Hawaii Live-Aboards:Chapbook99

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1999 Chapbook

Hawaii

Kona

Kona Aggressor, October 1997, Cynthia Starkovsky, San Diego, CA. Comfortable, well maintained boat with an attentive crew. Diving is much more rewarding than I had expected. Vis: 50-100 ft, water: 76-80 degrees. Have been on many live-aboards and this one met the best expectations. (Aggressor Fleet, Ph: 800-348-2628 (US) or 504-385-2628, Fax: 504-384-0817, e-mail: 103261.1275@compuserve.com)

Kona Aggressor II, October 1997, Marty Johnson, Easthampton, MA. Disappointing trip, having done Belize and Palau Aggressor before. First rate service not there, though six crew for eight passengers. . . . Boarding tricky; no gangplank; boat pitching back and forth, to and from, the dock. Careful timing required to prevent falling or being crushed between the dock and the boat. One passenger was partially handicapped and had difficult time, though boat is touted to be handicapped enabled. . . . E6 not developed every night like on other Aggressors; didn't discover an incorrect F-stop setting until second roll of film. Always had to hunt down guy in charge of photography to get film or batteries. . . . Wanted to do Environmental Diver Course, told who to see, then told they weren't qualified-I think neither wanted to take the time to teach it. . . . A pod of dolphins approached; one of the crew ran to the rear of the boat to don snorkeling gear, while the passengers were left staring at him snorkeling with the dolphins. . . . Crew would ask themselves whose turn was it to lead the dive, as if it were a boring chore. Those who didn't have other chores would suit up and go diving-paying no attention to the passengers. After their dive they would run to the hot tub, then to the lounge chairs to dry off in the sun. The crew used as many as three of the eight lounge chairs available. . . . Came across crew member Pele photographing a frog fish; had to tap her on the shoulder, point to my camera and myself to get her to move aside so I could photograph the frog fish. On more than half our dives, no one was on the deck to take the camera or assisting boarding the boat. Far different from Belize and Palau Aggressors. Seemed like passengers were an interruption to the crew's daily routine.

Kona Aggressor, March 1998, Mary Gelman, Boulder, CO. Most enthusiastic and accommodating crew of all of my 13 live-aboards. With 10 passengers and crew of 6, we got lots of attention. Pele is a critter and reef expert and great cook. Indonesian night was special. Dietary requests granted. Got plenty of skim milk that I requested. Husband got no alcohol beer for lunch. We also had a Muslim and two vegetarians onboard. . . . Briefing before every dive. Usually two crew members would lead dive, tell you what they hoped to find and lead you to it! They liked night dives. Lots of morays, nudibranchs, three Spanish dancers on night dive. Many leaf fish, frog fish, scorpion and turkey fish. Mantas came to the boat on night dives. Snorkeled in a huge pod of spinner dolphins. Lots of lava tubes and caves and swim throughs. Cool water plus wind; I never get cold and did on this trip. Vis: 50-100 ft. Water: 77-78 degrees. Dive restrictions: had to dive with buddy, 500 psi return. Minor gripe: we weren't warned before captain took us beyond 3 mile limit to empty bilges. Sea was rough and I would have appreciated warning to take Bonine. . . . Stay on Kona extra days, rent a car and see the island. Eleven different climate zones plus volcanos.

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