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Dive Review of Kona Aggressor II in
Hawaii/Kona

Kona Aggressor II: "Major Thumbs-Up to Kona Aggressor for hurricane-interrupted trip", Aug, 2018,

by David Graham, FL, US ( 1 report with 3 Helpful votes). Report 10498 has 3 Helpful votes.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 5 stars Food 5 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity 4 stars
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 5 stars
Beginners 4 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments My dive buddy and I were on Kona Aggressor during the week in August that Hurricane Lane decided to approach Hawaii. This was my fifth trip on an Aggressor yacht but my first on Kona Aggressor. As you can tell by the title, Hurricane Lane ended up interrupting the trip; we were put ashore in Kailua Kona on Wednesday evening, instead of the normal return to port on Friday afternoon.

From my perspective, the situation could not have been handled any better. Captain Randy and the crew kept us informed as the situation developed. The yacht's owners (Live/Dive Pacific; kudos to Ops Manager Evin Cotter) had been working hard in the background as the situation developed. By the time we went ashore they had arranged hotel accommodations for us. (I had visions of sleeping in some high school gym floor /shelter). The hotel where we sheltered (some people got early flights home; my dive buddy and I decided to wait it out and stick with our original Saturday return flights) was the very comfortable King Kamehameha Marriott Courtyard. They promised reimbursement at a generous daily rate for our meals....and the check for reimbursement arrived. They arranged for one member of the crew to stay ashore with us to coordinate while the rest of the crew sheltered on the boat tied up to a mooring in the harbor. Two moorings, actually, they broke loose at least once, relocated at least twice.

In the 2-3 days prior to going ashore early, the Captain and crew of the yacht adjusted the plan and route, obviously, but we kept diving because the dive conditions were good.

As a side note, Kona was apparently an ancient Hawaiian harbor known to be a great place to shelter from a storm, and the ancients knew what they were doing. The "other" side of the Big Island got torrential rain, flooding, and a lot of wind. In Kona I think the rain total was 1-2" and we never experienced high winds.

So, in summary, knowing the hurricane might be a factor after a couple of days into the week's charter: we were kept well informed, the crew maximized the number and quality of dives while we were still in the water, and they made all the arrangements to take care of us ashore.

As a final gesture of goodwill, we received a very generous "Storm Check" voucher usable on the Kona Aggressor or the other yachts owned by the same organization, for up to 24 months.
Websites Kona Aggressor II   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience Over 1000 dives
Where else diving Australia, New Zealand, Caribbean, SE Asia, Florida
Closest Airport KOA Getting There Delta from Orlando through LAX

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, windy, rainy Seas choppy
Water Temp 82-84°F / 28-29°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 25-60 Ft/ 8-18 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions dive time limits, primarily to keep the LOB schedule
Liveaboard? yes Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks 1 or 2 Mantas 1 or 2
Dolphins 1 or 2 Whale Sharks None
Turtles 1 or 2 Whales None
Corals 4 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 4 stars Boat Facilities 5 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 5 stars Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments Good camera table; plenty of charging outlets; good rinse bins; great sensitivity by the crew to my multiple rigs and configurations
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Report currently has 3 Helpful votes

Subscriber's Comments

By Lenny Zwik in TX, US at Sep 17, 2018 09:59 EST  
Thanks for this report. I've often wondered how and how well such a situation would be handled having often dived liveaboards.
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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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