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Dive Review of Aggressor Bahamas Liveaboard in
Bahamas/Tiger Beach Itinerary

Aggressor Bahamas Liveaboard: "Tiger Beach was a Fun week of Diving", Jul, 2021,

by Tammy Taunt, CA, US ( 1 report with 1 Helpful vote). Report 11740 has 1 Helpful vote.

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 3 stars Food 5 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity 4 stars
Dive Operation 4 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 3 stars
Beginners 3 stars
Advanced 4 stars
Comments For our 20th anniversary we wanted to go somewhere more exotic, but due to all of the COVID-19 travel issues, we decided to go somewhere close to the USA.

Driving to West End of Grand Bahama, where we boarded the vessel, it was extremely apparent that the entire island is struggling. Tourism is their #1 industry. Hurricane Dorian, a category 5 in that area, hit September 2019 and was devastating. Then, just when they were getting back to normal, the pandemic hit and derailed all progress.

We did not realize that we were going to be on the ORIGINAL Aggressor vessel! So...we were a little disappointed at the accommodations but at the same time honored to experience history! That vessel needs an update and it turns out we were the last group before Aggressor pulled the vessel for an overhaul.

The diving was good and easy. It was mostly shallow dives, averaging 45 ft or so for most. The currents were really strong, which surprised us. The corals and fishes were HUGE compared to other destinations...I am guessing it is because they get so much sunlight filtering through. The visibility was not great due to the currents.

We saw a Tiger shark at least once per day. That was exciting! The one we saw most was called “Gash” by locals and “Wendy” by Discovery Channel. We did 24 dives. We only missed one of the 5 dives per day. That was an awesome amount of time under water! My husband really wanted to do the Tiger Beach itinerary, so I obliged. There were large amounts of sharks on every dive! Mostly they were Lemon sharks and Caribbean Reef sharks. There were a few Nurse sharks. I was a little disappointed that there was not a lot of diversity when it came to sea creatures. We did see eagle rays in the distance on one dive. The dive we missed, wild Atlantic Spotted dolphins came to play at the end of the dive. I am still very bummed I missed that one!

Due to Dorian, there is a lot of coral damage. Dive sites were limited due to the damage, so we dove most more than once. Some sites are off limits for now due to reef damage or too much debris that made conditions dangerous.

The Aggressor dive platform is awesome. Easy to dive from and very safe. The Aggressor crew was amazing. The entire crew rotated their daily duties, and even Captain Rodney was in the rotation. It was fun when he was our server at meals! Chef Jen created fantastic meals and snacks for us...no one went hungry! She also recreated our wedding cake and the whole crew made our anniversary super special! Excellent dinner and a surprise champagne and chocolate dipped strawberries in our cabin! We felt well loved! Captain Rodney was very professional and ran a great ship. The photographer, Javier, was awarded Photographer of the Year for the BBC twice! It was so nice to have a lot of help with gear (I have a bad back and they carried it to the platform for me) and to be greeted at the end of the dive with a nice warm towel and some kind treat or snack. The crew were always pleasant and kind.

Safety was a high priority. There were dedicated charging areas for all devices. No charging allowed in cabins. There was always someone on watch 24 hours a day. They had other rules to follow. I felt very safe.

We had a special experience on our last day. We were hanging out on the upper deck before our afternoon dives and saw some commotion not far from us. We witnessed a sea turtle being chased by a Tiger Shark! The shark would try to get the turtle, the turtle would turn its shell to the shark and he couldn't get a bite! This went on for at least 20 minutes. The turtle won! Yay!! I know sharks need to eat, but sea turtles and dolphins are my two all time favorite animals! Javier was bummed he was not in the water with his camera to film that!

The weather was excellent. Not too hot and only 2 evenings it rained...the evening we arrived and once out at sea, which did not cancel any dives.

What we were not aware of and wish we knew, was that they expected a 15-20% tip (from the amount paid for the trip) at the end. That was surprising. We, of course, were planning on tipping but that seemed a bit steep. The explanation was that passenger tips are part of the crew's salary.

Overall, I highly recommend Aggressor and we will dive with them again.

Websites Aggressor Bahamas Liveaboard   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 251-500 dives
Where else diving Bonaire, Aruba, Wakatobi, Roatan, British Virgin Islands, Southern California, Catalina, Florida Keys,
Closest Airport Freeport, Grand Bahama Getting There We flew from San Diego to Miami and Miami to Freeport.

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny Seas calm, currents
Water Temp 84-87°F / 29-31°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 45-70 Ft/ 14-21 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions Safety stop. We had to use the bar hanging from the ship for 3 minutes.

Dives were limited to 60 minutes.
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks Lots Mantas None
Dolphins 1 or 2 Whale Sharks None
Turtles 1 or 2 Whales None
Corals 3 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 2 stars Large Fish 5 stars
Large Pelagics 4 stars

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

Subject Matter 3 stars Boat Facilities 5 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 5 stars Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments There was a dedicated camera area and strong rules to keep everyone's cameras safe.

They also had strong protocols for charging any device.
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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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