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Dive Review of Aggressor Fleet/Sun Dancer II in
Belize

Aggressor Fleet/Sun Dancer II, Jan, 2014,

by Bonnie MacKenzie, BC, CA (Sr. Reviewer Sr. Reviewer 9 reports with 5 Helpful votes). Report 7486.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 4 stars Food 5 stars
Service and Attitude 3 stars Environmental Sensitivity 4 stars
Dive Operation 3 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 4 stars
Beginners 3 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments We thoroughly enjoyed our week aboard the Sundancer II diving in Belize.

We really enjoyed the diving. Lots of tropical fish on every dive (except the blue hole), and the coral was in really great shape. Most dives start out on a wall and then end up at 20 – 60 feet in the coral reef/sand. Lots of the usual subjects on every dive – parrotfish, damselfish, surgeonfish, chromis, jacks, wrasses, blennies, snappers. moray eels., lionfish Also had several reef shark encounters, and multiple eagle ray encounters., which I find to be beautiful creatures. Sightings of groupers, turtles, octopus, shrimp/lobsters, squid, and my first spotted toadfish. Not too much in the way of nudis or slugs if that’s your thing. It was like diving in a beautiful aquarium. One night dive was cancelled due to an excessive number of sea wasps (jellyfish) in the water. Visibility was affected somewhat due to unseasonable rains.

On the whole , I liked the boat. Compared to other liveabords in the Aggressor fleet, I found the bedroom and bathroom to be spacious with more storage than I’m used to. The standard rooms had a king bed (can convert into two singles) that both people can easily access. There is a big window (not porthole). There were two bedside tables, overhead cupboards, built-in drawers and cubbies in the beds, and a reasonably sized closet. The bathroom had a separate shower stall and medicine cabinet. The A/C could be adjusted and the temperature in the bedrooms and salon was always comfortable. The food was very plentiful and tasty, and there was always a choice of entrees. I particularly liked the chocolate chip cookie squares and chocolate decadence! It could use a bit more thorough cleaning and upkeep., and some things are getting a bit run-down. One of our companions liked the aggressor style boat better, I preferred the sundancer style

The crew were fine, albeit fairly quiet and reserved (with one major exception – Captain Megan was highly enthusiastic and friendly). Much of the crew didn’t interact as much with the passengers as some other liveaboards we’ve been on, and their attitude was a bit more relaxed than we are used to. The regular captain was on leave that week, so perhaps things were running a little differently that week. It might also have been cultural differences. That said, everyone did their jobs and we felt safe and comfortable. Captain Megan felt personally responsible to make sure everyone had a fun time, and she succeeded. Chef Jerry made excellent meals.

On every dive, the leader brought along a spear to kill lionfish and feed them to eels/sharks/grouper/triggerfish/octopus. Guests were allowed to use a spear too if they wanted. I’m torn about this feeding practice – I know that lionfish populations are a huge threat to the caribbean, but on the other hand we were being cautioned about some eels that are becoming aggressive towards divers. I also felt too much emphasis was being spent on hunting, and not enough on pointing out the various wildlife at each dive site. Of course, feeding lionfish to eels and sharks and octopus made for some pretty exciting encounters and video footage.

Entry is giant stride off the back of the mother ship. Dive deck seemed fairly roomy, even with a full house of divers. Nice showers on the dive deck. I wanted to rent a camera that week – they couldn’t provide one as the housing and light had been loaned to another boat.

We really enjoyed diving in Belize, and would do this charter again. Great way to start the New Year.
Websites Aggressor Fleet   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 101-250 dives
Where else diving Turks and Caicos, Saba, St Kitts, Utila, Roatan, Belize, Costa Rica, Aruba, Cabo, Hawaii, Kauai, Maui, BC.
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, windy, rainy, cloudy Seas calm
Water Temp 82-°F / 28-°C Wetsuit Thickness 5
Water Visibility 30-80 Ft/ 9-24 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions [Unspecified]
Liveaboard? yes Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks Lots Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 4 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 2 stars Large Fish 3 stars
Large Pelagics 4 stars

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

Subject Matter 4 stars Boat Facilities N/A
Overall rating for UWP's N/A Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments Camera tables available. Didn't notice the area for recharging. I wanted to rent a camera, but housing and flash had been loaded out to the Belize Aggressor.
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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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