Dive Review of Aggressor Fleet/Jardines Aggressor in
Cuba/Gardens of the Queen

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Aggressor Fleet/Jardines Aggressor: "Cuba on the Jardines Aggressor", Nov, 2016, by David Marchese, PA, US ( Sr. Contributor 20 reports with 28 Helpful votes). Report 9430 has 4 Helpful votes.
Photos Submitted with this Report Click on an image to see an enlarged version and captions
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	The diving was good, but my expectations of seeing the Caribbean how it was 40 years ago, I guess, were not realistic in retrospect. Like we've seen elsewhere, hard corals are in the small minority with soft corals and sponges covering most of the reef. Regardless, the reefs were quite healthy overall. I had hoped to see more hard corals and more colors. While healthy, the reefs were largely monochrome tan-brown. While elk horn and stag horn varieties were almost nonexistent, brain-type hard corals were fairly common. Most were small, but we did see a few that were in the 5’ to 6’ range. The fish life was very good. While not like the Pacific, the fish density (yellow-tailed snappers, grunts, and pork fish mostly) was high on most dives. We also saw moderate schools of blue chromis, which were reminiscent of the old days. We also saw many large groupers and even 3 - 4 Goliath groupers, which I haven't seen is years. There were groups of maybe a dozen tarpon on a couple of dives. We saw grey reef sharks on about every other dive, with 1 - 3 in a group when they did show up. The boat didn't do any feeding or chumming, but the behavior was that of sharks that have been fed. We did two dives with about a dozen silkies just under the skiff. They got close and made good photo subjects. Again, while they weren't fed on this trip, they were definitely there looking for food. The snorkel with the crocodile was very cool and unique. However, it only lasted about 20 minutes and we didn't get a 2nd opportunity. I would have liked to do it at least once more, but the captain said the itinerary would not allow it. After three day-dives, we were given a choice of doing a night dive either as the sun set or waiting until after dinner at 8:00. We chose the early dive every night except one. There were large crabs, basket stars, sleeping turtles, large sleeping hog fish, lobsters, and eels at night. We had an excellent octopus encounter on the 8 PM night dive. Overall, with a flat sandy bottom at around 60’, clear water, and zero current on most dives, this is an ideal location for beginners. For experienced divers, it is certainly good (if not the best) on the Caribbean scale, but it’s still obviously the Caribbean, so I recommend keeping that in mind. While 80 – 82 degrees may make you think 3mm, the constant wind made me think that I should have brought my hooded vest to wear under my 5mm. One couple from MN did every dive with just a skin, but I think they were robots.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, Turks & Caicos, Bay Islands, Bahamas, Fiji, Saba, Maldives, California, Revillagigedo, Cozumel, Midway, Kona, Galapagos, Panama, Palau, Tahiti, Cocos, Tonga, PNG, Komodo, Sulawesi, Holbox, Solomon Islands, Belize, Komodo, Raja Ampat.
Closest Airport	Havana	Getting There	Miami - Grand Cayman - Havana
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm, choppy
Water Temp	80-82°F / 27-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	50-100 Ft/ 15-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	Most dives were 60' or shallower. There are no walls. Dives were limited to 60 minutes, and they wanted the group to stay together. They were fairly lax, but wanted all divers (9/skiff max) within sight throughout the dive.
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	They have a dedicated 3-tier camera table (about 7' square), an air gun, and a good size rinse tank. As this was a new boat, the crew seemed a little unfamiliar with how to handle DSLR rigs, but they did a good job with assisting divers with passing gear from main boat to skiff.

Report currently has 4 Helpful votes

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Dive Review of Aggressor Fleet/Jardines Aggressor in Cuba/Gardens of the Queen

Aggressor Fleet/Jardines Aggressor: "Cuba on the Jardines Aggressor", Nov, 2016,

Photos Submitted with this Report

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

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

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

Dive Review of Aggressor Fleet/Jardines Aggressor in
Cuba/Gardens of the Queen