Turks & Caicos Aggressor II: "Turks & Caicos Aggressor II - Excellent Trip April 21-28", Apr, 2018,by Richard J Lunsford Jr, KY, US (![]() |
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Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best): |
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Accommodations | ![]() |
Food | ![]() |
Service and Attitude | ![]() |
Environmental Sensitivity | ![]() |
Dive Operation | ![]() |
Shore Diving | N/A |
Snorkeling | N/A | ||
Overall Rating |
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Value for $$ | ![]() |
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Beginners | ![]() |
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Advanced | ![]() |
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Comments |
Excellent live-aboard operation, ran smoothly, fine crew. I stayed in a 'twin share' (cheapest) room; rather narrow room with 2 bunk beds, sharing the bathroom/shower with an adjacent room (but the room has a sink). Decent amount of storage space; crew stored my large hard-sided suitcase elsewhere. There's also a 'head' (bathroom) on the dive deck, and 2 showers at the back of it. Salon was reasonably roomy, food was good, relaxing lounging on top deck where hot tub was said to be hot and used often, and we had plenty of room. Diving off the yacht, entry via giant stride. Nice-sized camera table with compressed air available. Set your gear up once, then 'forget it' - just take your reg. off the tank after a dive, come back, analyze your nitrox mix and put it back on. 2 Nitrox analyzers to use. They had some 100-cf tanks; I requested & got a 100-cf steel 3442 PSI tank. Option to sign up for nightly small group UV-flourescent dives with Robert Smith, no added charge. I didn't, but others spoke well of it. Dive times were 8 a.m., 11 a.m., 2 p.m., 5 p.m. then the night dive at 8 p.m. Total 27 dives offered that week. Due to weather (I think) we didn't make it to French Cay (I heard F.C. is still a fine night dive, but suffered from the hurricanes of 2017), so we dove Provo. and West Caicos only. At least one guide on every dive; buddy pairs can do their own thing. The meal schedule is continental then hot breakfast, dive, snack, dive, lunch, dive, snack, dive, supper, night dive, hot cocoa with options for marshmallows &/or Jamaican rum cream. My impression was the boat often moored over flat, sandy stretches ~ 40 – 45 feet deep, most with patchy rocky outcrops with coral growth, with a variable swim-out to a fairly abrupt transition to steeply sloping wall (often vertical) starting roughly around 50 feet deep, and I could see sandy bottom in the distance below – it didn’t seem like diving over a bottomless abyss, but could easily exceed the recommended 110 feet max. depth. Some sites had ‘trenches’ through the rock, either above or on the wall; there were a couple of ‘open top swim throughs.’ Viz. ranged from ~ 50 - 100 feet. Usually minimal current, but tide played a roll; I ran low on gas swimming against a mild but persistent current one dive. There's a 'hang bar' - a horizontal PVC pipe, descended via chains, for safety stops (fun to ride when the boat swings). Overall dives averaged deeper than some destinations; nitrox highly recommended and I wouldn't recommend this trip for fresh newbies or 'air hogs.' I'm decent on gas consumption, and even with a 100-cf tank, had to watch it a bit. T&C has been said to feature amongst the 'best diving in the Caribbean,' and it was good, but the reef wasn't as lush as I anticipated; I'd give the edge to Little Cayman. Good amount of life - Caribbean reef and nurse sharks, hawksbill sea turtles, southern stingrays (1 eagle ray), horse-eye and black jacks, Nassau grouper (a few tiger), green morays, channel cling crabs and more. Saw dolphin pod at the surface, not while diving. Captain Amanda and Engineer Robert Smith show an evident appreciation for macro life, and point it out on dives, a nice surprise. Topside there's a steady, variable wind. Typically sunny. A 34% off Aggressor Fleet sale made this trip a wonderful deal. Extended report with photos at Scuba Board - [scubaboard.com link] |
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Websites | Turks & Caicos Aggressor II | ||
Reporter and Travel |
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Dive Experience | 251-500 dives | ||
Where else diving | Bonaire (> 150 dives), Key Largo (20 dives), Jupiter, Fl (17 dives), Belize via live-aboard (26 dives), Caymans via live-aboard (25 dives), St. Croix (15 dives), North Carolina (9 dives), California Channel Islands (24 dives), several on Caribbean cruise stops. | ||
Closest Airport | Providenciales - PLS | Getting There | Flew Southwest Airlines Nashville - Ft. Lauderdale - Provo.; same route back. Transfers between yacht & airport included. |
Dive Conditions |
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Weather | sunny | Seas | calm |
Water Temp | 78-80°F / 26-27°C | Wetsuit Thickness | 3 |
Water Visibility | 50-100 Ft/ 15-30 M | ||
Dive Policy |
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Dive own profile | yes | ||
Enforced diving restrictions | Posted Recommendations were dive with a buddy, no deco. diving, max. depth 110 feet, 500 PSI on return and safety stops required. At dive's end they ask dive time and max. depth. | ||
Liveaboard? | yes | Nitrox Available? | yes |
What I Saw |
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Sharks | Lots | Mantas | None |
Dolphins | None | Whale Sharks | None |
Turtles | > 2 | Whales | None |
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best): |
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Corals | ![]() |
Tropical Fish | ![]() |
Small Critters | ![]() |
Large Fish | ![]() |
Large Pelagics | N/A | ||
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best): |
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Subject Matter | ![]() |
Boat Facilities | ![]() |
Overall rating for UWP's | ![]() |
Shore Facilities | N/A |
UW Photo Comments | Nice-sized camera table. Pressurized air available. Crew will hand your camera to you if you wish, and take it on your exit. |
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