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Dive Review of Aggressor/Belize Aggressor III in
Belize

Aggressor/Belize Aggressor III, Sep, 2007,

by Lisa Vitale, Texas, USA (Contributor Contributor 15 reports with 10 Helpful votes). Report 3628.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 5 stars Food 4 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving 1 stars
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ N/A
Beginners 5 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments Fantastic trip! This was by far one of the best liveaboard dive trips I have taken. On Saturday we were met at the airport by one of the divemasters from the boat. The ride to the boat took about 30 minutes through Belize City. We had two divers whose flight was cancelled and were to be in the next day and brought to the boat by water taxi. I learned something from this, if an airline has more than one flight per day there is a good chance the second one will be cancelled.

Boat: The cabins are fairly spacious with a double bed with a twin bed bunk with a private bath. There were two drawers to put clothes and room under the sink to store toiletries and a space under the bed to store some smaller luggage or other personal items. The salon has a large couch, TV, DVD player, etc. and there is a separate dining area. There is a large sun deck (half is covered) with a hot tub (very interesting being in the hot tub with the boat gently swaying!). The beer tap and soda dispenser is also on this level. There is a smaller deck above the sun deck with additional seating, very nice to look at the stars.

The food was good and there were always snacks after dives. Couple times luke-warm food, but personally I am not on these boats for gourmet meals. Wine, beer, sodas, ice tea, lemonade or another flavor were always available. And you were allowed to raid the pantry/frig whenever you wanted something.

After diving there were two hot freshwater showers are located on the dive deck; they had shampoo, conditioner, and body wash in dispensers to use. And someone was always there to give you a fresh, warm towel. As an added touch, after every night dive there was hot chocolate and warm cookies!! They really went the extra mile.

Crew: Captain (Jay), instructor (Juan), divemaster (Bart), chef (Anna), stewardess (Lourdes). This was certainly the most well oiled crew of any liveaboard I have been on. They all worked as a team, were well organized, and everyone helped each other out. The captain was just as part of the operation, i.e. from handing out snacks to dive guide.

Diving: The dive deck was set up very well and one of the largest of any liveaboard I have been on. Nitrox is available, but during our trip they were waiting to get a replacement part that did not come in before our trip so it was not available. The camera table is a three tiered, very large table, with several power strips for recharging batteries on the second tier. There is a large tank at the back of the boat for cameras, a mask bucket, and a large trashcan to rinse gear. The dive platform is spacious, 4 divers at a time could be getting their fins on, which were kept on the dive platform. The daily schedule: 7AM Breakfast, 8AM first dive, snack, 10:30AM second dive, 12:30PM lunch, 2PM third dive, snack, 4:30PM fourth dive, 6PM dinner, 7:30PM fifth dive (night dive).

Water temperatures were a constant 84°. I used either a fleece lined or 3-mil suit. With 5 dives a day the 3 mil really came in handy. Most dives there was no current. Entering the water was easy from the dive platform, just a giant stride off the boat. Exiting the water was easy also via two ladders. Juan, Bart, or Jay were always there to take your fins and assist you out of the water if needed. A regulator from the boat was placed at about 15 feet just in case anyone ran low on air (although no one ever needed it), and a triangle bar to hang onto for safety stops.

We started off on Turneffe Island Atoll for the first three dives then moved on to Lighthouse Reef Atoll after our two stragglers arrived. This area is by far one of the best areas in the Caribbean to dive. A total of 27 dives were offered. All sites are wall dives. We dove two dive sites per day, which at first I was not sure about, but because it is all wall diving it was great, one way one dive-the other way the second dive. Half Moon Caye Wall was the best Caribbean dive I have ever done. The reefs are very healthy, but I did see some coral disease in areas. Reef fish are plentiful but pelagics are few, but there were lots of large grouper, snapper, and tarpon. We saw turtles, spotted eagle rays, whitespotted toadfish (endemic to Turneffe), green morays, spotted morays, lost of small sea life.

We dove the blue hole, which had great visibility of about 80 feet! To off gas from this deep dive, we took a tour to Half Moon Caye to see the red-footed boobie birds and magnificent frigate bird.

The Captain took video during several of our dives and put together a CD for purchase. The video was very well done, and one of the best from any of the liveaboards I have done. Pictures were also taken throughout the trip and the CD was given to all the passengers on the last day.

We arrived back in Belize City at 1PM on Friday and went cave tubing at Jaguar Paw Resort. I highly recommend this, it was my second time doing it and what a blast it is!! That evening the crew puts on a wine and cheese party before we went to dinner at a local restaurant. Several of us had late flights out on Saturday so we took a zip line tour at Jaguar Paw. Both these tours were set up by the Captain, there are other options also. The tour guides would narrate all the way telling us things about Belize, this was very interesting. This was a great way to end a fabulous trip!

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 501-1000 dives
Where else diving Mexico, Bahamas, Grand Cayman, Utila, Roatan, Belize, Florida Keys, Flower Gardens, Papua New Guinea, Australia, Galapagos Islands
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, cloudy Seas calm, noCurrents
Water Temp 84-84°F / 29-29°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 60-100 Ft/ 18-30 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions Buddy diving required.
Liveaboard? yes Nitrox Available? N/A

What I Saw

Sharks 1 or 2 Mantas None
Dolphins 1 or 2 Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 4 stars Tropical Fish 3 stars
Small Critters 4 stars Large Fish 3 stars
Large Pelagics 2 stars

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

Subject Matter 4 stars Boat Facilities 4 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 4 stars Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments There was a large camera table, 3 tiers, with power strips on the second tier for recharging batteries. There was also a large freshwater tub to put cameras.
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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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