Dive Review of
Cayman Aggressor IV in
Cayman Islands/Grand Cayman

Palau, Truk, Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, Roatan, Florida, Guam, Cozumel,
North Carolina

Dive Conditions

Return with 500 PSI  

Camera-only rinse tanks provided, but don't know if water was ever changed
out.  Boat no longer processes E-6 slide film.  Large camera table with air
hose available.  Passengers were told not to put drinks on any carpeted
level of camera table, but it was not enforced during trip.  

Overall Rating

The boat was so-so as far as liveaboards go, but the diving was good.  The
service on the boat was excellent.  The crew made sure tanks were filled
quickly, and greeted divers at the end of every dive with a warm towel. 
Rooms were made up and cleaned each morning with fresh towels.  The crew
did their best to accommodate every request from the passengers except
one--crossing over to Little Cayman.  We were told that because of Tropical
Storm Albert it was too rough, visibility on Little Cayman was only 35 to
50 feet, and the day boats over there weren't going out.  However, at trips
end while waiting at the airport, divers from Little Cayman and the Nekton
Rorqual said weather and diving was great.  Passengers asked for a refund
on the $100 fuel surcharge since we didn't make the crossing, but without
success.  The boat has a marine toilet problem and passengers were told not
to put any paper in the toilets--trash cans were emptied twice daily. 
Cabins had a combination of garlicky and musty smells that were only
diminished by the strong smell of Pine-Sol.  It was so bad, it permeated
all our luggage and clothes when we came home.  Many passengers complained
about the strong odors and left their cabin doors open to air out.  I slept
with a clean towel because I couldn't stand the musty smell in the
bedspread.  Near the end of the trip, the only Nitrox analyzer broke. 
Passengers were given the choice of switching to air, or dive with
un-analyzed Nitrox; there was no mention of compensating the $100 Nitrox
fee.  Food/snacks were excellent and plentiful, except for the mystery fish
that was shipped in frozen from Florida (I saw the box but didn’t recognize
the name of the fish).  The steaks were the best meal in my book.  Wine was
served at dinner, but ended the diving day for anyone that imbibed.  Sodas
were available in a cooler on the sun deck.  The hot tub had no cover and
never got hot so it was used very little, if at all.  As for diving,
Captain Sam can give a good briefing and tell a good story--almost too
good, if you know what I mean.  We saw turtles on almost every dive and
many would ignore the divers and go about their business.  We saw one
hammerhead who kept its distance.  I enjoyed numerous squid encounters on
both day and night dives, and also saw a couple of octopuses.  Big critters
included green and white-mouth morays, stingrays, yellow rays, hogfish,
rainbow/bumphead parrotfish, peacock flounders, trumpetfish, barracudas,
horse-eye jacks, and cravalles.  Macro subjects included diamond blennies
and anemone crabs, arrow and peppermint blennies, jawfish, fingerprint and
flamingo tongue cowries.  For you slug lovers, be warned that the crew and
captain have a bad habit of referring to flamingo tongues as nudibranchs. 
We had a couple of divers that had a problem during the night dive.  The
boat had edged out over the deep water, and some of the divers went much
deeper than planned on their way over to the reef.  They descended a little
too fast and far to avoid possible sea wasp encounters.  These were
experienced divers, so beginners beware.  I have to say that we dove with a
great group of experienced divers, both young and old, that kept their
sense of humor and made the trip enjoyable.  We even had a couple of
jokesters on our boat that planted some "Spanish doubloons" near
the anchor and created a lot of excitement for both passengers and crew. 
Although I was disappointed to find out my treasure was fake, the coins are
still fabulous solid-silver copies and I have a good story to tell.  This
happened at a site the passengers got to name and Captain Sam went with my
suggestion--“Sam's Booty”. 

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