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Dive Review of Cayman Aggressor IV in
Cayman Islands/Grand Cayman

Cayman Aggressor IV, Jun, 2006,

by Carol Cox, FL, USA (Sr. Contributor Sr. Contributor 22 reports with 16 Helpful votes). Report 2569.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 3 stars Food 4 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 4 stars Shore Diving 3 stars
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ N/A
Beginners 3 stars
Advanced 4 stars
Comments The boat was so-so as far as liveaboards go, but the diving was good. The service on the boat was excellent. The crew made sure tanks were filled quickly, and greeted divers at the end of every dive with a warm towel. Rooms were made up and cleaned each morning with fresh towels. The crew did their best to accommodate every request from the passengers except one--crossing over to Little Cayman. We were told that because of Tropical Storm Albert it was too rough, visibility on Little Cayman was only 35 to 50 feet, and the day boats over there weren't going out. However, at trips end while waiting at the airport, divers from Little Cayman and the Nekton Rorqual said weather and diving was great. Passengers asked for a refund on the $100 fuel surcharge since we didn't make the crossing, but without success. The boat has a marine toilet problem and passengers were told not to put any paper in the toilets--trash cans were emptied twice daily. Cabins had a combination of garlicky and musty smells that were only diminished by the strong smell of Pine-Sol. It was so bad, it permeated all our luggage and clothes when we came home. Many passengers complained about the strong odors and left their cabin doors open to air out. I slept with a clean towel because I couldn't stand the musty smell in the bedspread. Near the end of the trip, the only Nitrox analyzer broke. Passengers were given the choice of switching to air, or dive with un-analyzed Nitrox; there was no mention of compensating the $100 Nitrox fee. Food/snacks were excellent and plentiful, except for the mystery fish that was shipped in frozen from Florida (I saw the box but didn’t recognize the name of the fish). The steaks were the best meal in my book. Wine was served at dinner, but ended the diving day for anyone that imbibed. Sodas were available in a cooler on the sun deck. The hot tub had no cover and never got hot so it was used very little, if at all. As for diving, Captain Sam can give a good briefing and tell a good story--almost too good, if you know what I mean. We saw turtles on almost every dive and many would ignore the divers and go about their business. We saw one hammerhead who kept its distance. I enjoyed numerous squid encounters on both day and night dives, and also saw a couple of octopuses. Big critters included green and white-mouth morays, stingrays, yellow rays, hogfish, rainbow/bumphead parrotfish, peacock flounders, trumpetfish, barracudas, horse-eye jacks, and cravalles. Macro subjects included diamond blennies and anemone crabs, arrow and peppermint blennies, jawfish, fingerprint and flamingo tongue cowries. For you slug lovers, be warned that the crew and captain have a bad habit of referring to flamingo tongues as nudibranchs. We had a couple of divers that had a problem during the night dive. The boat had edged out over the deep water, and some of the divers went much deeper than planned on their way over to the reef. They descended a little too fast and far to avoid possible sea wasp encounters. These were experienced divers, so beginners beware. I have to say that we dove with a great group of experienced divers, both young and old, that kept their sense of humor and made the trip enjoyable. We even had a couple of jokesters on our boat that planted some "Spanish doubloons" near the anchor and created a lot of excitement for both passengers and crew. Although I was disappointed to find out my treasure was fake, the coins are still fabulous solid-silver copies and I have a good story to tell. This happened at a site the passengers got to name and Captain Sam went with my suggestion--“Sam's Booty”.

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience Over 1000 dives
Where else diving Palau, Truk, Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, Roatan, Florida, Guam, Cozumel, North Carolina
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather rainy Seas choppy
Water Temp 82-0°F / 28--18°C Wetsuit Thickness 2
Water Visibility 30-50 Ft/ 9-15 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions Return with 500 PSI
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? N/A

What I Saw

Sharks 1 or 2 Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 3 stars Tropical Fish 4 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 Camera-only rinse tanks provided, but don't know if water was ever changed out. Boat no longer processes E-6 slide film. Large camera table with air hose available. Passengers were told not to put drinks on any carpeted level of camera table, but it was not enforced during trip.
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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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