4 mph; Water Temperature: 79F; Wetsuit Recommended: 3mm)
As the morning horizon changed from pink to purple to blue the guests emerged from their beds ready for the day ahead. The lovely Utila Aggressor II was already cruising along on its way to an amazing dive site called Mary’s Place on the southern side of Roatan. This dive site has an intricate network of canyons and swimthroughs and with the light sparkling through from above it creates a mystical environment. The guests loved this dive.

As we were journeying to the next site suddenly we had a whole pod of dolphins come up around us. Thrilled to see them playing in the ocean and by the bow of the boat, the guests had the chance to jump in with them as well. They snorkeled and swam together for a while, creating the memory of a lifetime for the ecstatic divers.


We continued our day with a drop off dive at a site called Pablo’s Place. The sun glistened through from above as we glided through the calm waters. The guests were able to see a pair of French angelfish, a couple tobacco fish and a large rainbow parrotfish swimming by.

That afternoon we tied up at a lovely site called Eel Garden. We spent a couple dives exploring this special area, which had an abundance of garden eels watching our every move, some peacock flounders swimming around in their courtship of each other and a conch which flipped his shell around as we watched. We also got to see one of our friends named “Tweety”, a gigantic barracuda who stopped by our boat to say “hello”. For dinner Chef Candy had prepared a scrumptious grilled beef filet, homemade bread, beans, smoked onions and corn tortillas. With a sliver of moon hanging above and the boat rocking like a gentle cradle everybody fell into a sweet slumber.

Thursday, April 12^th(Visibility: 60-80ft; Wind: NE 6 mph; Water Temperature: 79F; Wetsuit Recommended: 3mm)
The guests rose bright and early Thursday morning ready for all the adventures that lay ahead. We were starting off with a great dive at a wreck called El Aguila. As we descended into the water there were a number of huge groupers ready to great us and show us their home. They played around with us for the whole dive. Our green moray friend “Juanita” also popped out to say “hello”. She played around with us for a while, being especially affectionate and giving us a few hugs. It was truly special.

When the divers came out of the water there was a nice hot breakfast of waffles, eggs your way and bacon waiting for them. Next we went diving at a very special site called Gibson’s Bight. We had a great dive here where we found lizard fish hiding in the sand and a blenny peeping out from a green-tipped sea anemone.

For our final dives of the day we moored at a great site called Taviana’s Wall on the western edge of Roatan. Here we were able to see a green moray and a large grouper right next to each other, trying to decide who was going to get to eat the lionfish in front of them. We also had a few beautiful oceanic triggerfish swimming around with us. It was a great way to bring a tremendous day of diving to a close.

Friday, April 13^th(Visibility: 60-80ft; Wind: E 9 mph; Water Temperature: 79F; Wetsuit Recommended: 3mm)
The sun peeped its lovely face over the horizon, as the guests rose and prepared for an early dive at Half Moon Bay. This was a glorious way to begin our last day of diving as we saw three hawksbill turtles, one of who was having brunch with a grey angelfish. Friday the thirteenth had proven to be lucky for us after all.

For our final dive of the week we did a drop off dive at Foster’s Reef where the guests were able to cover as much reef as they desired. They were happy to see some cryptic teardrop crabs in an azure tube sponge, two spotted nudibranchs and a scorpionfish awaiting the divers underwater. It was a stupendous end to an incredible week of diving.

That afternoon the guests enjoyed exploring the little town of Utila and then we all gathered in the spacious salon for a wine and cheese party. There was an array of fancy snacks laid out, including guacamole, bean dip, salsa, cheese and olives and so much more. We had a great time laughing over pictures in a slide show, numerous jokes and memories from the week. The guests went out to dinner on our little island and then returned to relax on the yacht enjoying the luxury they were surrounded by.

Saturday, April 14^th
The guests woke to find a full continental breakfast waiting for them. As they savored the delicacies they remembered all the fun times they had this past week. When the taxi arrived to take them to the airport the crew bade a warmhearted goodbye to the guests and hoped that they would meet again in the future. It had been a wonderful week and a priceless year on the Utila Aggressor II.

Written by Instructor Naja Alvarado

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Utila Aggressor II Captains Log April 14 - April 21, 2012

Captain’s Report
Utila Aggressor
[h=2]Charter April 14^th to 21^st, 2012[/h]
The Crew
Captain: Troy
Captain: Nestor
1^st Mate : Luis
Chef : Wilmer
Chef Assistance : Candy
Instructors: Saby and Tila
Deck Hand: John
Visibility: 100ft
Temp: 82
Wetsuit to wear: 3mm full or Shorty

It all started on Saturday the 14th when once again the Utila Aggressor II welcomed nine enthusiastic divers from places all over America and Canada. After everybody arrived and all the bags were unpacked and diving gear and camera equipment was all set we gathered together in the salon for the “Captains Briefing and Safety Video”. We toasted with champagne for a terrific week ahead of us.

Sunday 15^th:
Early in the morning the motors were started and the ropes were pulled off the dock as we slowly maneuvered the yacht out of Utila’s Harbor. It was great day to be at sea on a great yacht with an outstanding crew - and to top it all off a delicious breakfast for champions on a beautiful Sunday morning in paradise; hot coffee, ham and cheese omelets and all the fruits you can eat. The captain punched in our waypoint, set the compass to indicate North with a cruising speed at 9.5 knots and off we went. We soon had dolphins riding our waves.

Our first dive site of this week’s adventure was the Great Wall off the north side of Utila. The dive site map was drawn as the dive briefing was heard and everybody soon starts to head down to the spacious dive platform to jump in; making sure all is good. Two instructors are already in the water waiting for our divers to jump in and take them down on their experience of their life. The first diver soon is in the water followed by the rest as we submerge into the magical underwater world. The visibility was awesome. We had two really good dives here. Eagle rays, barracudas, Creole wrasses, juvenile spotted drums and a large variety of colorful Christmas tree worms were spotted on this dive. The visibility was about 100ft. The temperature 84 degrees Fahrenheit and the wind speed 15 mph out of the east.


After lunch we went around to the south side of Utila at the site called Jack Neal’s Point, where the visibility was around 60 feet while the underwater temperature remained at 84, but the wind had changed direction to 15 mph ESE. The diving was still great and we saw lots of flamingo tongues, neck crabs, a quilfin blenny, blue bell tunicates everywhere and even a couple of yellow stingrays.

The night dive was incredible. Our Instructor Luis was in the water finding some vivid and entrancing creatures for everybody to take pictures of including decorator crabs, juvenile slender filefish. Many guests finished up a superb day with a lovely cup of hot cocoa and soon we headed to our sleeping mooring in the harbor for a good night sleep.

Monday 16^th:
We awoke with some magnificent winds coming from the east as we made our path to the north side once again. The day called for a lot of excitement so we decided to dive The Pinnacle. We were astonished and captivated by the beauty this place has to offer and we all were pleased when we got a chance to dive the site twice. Here was the place where charming moray eels danced for the video cameras and trumpet fish blended into the soft corals. Schools of jacks and Creole wrasses, with many varieties of colors, bring out the life in this place.


The wind picked up some more so we searched for calmer waters on the south side of the island. Brown Bank, a seamount of the coast of Utila south side was the place that we choose to finish up our day of diving. We were able to get our three dives in and all was good. We spend the night in a safe harbor and decided to call it a day.

Tuesday 17^th:
An early morning for everybody as a seven o’clock dive was planned. We were going to be diving a wreck called The Halliburton, also on the side of Utila. This wreck sits at about 95 feet and was an old freighter that moved concrete from the mainland of Honduras to Belize. This wreck was intentionally sunk and it’s been cut out and fixed for divers.

After the dive we decided to make a run to Roatan, the island that’s 21 miles east of Utila. Upon arrival we dove the site known as Fosters Reef. There were lots of turtles at this site along with sightings of squids and eagle rays. Later that afternoon we moved to the site called Eel Garden, where we finished up our day of diving in Roatan with three more amazing dives.

Wednesday 18^th:
Another early and fun morning for our divers as we navigate to the north side of Roatan where the encrusted wreck of the Aguila rests. At this site the 80 pound groupers and seven-foot green moray have been beguiling divers for years. Their curiosity for divers is a delight for all of us, especially for the photographers. When the dive masters start to chum everybody comes out to dance; even a passing midnight parrotfish joined the party. After a good 25 minutes on the wreck some divers swam over to the reef, which is only about 50 yards from the wreck and upon returning to the boat everybody was flushed with excitement.


After all that exhilaration and the encounter with all of that wildlife, we came up for breakfast and headed further east to the acclaimed Dolphin Caves. Dolphin Caves is a guided dive where divers get to be amazed by the cave formation as we dive under the atoll of the northern reef off Roatan; also known to be the largest barrier reef in the world. As the sunrays made through the upper cracks of the caves it gave it an indescribable sensation. You must come see and feel this for yourself, so you too can say you have had the Utila Aggressor II ultimate experienced.

Thursday 19^th:
The week is almost over and there is so much more to see. The weather is changing and we are force to head over to the south side of Roatan for shelter from the strong winds and big waves. We find a great spot called Galileo’s Reef and jumped in to check it out. Here we found lots of flamingo tongues attached to the sea fans, eagle rays swimming along the wall, school of parrotfish mating over the reef and lots of healthy sponges and corals.

We all wanted another wreck before the week was over and the south side is home to a very fascinating little wreck called Mr. Bud. This is an old shrimp boat, maybe 90 feet in length and it lies in a sand patch at a depth of 65 feet. There is also a colorful reef around it. This spot is nice and shallow and is a perfect night dive to end the day with as well. Lots of octopuses were seen here along with a spotted moray, queen conch, big lobsters and lots of channel clinging crabs. The lionfish were out hunting and their beauty beguiled the small critters, such as midnight shrimps. We ended our last night aboard the yacht with several of our guests saying this was one of their best night dives ever! That was very nice to hear for the crew. We motored to a safe harbor for the night so we all could get a good night rest.

Friday 20^th:
Calm waters, blue sky and one off the most entrancing drop-offs on the south shore of Roatan greeted us; Coco’s Wall. The edge of the wall starts at the surface and drops to an unfathomable depth. Intriguing overhangs are filled with various sponges and wire corals. There are also a great variety of black corals, which covers the wall from head to toe. The cracks on the wall also give this site a total different topography than any other dive we have done this week. Our guests were so overjoyed they wanted more - so we gave them more.

The well-known Mary’s Place was on their “bucket list” so that was our last dive for the week. I took them down myself to show them the special things Mary’s Place has to offer. It’s a combination of canyons and swim through, filled with abundant marine life and the flora here is so plumed and colorful. Gorgonians, bushy black coral and sea fans - basically everything you can imagine that grows in the Caribbean grows at this site. This was our signature dive site for the week.

As we finished our last safety stop for the week we just counted the seconds before surfacing and ending one of the best dive vacation many ever have. It was a week for all of our nine guests to always remember. If this is the way you want your dive vacation to start, to be and to end, go ahead and look us up and come join us at the Utila Aggressor II….

Saturday 21^st:
All good things come to an end, but the best thing is when it all ends well our guests are happy and very content leaving for home today as we say our goodbyes and say “until next time”.

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Utila Aggressor II Captains Log April 21 - April 28, 2012

Captain’s Report

Utila Aggressor
[h=2]April 21 to 28, 2012[/h]


CREW
Captain Nestor Vidotto
1^st Mate Luis Wesley
Chef Corina Fuentes
Chef Assistant Marna Collins
Instructors Saby Escobar and Naomi Jackson
Deck Hand John Bodden

This week we welcomed onboard 12 enthusiastic guests from all over the globe; divers from Canada, Guatemala and USA. While we got to know each other, unpacking all the gear, the Captain informed the guests that we would be crossing over to the island of Roatan due to the weather. The weather report showed a little disturbance for Sunday morning and we did not want to take a chance on missing any dives so we pulled off the dock as soon as we got all of the bags and headed for Roatan. We had our safety and welcome aboard briefing and proceeded with dinner. We enjoyed a nice meal cooked by chef Corina then we all got a good night’s sleep to regenerate for the next morning.

Sunday 22^nd:
At the crack of dawn we started the engines, a little disconcerted by the wind we cautiously set course for the south west side of the island to a favorite dive sight of ours French Cay Bank. This is a great site to have your check out dive and make sure all is working properly and we have enough weights to start our descent. Our two Instructors, Saby and Luis were very professional on making sure we were ready to start our amazing underwater adventure and everybody felt very safe. We sighted a large school of Creole wrasse and a juvenile lionfish close by. The second dive we saw two more lionfish, a few midnight parrotfish, a southern stingray and a yellow sea horse - a great start for our first dives. We can’t wait to see what else the Utila Aggressor II has to offer. In search of another great site we decided on Pirates Point, which is located on the southeast side of Roatan. We love this dive as it has a beautiful reef section, a cool skunked tractor and an awesome sand patch where we look for various creatures. We found a lizardfish, two seahorses, a juvenile cowfish, a neck crab, a small yellow stingray and a bearded fire worm.


Monday 23^rd:
We awoke to strong winds on Monday morning again coming from the north so we decided that Mary’s Place on the south side of Roatan would be the best place to dive. It was beautiful there with the cracks and caverns looming mysteriously in the morning sun. After this we did a pretty drift dive further east on the island at a dive sight called Galileo’s. The untouched reef here is spectacular and hosts a variety of life. We tied up for the afternoon and night dive at a sight called Calvin’s Place. Here we saw a long snout seahorse, a huge green moray and many channel clinging crabs. On the night dive we saw three octopuses, lots of lobsters, a giant channel clinging crab and a couple of nudibranchs feeding on the coral. We ended spending the night in Parrot Tree Marina for a good night sleep.


Tuesday 24^th:
The wind had died down when we woke up this beautiful morning, We ate breakfast as we cruised, and decided the shark dive at Cara a Cara would be a nice thrill. There was some current, but that didn’t prevent the Sharks from approaching and we had an excellent dive. Later in the morning we moved further east towards one of our new dive sites called Aggressor Wall. An abundance of fish live on top of this reef in schools, such as Bermuda chub, Atlantic spades and millions of sergeant majors. We also found a pretty brown seahorse. The wind was starting to pick up a little bit directly from the west so we made course for a dive sight called Jagged Edge, a site so far east on the south side of Roatan that we were almost in Guanaja! But we were nicely sheltered from the strong west winds and there is a beautiful swim through here, which we all enjoyed. We also saw a lot of channel clinging crabs, lots of different varieties of juvenile fish and big groupers as well.
Later that afternoon we moved to a wreck called Mr. Bud. This was a lot of fun for all of us - great photos were taken here along with some excellent video. Here we saw spotted morays fighting over lionfish and a couple of lobster joined the frenzy as well. We spent the night here and waited for morning to come.


Wednesday 25^th:
We had an early start the next day because we wanted to dive at Coco Sea Mount. This sea mount is located 20 miles south from Roatan’s shore and often gets a small current, which brings with it a variety of nutrients that feeds a lot of fish. This is the reason why we get a lot of schools of fish around this seamount such as Atlantic spadefish, horse eyed jacks and oceanic triggerfish. A massive tiger grouper was waiting to be fed with lionfish and it followed the divers the whole dive. We also often see scorpion fish and turtles and huge schools of Creole wrasse. We enjoyed one dive with all of the above and in between we searched the deep banks for any sign of Mr. Big. We kept moving further south to get the chance to dive Cayos Cochinos, and we did one dive here and then moved strait to Utila during lunch. Cheeseburgers on the sun deck and dolphins riding the waves following us to Utila. The afternoon was calm and flat as we did another nice sea mount called Black Hills with lots of turtles, schooling spade fish and even free swimming green moray eels. We then ended at the site called Jack Neal’s Reef with lots of seahorses, toadfish and more octopuses during the night dive. After a nice long prosperous day we headed to Utila Harbor for a good night sleep.


Thursday 26^th:
With calm seas and a blue sky we headed to the north side of Utila. At the pinnacle we did one dive and moved again to the Great Wall. Two incredible dives on the north side of Utila where we searched for the whale shark, but again no luck. We headed to the south side of Utila and got a nice drift dive at Big Rock; nice sand patch with a lot of life here. We were fortunate enough to sight a quilfin blenny, the largest of the blenny family. For the next dive we decided the southeast side of the island had better visibility so we tied up at a sight called Brown Bank Reef, which is another seamount. Here we had a very pretty dive where we found lettuce sea slugs and a spotted drum. A few of the guests were fortunate enough to see a hawksbill turtle.
Friday 27^th:
Our last day of diving and the weather is just phenomenal. We stayed at Ted’s Point where there is a lot of fish life including slender filefish, a heart urchin, barracuda, permits and schools of horse eyed jacks - even a sunken sailboat.

Our last dive was a drop off dive at Bodden Reef. Here we saw seahorse clinging to the wall in the current, eagle rays feeding on the sand patch, a couple of lettuce sea slugs and a golden tail moray. After this dive everybody started washing their gear and putting everything to dry up on the sundeck. We started our way back to the Utila dock. As we got to the dock we had lunch ready and our guests then got the chance to stretch their legs by going for a walk around Utila town. They later returned to the boat and enjoyed a nice wine and cheese party.

Saturday morning the sun came out as the guests said their fond farewells. A big thank you to everybody who came down to enjoy another great week onboard the Utila Aggressor II.
Thank you for a great week….

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Utila Aggressor II Captains Log April 28 - May 5, 2012

Captain’s Report
Utila Aggressor
Charter April 28 - May 5, 2012


20 miles of the North coast of Honduras, you will find the beautiful tranquil and genuine Island called Utila. This is one of the smallest islands that form the Bay Islands; you can find Roatán 22 miles east from Utila, and the Bay Islands runs east to West from each other. Here in Utila is the home for the Utila Aggressor II, the liveaboard that will take you diving to the best reefs, walls and sea mounts that the Bay Islands has to offer.

You will enjoy the great service from your ultimate crew, delicious food and great company from everybody else that joins the cruise. This week we started with a small group of adventures that were ready for a week of awesomeness.

Sunday April 29^th:We left port on a gorgeous Sunday morning in search for our first dive for the week, as always the best diving in the Caribbean. The site was picked from our archive of destinations and the Great Wall was our first pick.

Here the sloping walls make way for our divers to encounter a totally different world than we are use too. Hundreds of Creole wrasses, horse eyed jacks and down to the smallest underwater creatures were spotted here. Our dive instructors even found a skeleton shrimp.

As the day went by we moored on the southwest side of Utila at Jack Neal Point. To our surprise we found four long snout seahorses and one lined seahorse, electric rays and eagle rays. Our guests even spotted a peacock flounder camouflage in the sandy bottom. This is where we did our night dive as well, lots of octopus and squids; many different nudibranchs and lots more cool stuff.

Monday April 30^th:
Well rested from the day before we started the motors and got back on track. North side here we come. The Pinnacle was on the dive menu. Everybody had their cameras and gear ready. As we plunge into the oceans great abyss a giant eagle ray swam beneath us and as we follow along side it brought us to a green turtle munching on a sponge. Next to the turtle there were two lion fish getting ready to start their hunting day also. What a great way to start up your morning aboard the Utila Aggressor II.

On our way back around the Island a big pot of dolphins decided to follow us and guide us to another dive site, Brown Bank a sea mount on the south shore Utila. Lots of turtle were seen here along with a toadfish and even a passing grey reef shark. Our night dive was also the same spot, by choice of the divers. After finishing up the night dive we headed back to safe harbor to spend the night.

Tuesday May 1^st:
We had an early start and dove the wreck on the south side of Utila called Halliburton. This wreck lives at 100 feet and it’s been down for several years. Lots of encrusting sponges and a large amount of geometric tunicates have made this wreck their home along with a couple off moray eels. Here you may also find a pilot whale remains as this whale was found washed up on the beach and local fishermen brought it and sunk it at the wreck to attract fish for the tourists.

We next began our crossing to the Coco’s Sea Mount, which is located 23 miles SE from Utila. This two-hour ride brought us to an area of pristine reef with an abundance of fish. These seamounts rise from about 3000 ft beneath the surface and are home to large schools of fish. One drift dive was made here then we picked up all the divers and headed to Roatán looking for sharks.

What a day I’ll tell you. Lots of adrenaline pumping as we got closer to the site called Cara a Cara, which means Face to Face. It was a little disappointing because the wind picked up too much so we had to postpone the shark dive for another day so instead we kept going west of Roatán all the while being escorted by a large pot of dolphins again.

We tied up at Eel Garden had two more great dives and called it a day. We had another great day plan ahead of us.

Wednesday May 2^nd:
It’s wreck time. The Aguila, a 200-foot cargo ship that was sunk for the purpose for us to dive it lays at 110 feet on a big sand patch. This is where lots of 30 to 80 pound groupers hang out for a hand out. “Juanita”, the 7 foot green eel also is part of this show that the Utila Aggressor II crew puts on at this site. You’ve got to be here to enjoy this and have your picture taken with the eel or the playful groupers.

After this deeper dive we decided to stay topside a little longer and leisurely enjoy a delicious breakfast then many relaxed out in the sun.

All our guests suited up to be dropped off at Half Moon Bay Wall where we were going on a drift dive. The current was pretty nice and it just made us have a very relaxing dive (LAZY) - no need for kicking with our fins, just hovering over the reef and going along with the flow, we saw everything on that dive.

Thursday May 3^rd:
It was Shark-thirty am and we were on our way to the sharks again. The wind had calmed down enough for us to dive it safely. On our way down at least 10 to 12 sharks came out to get their picture taken by our photographers. The crew speared couple of lionfish and fed them to the sharks - it made a great appetizer. We headed back to the west side of Roatán, did couple more drift dives and ended the day at Taviana’s Wall.

Friday May 4^th:
Two early morning dives were made on Roatán and we began our crossing to Utila. During our crossing all the guests started washing their gear and putting everything away. We headed straight to the dock, tied up and started restocking for our next group the coming week. All of our guests had lunch and headed into town for a stroll. They later came back to join us for our wine and cheese party. Everybody exchange emails and pictures of the week and just had a good time.

Saturday morning the sun came out as the guests said their fond farewells. A big thank you to everybody who came down to enjoy another great week onboard the Utila Aggressor II.

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Utila Aggressor II Captain's Log May 5 - 12, 2012

CAPTAIN REPORT
MAY 05-12, 2012

CREW
Captain - Nestor
1^st Mate - Luis
Chef - Corina
Steward - Marna
Instructor - Saby
Deck Hand - John


As the crew of the Utila Aggressor II finished getting the yacht ready for another amazing week, our guests start to arrive one by one; getting all of their dive gear and camera equipment on the yacht, picking their spot for the week. It doesn’t matter where you are sitting for the week because your tank gets filled right at your station. That’s the beauty of diving on a live aboard especially on the Utila Aggressor II.

With all of our guests aboard the yacht the Captain gave the Orientation Briefing and the Safety Video was played for our guests. After toasting with a nice glass of champagne we preceded to dinner. A lovely meal and a good night rest as everyone looked forward to starting a great day of diving in the morning.

We left the dock on Sunday morning and headed to the north side of the island, looking for a calm spot to start our first dive for the week. We began with our deck orientation and the dive site briefing. The instructors got in the water waiting for the divers to get in to check their weights so they could go down and enjoy their dive.

We had chosen the Great Wall as our first dive. Here we found turtles, morays, jaw fish, eagle rays and lots of Creole wrasses on the edge of the wall; feeding on the nutrients that the current brings within. We dove here for two great dives and then crossed to the south side of Utila to dive at Jack Neal’s Point. Five sea horses were spotted during one of the dives. Some of the others spotted tunicates encrusted on the reef, yellow stingrays buried in the sandy bottom and peacock flounders hiding next to them. Lots and lots of silversides glimmering in the shallow waters of this beautiful site. Everybody was tired and after dinner they called it a day. We headed to the harbor were we got a good night rest.

The following morning we made it over again to the north side. We try to get to the north side of the island as much as we can as in addition to the spectacular diving you get here your chances of encountering a whale shark increases. We dove The Pinnacle, which is one of our favorite sites to bring our guests. Lots of fish were seen right under the boat and the visibility was amazing - at least 150 feet if not more. It was just marvelous.

No luck with the whale shark, but we still had some amazing dives today. We also saw lots of spinner dolphins that came to join us, riding under the bow of the boat showing off their beauty and their happy smiles. They followed us all the way to our next site, Black Hills which is a sea mount on the south east side of Utila. The seamount is where lots off sea life is found and this is one of the seamounts that the Utila Aggressor II visits every week weather permitting. Large schools of horse eyed jacks, hundreds of Creole wrasses, free swimming moray eels, hawksbill turtles and lots more different creatures call this area home.

Later we cruised to another seamount. It seemed that everybody liked the seamount, so they wanted another one. Brown Bank on the south shore of Utila was the spot for the rest of the day. More turtles were spotted feeding on the sponges that grow on the wall, big barracudas, rare nudibranchs, and lots of cryptic tear drops crab; these are types of decorator crabs where found. Even a couple of octopus where seen during the night dive.


Nice and early we started this Tuesday morning with a 7 o’clock dive at the wreck of the Halliburton. We then started our crossing to 23 miles east of Utila. We were headed to the Coco’s Seamount. We had breakfast during the crossing, enjoying the panorama of a beautiful silhouetted island behind us. A couple hours later we arrived at the seamount. Here we got one dive in where we encountered large groupers and wrasses, lots of lionfish and much more exiting sea life.

The excitement still continued later that morning as we got to the shark dive Cara a Cara located on the south side of the Island of Roatan. The briefing of how we were going to do the dive was given by one of our instructors and we began our descent. Eight to ten sharks were all ready waiting for the divers to come on down and enjoy their presence. We caught a couple of lionfish and fed to the sharks. This was a good opportunity for some great pictures.

Our guests had never dove a wreck during the night and asked if that was possible. We said “NO PROBLEM” and took them to Mr. Bud, a shallow wreck on the south shore of Roatan. We had a blast. The south side began to get a little rough, so we decided to take the yacht into a safe and calm harbor for the night.

Another day in paradise! After a good night sleep and a delicious breakfast we got in the water at one of the world’s greatest site called Mary’s Place. Canyons, swim thrus, amazing walls and drop off, incredible visibility and tons of fish. What a way to start our day and it only gets better. Right after leaving Mary's Place the captain ask us if we wanted to dive the sharks again - OH YEAHHH!!! Everybody said the second time was even better than the first. This time we had more than 10 sharks, more fish, better visibility and the current was just perfect.

We ended our day on the west end of Roatan at a site called Eel Garden which has a nice sandy bottom area where lots of little eels live, aka Garden Eels. Here you can also find reef squids, turtles and eagle rays feeding on the sand bottom in search of shells filled with food buried in the sand.

On Thursday morning we dove the wreck of El Aguila on the north side of Roatan. Massive groupers and green moray makes this wreck their home. We take chum down on this site making it a lot more interesting. The divers can be assured of having a great dive at this site as all the groupers come very close to the cameras for their picture to be taken by one of the photographers. The green moray also comes out and sticks her head in the chum bucket and does not get out until the last piece of lionfish is done.

We left the wreck after the first dive and headed for Half Moon Bay Wall; a site nicknamed “turtle heaven” where at least 5 turtles were seen. An eagle ray was spotted off the wall and yellow head jaw fish with eggs in their mouth were also seen on this dive.
We stayed on the west side to end our day at Tavianas Wall where more turtles, spotted morays, southern stingrays and Nassau groupers feeding on lion fish with mutton snappers trying to take a bite of the catch were seen. Another early day was called by our guests.

On Friday morning we did one last dive on Roatan before starting our crossing back over to Utila. We dove the site called Pablo’s Place. Here the divers encountered a stronger current and they were able to relax and just let the current take them down enjoying the drift without having to work too hard. As we got to Utila another drift dive took place at Teds Point. Relaxed and overjoyed, the divers got the chance to find lots of cool things on their last dive for the week.

As they exit the water their faces were happy but their heart was sad because they were leaving us, but they promise to come back and see us again very soon. The divers began to wash their gear and put their belongings away. When we got to the dock they left for a walk in town and to pick a spot for dinner later that night. Everybody was back on the boat by 5 o’clock and we hosted our famous wine and cheese party where we were able to exchange emails and laughs. The crew showed the week’s pictures and guests took a crew picture as a memory of the amazing crew the Utila Aggressor II has to offer. With all said and done we all said our farewells and wished everybody a good night - until next time. When you are looking to have a week’s vacation starting and ending as good as this one, come see us on the Utila Aggressor II. We are waiting for you.

Always Safe Diving

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Utila Aggressor II Captain's Log May 19- 26, 2012

Utila Aggressor II Captain’s Report May 19-26, 2012

Once upon a time on the beautiful Island of Utila, a home away from home, a live aboard dive yacht called Utila Aggressor II made its port and now the best crew in the world gets ready to pamper their 17 guests that will be arriving soon to start their long awaited adventure aboard our yacht.

With all of our guests aboard and everybody already unpacked and ready to go, the Captain gave the Orientation Briefing and the Safety Video was played for our guests. After toasting with a nice glass of champagne and getting to know each other we proceeded to dinner. After a lovely meal everyone settled into a good night rest to start an early day in the morning.

Sunday, 20^th
We left the dock on Sunday morning with the smell off delicious Honduran coffee and an appetizing continental breakfast with lots of fruits, homemade bread and all the sidings.

We stayed on the protected east side of the island to start our diving as the winds were pushing from the other side. After the deck orientation and dive site briefing the instructors got in the water waiting for the divers to get in and checked their weights so they could go down and enjoy their dive.

We chose Blackish Point as our first dive. Here we found turtles, morays, jaw fish, eagle rays and lots of Creole wrasses on the edge of the wall feeding on the nutrients that the current brings within. After diving here for only one great dive, we crossed to the south side of Utila. Our next site was Ted’s Point, where we found a toadfish along with a southern stingray just cruising over the reef and lots of smaller fish hovering at cleaning stations. Later we crossed over to Jack Neal Point. A couple of sea horses were spotted during one of the dives, others spotted tunicates encrusted on the reef, yellow stingrays buried in the sandy bottom with peacock flounders hiding next to them and lots of silversides glimmering in the shallow water of this beautiful site.

After dinner we went in for our night dive, finding lots of nudibranchs, octopus and a new different seahorse; a red one this time. After approximately 50 minutes all the divers returned to the yacht, quickly showered and drank some delicious hot cocoa made by Miss Candy, our steward. We then headed to the harbor to have a good night’s sleep.

Monday, 21^st
The following morning we were able to get to the north side to a site called the Great Wall. This site is one of our favorite sites. Here we saw lots of fish, turtles, beautiful healthy coral and large barrel sponges. The visibility was good and the temperature was just marvelous.

After a couple of dives here on Utila we decided to start our crossing to Roatán. A weather disturbance had been announced and we wanted to keep it on the safe side. During our crossing to Roatan we searched for the whale shark, but no luck with that. We still had some dolphins riding the waves on the bow of the yacht today and they followed us almost all the way to Roatan. It took us almost three hours to get there, but well worth it.

As we got close to Roatan the divers got ready to jump in on their first “drop off” dive for the week. These dives are a little like drift dives, but since we don’t get very strong currents here we called them “drop off” dives. You get to swim in one direction and the boat will pick you up wherever you pop up. It’s a great way to cover more of the reef and you don’t have to worry about finding the boat, because the boat finds you!

We dropped in at Key Hole Reef, a new site on the south shore of the island. Since the Utila Aggressor II gets a lot of repeated guests we try really hard to find new, beautiful sites to take them to.

We kept moving east looking for calm waters and we found them at Mr. Bud. Here we found not only good weather but also large schools of horse-eyed jacks, hundreds of Creole wrasses, free-swimming moray eels, hawksbill turtles and lots of different creatures. We called it an early night today without a night dive as everyone had enjoyed their day to the fullest.


Tuesday, 22nd
Another beautiful morning in paradise! Crossing over to Roatan yesterday morning was a very good idea as today we are diving our most famous signature site for the Bay Islands called Mary’s Place. Here you find yourself swimming through open canyons where the black coral and gorgonians create a waterfall image; falling over the edge of the canyons. More turtles were spotted feeding on the sponges growing on the wall; big barracudas swam with us and even a couple of angelfish posed for our photographers.

Later that morning we headed straight for the shark dive called Cara a Cara where between 8 and 10 sharks came out to play. Excitement flowed amongst the divers as these amazing creatures swam close to us. Everybody had a great dive.



Wednesday, 23rd
With an early start we headed east to the north side where we dived at Calvin’s Place; another site with more canyons and a lot of color as well. This was a guided dive and our instructor in water made sure everybody saw the highlights of this cool site. Our next dive was at Jagged Edge where we encountered lots of lionfish within its unique topography.

After lunch we cruised down to Pirates Point. Here we found quite a few seahorses, more octopuses and some channel cleaning crabs. We had our night dive here as well.

Thursday, 24th
We had a calm morning today so we were able to get 24 miles south from Roatan over to the Coco’s Sea Mount. These offshore banks offer a concentration of schooling fish that is much larger than anywhere else, along with large barrel sponges, massive groupers, marlins, barracudas and lots of lobsters. We were also very happy at the numerous Nassau groupers that were here. If you didn’t know, the Nassau groupers is an endangered species in our Caribbean waters and we’re very happy to see that the Marine Park Services is doing their job protecting them.

From here we crossed back to Roatán, stopping for a second time at the shark dive Cara a Cara, which was everybody’s favorite site so far. We then crossed to the west side to Eel Garden. We stayed here for the rest of the day.

Friday, 25^th
This morning we got to the north side of Roatan where we started early with a 7 o’clock dive at the wreck of El Aguila. We swam and fed large black groupers and the resident seven-foot green moray. The wreck itself is also great and we had a lot of fun penetrating and exploring inside the wreck. We also spent some time looking for lionfish as you get some big ones living down here.

The seas were still calm and we managed to stay and finish our week with one last amazing dive at Taviana Reef. Everybody saw lots of turtles, nurse sharks, squids, eagle rays, and much more. This was a great way to end our week of diving aboard the Utila Aggressor II.

To our guests that stayed with us this week, we want to say thank you. We know you could have been any other place in the world, but you chose us and for that we are grateful.

Safe Diving
Your crew: Captain Nestor, 1^st Mate Luis, Chef Corine, Steward Candy, Instructor Saby and Deck Hand John

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Utila Aggressor II Captain's Log June 2 - 9, 2012



Captain's Report June 2 - 9, 2012

CREW

CAPTAIN NESTOR VIDOTTO

1ST MATE LUIS WESLEY

CHEF CORINA FUENTES

STEWARD CANDY COLLINS

INSTRUCTOR SABY ESCOBAR

INSTRUCTOR CHRIS ACHBERGER

DECK HAND JOHN BODDEN

VISIBILITY 80 TO 120 FEET

TEMP 80 TO 82 DEGREES F

The day starts with lots of scrubbing and hosing down the beautiful white yacht from top to bottom. The job is done when the yacht shines like the polished white delicate pearl. While most of the crew is preparing the boat for a new charter, a crew member is welcoming the new guests at the airport and makes the transfer to Utila a pleasant journey. By mid afternoon the crew - already well-groomed and in clean Aggressor-attire - gets ready for the guests to arrive. Final deliveries of provisions get handled and bits and pieces on the dive deck get taken care of. We receive the guests’ luggage before arrival and get it all aboard and ready.

Late afternoon the new charter guests arrive at the dock. The whole crew is on deck and welcome the guests aboard. Soon after each guest chooses his spot on the dive deck and claims a personal locker. The dive-deck is now the busiest place on the boat as everybody is setting up diving equipment and video gear. After a good, warm meal the divers are settlling in and making the Utila Aggressor II their home for the week.

Sunday 03.06.2012

Early morning we start the engines and get the boat off the berth. We are headed to the north side of Utila to avoid the strong easterly breeze and have a calm check out dive at Turtle Harbor. Everybody shares one thought: dive dive dive! All divers get their weights sorted really quickly before they start to explore the “Great Wall”, our first dive site for the week. And we go straight for the money: Hawksbill Turtle on the first dive!

As we make our way to the next dive site we get to watch a spectacle only nature can provide. Big flying fish leap out of the wet element and make a run for it as they ride the winds just above the waves.

Back in the water at “Blackish Point” just in front of “Rock Harbor”. On this drift dive we slowly move along a magnificent coral wall and find reef inhabitants just next to large pelagic fish like Wahoo and Barracudas.

After lunch, which is again thanks to our excellent galley crew a feast, we head to the south side of Utila and dive “Gorgonians Reef”, our second drift dive for today. This site is a massive Gorgonian-forest and we can find neck crabs on them and Trumpet fish hunting around them.

The “Jack Neil’s Reef” on the southwest side of the island is our last dive for today. We have to cancel the night-dive because the winds pick up and we need to go for a sheltered mooring for the night. The experienced dive guides on the boat make this dive really special as they manage to find seven seahorses, divided in two species, on this site.

What a first day! Everybody is happy to find a nice and cool cabin after a wonderful meal a sleeping early seems to be the right thing to do.

Monday 04.06.2012

This morning the winds have died down and we head back to Turtle Harbor. We are lucky again a see turtles on both our morning dives at “The Pinnacle” and also at “The Maze”. The Pinnacle is special because of the large amount of fish we find here and the pinnacle it self that stands at least 200 feet tall, with a interesting swim through right next to it. The Maze is a riddle of swim troughs and Moray Eels love the good hiding places inside the rock formations.

Lunchtime is all about hamburgers this time and we appreciate the longer lunch break before we get back in the water on the southwest side of Utila.

“Ted’s Point” is a stationary dive and it is especially nice because we got to see a sapo cano; it’s a small toad fish about 3 to 5 inches big and it’s a rare find as well. Lots of turtles and cleaning stations, an eagle ray and much more were spotted on this dive.

For the afternoon and night dive we head out to “Brown Bank”, an offshore sea mount about 6 miles southwest of Utila. Being surrounded by deeper waters without reef, big schools of jacks and other open water fish like to hang out at the bank. Luck seems to stick with us today as we find another Hawksbill Turtle on the night dive.

Tuesday 05.06.2012

Early morning dives before breakfast is any underwater enthusiast’s craving. Wreck diving is just the cherry on the cake. The wreck of the “Halliburton” is what we get to see before anyone else this morning. The very accessible, purposely sunk wreck of a cargo ship is a picturesque home for reef fish and their predators. The Moray Eels just love the holes and crevices of this, still very much intact wreck.

During breakfast the Utila Aggressor II is making her way to the “Cayos Cochinos” a twinset of little islands northeast of Utila. Here we dive a marine park the “Coco’s Seamount”. Just before we get ready to drift dive encounter a large school of Pilot Whales slowly crossing our path. The marine life is just prolific big schools of fish everywhere. We take our Lionfish spears with us to minimize the damage those illegal immigrants pose to the local inhabitants. The groupers are already waiting to swallow up the freshly caught Lionfish in one big gulp.

Just before lunch we get to dive our first Roatan dive site. “Mary’s Place” is on the south side of the biggest of the bay islands and one of the signature dive sites. This dive is “guided-only” because the really deep and narrow swim through-like coral mounts are just a maze and it is best fun to simply enjoy and have somebody else take care of navigation. All kinds of crustaceans like Lobster and Channel Crabs can be seen on this site. Last two dives of today are wreck dives again. “Mr. Bud”, a former fishing boat, now sunk on a beautiful fringing reef just out of French Harbor, it’s a shallow dive with lots of marine life inside and outside its coral-layered steel hull. Especially at night we find octopus, large lobsters and channel clinging crab, lots of midnight shrimps couple of slugs and much more.

Wednesday 06.06.2012

We are on anchor just a few hundred yards off the dive site called “Pirate’s Point”. Morning Dive! The site offers picturesque reef formations and the underwater seem to just come alive this time of the day. A wonderful way to start the day.

Breakfast is Waffle-time and they are muy muy deliciosos!

While having breakfast the boat made its way to an offshore dive site called “Cara A Cara”. This is where we meet the sharks! Only one dive guide is allowed to bring a lionfish spear. Spearing a lionfish and feeding it to the sharks that are curiously swimming around us is just a breathtaking show. Everyone gets a great chance to enjoy the spectacle up close and take amazing shots of the seven or eight Grey Reef Sharks. A big smile resides on all the divers’ faces until way after lunch.

On our way back to the West side of Roatan we come across a school of Dolphins just hanging around the boat and enjoying the typical “swimming under the bow”-swim.

Afternoon dives and night dive take place on the more sheltered West Point of Roatan. The big white yacht is a good match to the wonderful beachside resorts and restaurants of the perhaps most beautiful beach of the Caribbean. The reef comes right up to the beach and the boat is moored just at the edge of a reef-wall. Besides the dives we enjoy here, we are also able to just go for a snorkel and explore the bay’s magnificent reefs.

On our afternoon dives at “Eel Garden” we get to see loads of Brown Garden Eels and Razor fish in the sand, various Stingrays and massive channel crabs in the reef-channels and lots and lots of reef-fish.

Thursday 07.06.2012

07:00: All hands on deck we move the boat. Destination “El Aguila” a deliberately sunken wreck that was towed from Utila – where it actually sank – to a reef just in front of Anthony’s Key Resort. While the boat is moored to the dive site by the crew the guests are heaving breakfast: Jalapeno and Cheese Omelets with Fried Plantains Bacon. Just what a hungry diver needs!

Wreck dive and more. The dive guide takes some fish-cuts in a container on the dive. The ten or eleven Groupers seem to know about that and come right in to get some fish. Some of them are really big and feed just a few feet from us. The wreck is huge and a home to load of marine life swarming around it. In the bow resides a huge Green Moray Eel called “Juanita”. The dive guide is feeding her inside the bow and lures her out where the divers get a good look and surely a few good shots of a free swimming Moray.

After the dive everybody was treated to little homemade Donuts. Yummy!

Next dive is at “Peters Place” a shallow reef near the North shore. After a short and funny briefing we splash! On this dive we get to see a large green moray feeding on lion fish, lots of Creole wrasse feeding on plankton, a huge eagle ray just couple feet away from us.

Afternoon dives are on the Northwest side of Roatan. After lunch we arrive at “Half Moon Bay” and get greeted by two Hawksbill Sea Turtles coming up for air and staying for a few minutes to get warm in the sun. This week is full of turtle-luck.

Later that afternoon we dive “Taviana`s Wall”, which is also our night dive site. This shallow reef is circumfenced by a steep wall and riddled with swim through. We found scorpion fish, lion fish, more turtles and eagle rays, porcupine fish, and much much more.

Friday 08.06.2012

The week went fast and we are already on our last day. “Lighthouse Reef” on the West Point of Roatan is our last dive site. Diving on the Point provides an opportunity to see large open water fish and we encounter Barracudas and large King Mackerel hanging out in the blue. On this dive site we also find a lot of juvenile Spotted Drum and one absolutely massive Green Moray Eel completes this amazing week of diving the Bay Islands.

The trip back to Utila is an adventure as the winds have picked up and we enjoy the big boat mastering the waves.

Everybody dries their dive gear on the top deck and chill out is the motto of the afternoon.

At around 5:30 in the evening we all get together and have whine and cheese. The crew is showing the pictures and movie of the week, and shared emails, to a hope to see each other soon on another trip, everybody heads out for dinner and called it a night. On Saturday morning we all said our farewells and wished our guests a safe trip back home and thanking them for joining us an this great week full of adventures in diving.

So remember if you are looking for a week full of awesomeness come see us at the Utila Aggressor II, where we are waiting for you.

Safe Diving.

Written by Instructor Chris Achberger

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Utila Aggressor II Captain's Log June 9 - 16, 2012

Utila Aggressor Captain’s Report June 9 – 16, 2012
Crew:
Captain – Nestor
1^st Mate - Luis
Chef - Marna
Instructor - Saby
Steward - Candy
Deck Hand - John

The fun began on Saturday mid-day when the guests of the Utila Aggressor II arrived at their destination to begin their diving adventure on the smallest and most beautiful paradise island called Utila. Utila is part of the Bay Islands that’s located in the western Caribbean about 40 miles off the northern coast of Honduras. The island group consists of the three large islands of Utila, Roatan and Guanaja. These Islands are actually the tops of a submerged mountain range, the Bonacca Ridge, which parallels a deep ocean trench and creates a section of the second largest barrier reef in The WORLD.

Our guests carefully unpacked and set up their gear making sure everything was working and getting it ready for the following morning, meanwhile others enjoyed the sunset on the top deck cheering it up with some good island music and sharing their expectations for the week. The bell rings and a safety briefing is announced in the salon followed by a delicious dinner served by our marvelous chef Marna. Drinks were served and our guests were catered to whatever they needed; that’s the way your vacation starts aboard The Utila Aggressor II.

The week aboard the Utila Aggressor II began with amazing weather; daytime temperatures were usually in the mid-80s F, recommended wetsuits for the trip I’ll say 3mm full suit or shorty is okay. This protection helps conserve body heat and also protects against coral abrasions and stinging creatures such as jellyfish. As expected on these islands the wind may change unexpectedly, but that still did not stop us from diving the very best around these islands.

Cruising to the north side of the island of Utila where we wanted to start diving was a lot of fun, as we got couple of friendly dolphins riding the waves for awhile. As we got to the chosen dive site, the dive deck gets ready and a dive deck briefing is given by one of our instructors. We were at a site called the Great Wall. This is a location that impresses every diver we bring here. All the safety measures are briefed and we proceed to our dive site briefing telling everybody what to expect and where to go to find all the cool and fantastic creatures they can encounter down under. At this site the reef is very shallow, making it excellent for a check out dive, with a slopping wall starting just at 30 feet under the boat and a sandy bottom for any new diver to feel comfortable for their first open water dive. We found 3 eagle rays, lots of flamingo tongues clinging on sea fans, a couple of turtles munching on sponges and much more interesting animals that got everyone’s attention.

We got in two dives here and then began our crossing a little further west where the wind was not too strong and the waves were not as disturbing. Here the west end of Utila changes dramatically at the junction of the northern and southern reef. The topography is honeycombed with slopes, swim-throughs and sand patches adjacent to the shore. We managed one more dive for the day and decided that was enough and started sharing stories from previous trips board other Aggressor yachts. Wine bottles were opened, local beer was handed out and reggae music was jamming all over the top deck where we were all enjoying another beautiful sunset on the relaxing Utila Aggressor II.

The following morning we managed to get to the site we called The Pinnacle. Here we had a lot of fish action, green and spotted morays, Creole wrasse, black groupers - even two dorados were spotted swimming the edge of the wall; a rare find being so close to the wall, but yet again you would amaze of the enchanting and exotic creatures you may find around the Bay Islands, especially while you are diving with best operation in the area - oh yeah!!!!

We also got to swim around the massive coral formation that comes up all the way from 150 feet, forming the pinnacle. Masses of colorful and smaller fish lives around The Pinnacle making this site a very memorable one. This is a truly special site with so much variety a diver could spend his whole bottom time under the boat.

Later that day we headed towards the south shore of Utila at Jack Neal’s Point, where again we had a super dive. Whenever you find 6 seahorses on one dive I think that’s a super dive!!!!!! We not just only found sea horses, more turtles were spotted here, a toadfish cleaning its home for the night, couple flounders feeding on the patches of sand making this dive even more interesting. After 3 incredible dives we called it a day and the music began its warm rhythm that got all the divers in a dancing move. We all danced under another breath-taking sunset.

On Tuesday morning we started our crossing to the marvelous island of Roatan, just 20 miles east from Utila. Only a short two-hour drive to this paradise island making a dream come true to some of our divers that always wanted to come to these islands. Among the many superb dive sites along the western end of Roatan we dove at Eel Garden. As the name itself suggests many garden eels live at the sandy bottom where they wave above their holes like eelgrass in the surge. They quickly disappear as divers approach. This is a pleasant dive and snorkeling area enhanced by the beauty of the shoreline of the west bay beach.

The following morning Roatan had a surprise for us - the largest wreck in the Caribbean `` The Odyssey”. At 300 ft of length and sitting at only 110 ft deep makes a true amazing experience for those of us who loves wrecks.

After the wreck we still had more tricks under our sleeves, we headed further east at least another 20 miles just to get at one of Roatan finest, called Dolphins Caves. This is a system of enormous caverns, which undercut the fringing reef and will intrigue even the most experienced diver.

We motored back down to the west side of Roatan and finished our day at Taviana’s Wall. Here we got two incredible dives finding at least 4 different turtles munching on the near sponges, jawfish with eggs in their mouth, territorial sail fin blennies, and much more.

On Wednesday the seas were calm enough to cross over to the breath taking Coco Sea Mount just 23 miles south from Roatan. This mountain of coral alternates with gently sloping walls and is prolific with fish along the walls. The large variety of wrasses, horse-eye jacks, black groupers and lionfish are more abundant out here than at most other sites. We managed to get one dive in and decided to cross back to Roatán and dive Cara a Cara aka the shark dive whose name means face-to-face. You know what to expect here, lots of grey reef sharks. At least 7 to 8 sharks in their natural wild habitat so there is no need to chum the water - they just show up for the picture and to give us a happy ending.

The action and fun did not stop here. Every diver on our yacht knew about Mary’s Place so that was our next stop for the day. Zigzagging channels and jagged crevices that form interesting swim throughs that takes you down all the way to about 120 ft, as you swim pass a water fall of black coral and gorgonians that gives this site a magical touch that will always live and linger in your heart and memories forever.

Still on the south side of Roatan we tried to get one more site before the sun went down and the wind picked up. We were lucky enough to have a great crew that really wanted the best for our guests, a service that you will only get aboard the Aggressor yachts specially on the Utila aggressor II, our guests are always first no matter what. Mr. Bud was our choice for the evening and it was an excellent choice by our captain and crew. Lots of fish and a nice shallow wreck that sits at 65 ft with a great colorful reef that is formed around it. It was just great.

The following day we were still eager for more wrecks and we went to the Aquila. This wreck is on the north side of Roatan and is home for many large groupers that hang out for a bite to eat. It’s also home for the largest green moray you have ever seen; her name is JUANITA. Penetrating the wreck was possible due to the layout of this wreck, what I can say is: it just doesn’t get better than this.

Our next site was Half Moon Bay Wall on the west side of Roatan. It begins at 20 feet as a gradually declining slope and it levels at 60 ft for a short distance before plunging to over a 1000 ft. Here the drop-off is decorated with large orange elephant ear sponges and purple azure vase sponges and much more including a large variety of fish and other hard coral. It is said that Half Moon Bay was once part of an ancient river valley. During prehistoric times the walls of the huge canyon were above water and the underwater plateau is a remnant of a previous sea level.

Later in the week we made our way back to Utila, finishing the week of amazing diving at the site that we had already dove before and was one of our guests’ best dives; Jack Neal’s Point. Remember this site was the site where all the sea horses were found. We made our dive and it was just as good, I think even better, so we ended our week of diving safely and with a lot of memories to take back home with us to share with our friends and family.

As I always say if you want your vacation to start, to be and to end like this, come see us at the Utila Aggressor II, and her amazing crew.

Safe diving!!!
Captain Nestor Vidotto

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

CAPTAIN’S LOG​

June 30 to July 07, 2012​

CREW
Captain Nestor Vidotto
Chef Corina Fuentes
Steward Marna Collins
Instructor Luis Wesley
Instructor Chris Achberger
Deck Hand John Bodden

Visibility 80 to 100 feet
Wind 15 to 25 km out of the E
Temperature 80 to 82 F
Wetsuit recommended 3mm ‘Full suit or Shorty’


Bayou Divers from Louisiana, USA joined us this fabulous week aboard the Utila Aggressor II. The Bayou Divers arrived a day early to Utila, and stayed at Laguna Beach Resort just a 5 minutes boat ride from us. When they finally boarded the yacht they surely made their presence notice, with laughter and jokes. What a great group we said. As they started unpacking and setting up, soft drinks and snacks were being shared around for everybody to enjoy. Later that evening the announcement for a safety orientation and a welcome aboard was made and everyone headed up on the sundeck where we would start and toast to a safe and magical week.

Early Sunday morning we set sail to the north side of Utila, stopping at The Pinnacle where we commenced our first dive for the week. Two very good, fun dives were done here. Later in the day we had lunch and during that time we took advantage to move further down west, where we got in two more different sites. One of them was a cool seamount called Wrasse Bank just southwest of Utila. Lots of Creole wrasse live out here and that’s where this site gets its name. Turtles, morays, various tunicates were found and lots of lion fish for our Bayou Divers who brought their spears to help us catch these ferocious predators. As we headed back to Utila’s calm and safe harbor, our Chef Corina was preparing dinner. Delicious fresh cut tuna steaks with a breath-taking sauce that she made for all of us to enjoy. When we got to the harbor the dinner bell was rung and we all enjoyed dinner in calm water, ending the day with memory cards full of awesome pictures, and a belly full. It does not get better than this!!! They said, and I said, “Just wait until tomorrow. “

The rising sun on this beautiful morning Monday brought great visibility and calm seas. It was a gorgeous morning in paradise. We made it over to the north side once again, and dove at Turtle Harbor. Lots of turtles and eagle rays were seen on this morning’s dives. Later in the day we motored across to the island of Roatan, which is 20 miles east from Utila. The ride took us 2 ½ hours to get from one island to the other and a nice calm ride we had. As we got to Roatan, another briefing for the new dive site was given, and the divers were ready to explore the underwater beauty of the reef topography. Several dives were done today and our favorite one was Eel Garden, just off the west bay beach. With a big sand patch where garden eels congregate, and large schools of Creole wrasse passes over the divers before sunset looking for a place to spend the night.

Tuesday morning woke us up with some strong winds from the east, so we decided to stay along the northwest side of Roatan and dove the world famous Aquila’s Wreck. This wreck has been down for several years now and it’s home for many large black groupers, a couple of green morays and also to a large school of dog snappers that hovers over this wreck. This was a much-awaited dive, from all the publicity it has. It has been mentioned in many dive magazines as a “MUST”. We made sure to get our group in nice and early before other divers got there and we had the wreck and all the marine life all to ourselves.

The wind was still blowing so we stayed on the west side of Roatan. Half Moon Bay Wall is where we did our afternoon dive encountering 4 territorial turtles; green and hawksbill, eagle rays, male jawfish with eggs in their mouths, large barracudas and groupers, many large barrel sponges, elephant ear sponges and much more. We finished up our day at Lighthouse Reef. No night dive tonight every body said, and instead they headed for the sundeck to grab a beer and into the hot tub to watch a glamorous sunset.

By the next day the wind had died down and an early shark dive was on the list for the morning. “Cara a Cara” was the site on the south side of Roatan. By 7 o’clock that Wednesday morning we were already swimming with 7 or 8 grey reef sharks. They swam with us from the moment we splashed into the water and we fed lion fish to these apex predators. After swimming with them for about 35 minutes we came back up and headed further east, taking advantage of the good weather. We managed to dive Pirates Point, a very nice site where the mission was to find sea horses. We found one and drifted down the reef finding other cool stuff as well for our divers to see and photograph. On our way back we were having lunch and someone came up with a great idea of diving with sharks a second time. A great idea I say because this time we saw more sharks and had a better visibility. Everything was just great about it. Finishing up our day on the west end at Taviana Wall with a dusk dive everybody agreed on. We submerge ourselves to the reef below with the mission here to catch all the lionfish possible. At this time of day the lionfish are out hunting more. Several were caught and fed to groupers and morays and others were brought back for the chef to make us a lionfish ceviche that it was delicious.

Thursday morning we made two more dives in Roatan before we cross back to Utila. When got to Utila we dove a great seamount east of the island called Black Hills filled with lots of fish and morays, turtles, Atlantic spadefish, horse eye jacks and much, much more. Later that evening we found another sea mount called Brown Bank where more turtles were spotted along with a small nurse shark taking a nap on a sand patch and a well-camouflaged scorpion fish waiting for the right time to strike its prey. Again everyone decided on a good cocktail and a nice cold beer was enjoyed instead of a night dive so we pulled up the ropes and headed in for calm and safe harbor for the night.

Friday morning came quick and we started early at Jack Neal’s Point. Here we found 6 seahorses, electric rays, a long arm octopus, mushroom scorpion fish, eagle rays and other cool stuff. We pulled up the ropes and gave our guests another cool site called Ted’s Point, which is just east of Jack Neal’s Point but has a different topography and other stuff to find. Large eye toadfish were living here, Southern stingrays, squids, lots of lobsters and only a few lionfish, which is a good thing. I'm sure our friends from Bayou Divers helped us out a lot this week in taking some of the lionfish population out.
A big thank-you from your Utila Aggressor II crew and all the Bay Islands citizens.

Another great and fantastic week is over and we’re waiting for more takers to come on down and enjoy your vacation the way a dive vacation is suppose to be. So come see us aboard the Utila Aggressor II if you want your trip to be like this one - and you never know, it might just get better.

Safe diving
Captain Nestor Vidotto

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Utila Aggressor Captain’s Report July 7 – 14, 2012

We started the week nice and calm aboard the Utila Aggressor I, with blue skies and calm seas and 11 enthusiastic guests that arrived early. Once aboard, like always, the routine began once again, with bringing on the bags, starting to unpack all the diving and camera gear, showing everybody to their rooms and inviting our guests for a refreshing drink on the top deck.
Once everything was in place, we called everyone to meet in the main salon where the safety briefing and introduction of the crew took place. Later that evening we enjoyed a delicious dinner that our Chef Corina prepared for us, topping it off with a wonderful carrot cake for dessert. After this scrumptious meal, and knowing the plan for the morning our guests called it a day and headed down to their cabins for the night.

On Sunday morning we cruised to the north side of Utila where the weather was extremely nice for our early start. We dropped in at a site called Blackish Point and here the shallow, sandy bottom makes a very easy checkout dive for our divers. We made two dives here before continuing further west on the island, where we stopped for another dive before we ended on the south side. We did our last dive for the day at Jack Neal’s Point. Here we spotted seahorses, stingrays, quilfin blennies, eagle rays and much, much more. We finished our day by heading into a safe and calm harbor to have dinner and anchor for the night. We all talked about what a great start we had and also about the places our guests wanted to go and what they wanted to see. We then played a slide show for all to enjoy while they relaxed for the evening. Another great day was accomplished aboard the Utila Aggressor II.

Monday morning came quickly and once again we headed to the north side of Utila. Our guests wanted wall dives, so we gave them a couple of wall dives they will never forget. The first dive site was the Pinnacle and the second was at the Great Wall of Utila. At the Pinnacle we found lots of turtles and eagle rays, giant moray eels free-swimming on the walls, and of course – the pinnacle itself. This is a massive coral head that comes up from over 250 feet all the way up to 25 feet with lots of colors and different marine life growing on it. At the Great Wall we encountered more turtles and eagle rays. The Great Wall starts at only 25 feet and drops over 1000 feet very quickly; not even 100 yards from shore.

We had two great dives this morning, but the weather was trying to build up on us so we crossed during lunch to Roatan. It was a 2 ½ hour ride, but worth it because here we had really calm water with very good visibility. Foster’s Reef was our first dive site on Roatan. Later we moved down to Eel Garden where we finished up for the day. A great night dive was also on the list, so after dinner we all got ready to swim along with lots of octopus and spy the colorful nudibranchs. Our instructor, Luis was also in the water and caught some lionfish, which he was able to feed to a spotted moray. A nice, hot cup of cocoa was awaiting our divers on their return.

Tuesday morning brought another adventure – and boy did it come early as we geared up for our Shark Dive. The sharks were already waiting for our divers so they could start the show. We had 8 to 9 sharks with us this morning and we all got the opportunity to get some good pictures and video.

After the Shark Dive we headed east on Roatan where we stopped at the world famous dive site called Mary’s Place. This was a guided dive and our instructors took us through some massive canyons that were formed many, many years ago. Here the black coral blooms as you swim through the canyon, leaving only your bubbles behind. But the adventure did not stop here as we continued motoring east to the spot called Mr. Bud, a wreck dive just outside of French Harbor. Mr. Bud was an old shrimp boat that was sunk specifically for the purpose of diving. It has been rigged out and cut out to make an easy penetration, and it is a shallow depth at only 65 feet. Perfect for “my kind of diving” everyone said.

Wednesday morning we went back to do the Shark Dive again. It was so good we just had to do it twice and once again it was great. This time we had more sharks and even better visibility. We then headed west to splash in at Half Moon Bay Wall. We then ended our day at Taviana Wall having a day full of turtles, more eagle rays, jawfish, morays and much more.

Thursday morning got off once again on the right foot as we managed to get across to the north side of Roatan to visit the El Aquila, a 200-foot wreck sitting in 100 feet and home to a lot of marine life; groupers, parrotfish, green morays and much more. We fed the large groupers some lionfish and even a very large moray got a piece of the pie. From here we moved down west to the site called Pablo’s Place where we made one more drift dive before starting our crossing back to Utila. We had a smooth crossing and midway we stopped at a seamount called Brown Bank. Unfortunately the weather chose to change after this dive so we ended up making our final night dive in the harbor.

On Friday morning we had a terrific dive site called Black Hills where we saw lots of schooling fish, including horse-eyed jacks and Atlantic spadefish. We also saw three turtles, southern stingrays, and even a couple of scorpionfish. After one dive here we headed to another site where we would be looking for stargazers – and yes, one was found. As the divers jumped in the water, it was like someone had just left it there for us. We finished that dive and headed back to the Utila dock.

What a great week of diving – having great delicious meals with great company to share it with and the best crew in the world. So remember, if you want your week to be like this one, come join us aboard the Utila Aggressor II.