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Dive Review of Aggressor Fleet in
Belize/Turneffe and Lighthouse Reefs

Aggressor Fleet, Apr, 2013,

by Barry Zigas, DC, US (Sr. Reviewer Sr. Reviewer 7 reports with 2 Helpful votes). Report 6961.

No photos available at this time

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Accommodations 4 stars Food 5 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity 5 stars
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 5 stars
Beginners 3 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments 5 dives a day, 2 morning dives on the first site, followed by 2 afternoon and a night dive on a new site motored to during lunch, except the last day, which featured a dawn dive followed by breakfast and a second dive before heading back to port to give everyone at least 24 hours before flying. Very good dive briefings, each illustrated on a dry board. The crew kept track of our meanderings and dives on a big wall mounted nautical map, which was helpful and fun to study. Every dive featured a wall dropping to at least 100 feet, and plenty of shallower environment on the top of the walls and along sandy bottoms under the mooring to dawdle around at the end of the dive. Most dives 50-60 minutes. Dives featured free swimming green morays, spotted and forked tail morays in holes; lots of lobster on both day and night dives; octopus on the night dives and on one day dive; channel crabs on the night dives. Huge tarpon on every night dive, along with barracuda and large groupers on most dives. Plenty of encounters with Leatherback, Hawksbill and Green turtles, nudibranches, and flybys from reef sharks, eagle rays and southern stingrays in the shallows. Very pretty, and to my untrained eye, healthy corals and sponges. The crew was incredibly helpful and friendly. Anna the cook and Randy the steward made every meal and snack too tempting to pass up. The soups every day were fresh made and delicious. I went an air diver, but with everyone else diving Nitrox took the certification course and joined in. Given everyone else is diving Nitrox and using Nitrox computers, divers are well advised to get certified beforehand or on the cruise. We dived the Blue Hole; glad I checked it off my list, but it's not much of a dive unless you like going really deep for the sake of saying you did. Nice off-gassing interval at the edge, though. At least one divemaster in the water on every dive, and very helpful in pointing out large and small critters. We were buzzed by a pod of dolphins at the end of our last dive, and they hung around the boat for awhile after -- wonderful end to the trip. Plenty of fresh towels after every dive, warm ones after the night dive to go with the hot cocoa laced (on request) with rum cream. The salon is stocked with a staggering number of movies on DVD and a hard drive, easy to accommodate everyone's tastes. Room towels and linens changed mid-week, more often for towels if requested. The sun deck features soft drink and beer taps, and a hot tub that was more a "luke warm tub" most of the time. Comfy chairs and loungers there, too. This was my first time diving with Aggressor, and I'll definitely go again.

Clearing customs and immigration in Houston took a long time, and passengers had to go through security a second time, which I'm sure caused some missed connections. The clearance area was a *long* hike from the gates, and some connections were even further way through concourses without moving sidewalks -- sweaty and anxious work carrying any gear at all. Barely made my connection, and my bag didn't, arriving nearly a day later.
Websites Aggressor Fleet   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 101-250 dives
Where else diving Australia, New Zealand, Turkey, Turks and Caicos, Akumal, Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Catalina Island, Maui, Kuaui, Molokai, Florida Keys, North Carolina, St. Croix, Curacao
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, dry Seas calm, choppy
Water Temp 80-81°F / 27-27°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 40-75 Ft/ 12-23 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions Buddy diving required. No diving after drinking. Stay well above max Nitrox 32 limits, return with at least 500 lbs air. NItrox analyzers in good supply, good fills on every dive.
Liveaboard? yes Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks 1 or 2 Mantas None
Dolphins 1 or 2 Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 5 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 4 stars Large Fish 4 stars
Large Pelagics 4 stars

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subject Matter 5 stars Boat Facilities 5 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 5 stars Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments There is a spacious rinse tank at the stern, crew hands off cameras after entry and takes them on return, puts them in the rinse tank. The camera table was at the front end of the dive deck and very spacious, with a full shelf underneath with power strips for charging. Towels provided on the camera table, along with low pressure air hose. There is a computer available for viewing photos, but most of the guests brought their own. Nearly every diver was a photographer and there was still plenty of room on the table at the end of every dive.
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Subscriber's Comments

By James B. Rogers in WA, US at May 06, 2013 19:28 EST  
Join the trusted traveler program and you bypass that line in Houston. You just walk up tp a machine and scan your passport. Well worth the money and interview especially if you travel a lot. Not available in all airports but is in the big ones.
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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