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Dive Review of Aggressor Fleet in
Cayman Islands/Grand Cayman, Little Cayman

Aggressor Fleet: "Great trip with Cayman Aggressor IV", Apr, 2016,

by Lori Ann Krushefski, NJ, US (Reviewer Reviewer 6 reports with 1 Helpful vote). Report 8880.

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 5 stars
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 5 stars
Beginners 4 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments Diving experience: You can dive with the crew, or buddy up with divers on board, or both. Once the crew assessed everyone’s skills, they were very relaxed about letting everybody do whatever they wanted on their dive. Some divers went a little too deep on one dive, and so the crew let us know (in a very friendly way) that the Cayman Aggressor would prefer that everyone stay above 110 feet. (Most of us were on Nitrox, so that seemed like a good idea.)

Crew: The crew went above and beyond to accommodate any requests. They were also very helpful with navigation tips (still a challenge for me). The crew genuinely seems to enjoy having guests on board. I've seen situations in the past where I thought the crew had had enough of diving and dealing with guests...this was definitely not the case here. The crew was friendly, had a great sense of humor, and had good camaraderie amongst themselves. I don’t know how the Aggressor does it—they find people with exactly the right disposition to make everyone’s trip a wonderful experience.

Dive sites: The health of the coral on the dive sites is just excellent. The dive conditions and the sites were exactly what I look for - super easy diving, good lighting, lots of beautiful fish. I was particularly excited to see Little Cayman sites for the first time, where there are walls that are truly spectacular. The sites we visited on Grand Cayman were also quite good--I love Bonnie's Arch and Devil's Grotto in particular. (One suggestion for future guests – the crossing to Little Cayman was a bit rough. If you are susceptible to motion sickness, the crew recommended using both Scolpalamine and Bonine/Dramamine. I have had a rougher crossing on a boat to Ni’ihau, Hawaii, but I understand that one is notorious for the rough crossing.) There were also tons and tons of swim throughs. I personally am a bit uncomfortable with these (and there was no problem opting out of those and just staying above the group). I did have a blast going through the shallow caves at Devil’s Grotto on our last day of diving. We also visited three nice wrecks: Doc Poulson, Oro Verde and Kittiwake. I truly appreciated the diversity of dive sites, opportunities, and experiences.

Comparison to prior liveaboard experience: This trip was so good that I was lying in my room on the last night figuring out when I could do it again. I have also done the Belize Aggressor III. The service and quality of the experience in Belize was equally excellent, but I far preferred the dive sites in the Caymans because they offer more of what I want - beautiful scenery.

Comparison to prior land-based experience: I have had several excellent days of diving with Live the Dream divers. I would rank the two operations (Aggressor and Live the Dream) as equally excellent. Live the Dream is as accommodating, and they drag all your gear around for you. (The Aggressor also accommodated my request to haul my BCD to and from the deck due to a prior back injury.) I have also taken a dive trip to Sunset House. That operation requires that you haul your gear back and forth to the boat every day, and I did sense some boredom and a bit less interest in accommodating requests from some (but not all) of the staff.

Unique encounters: Stingray City is a must-do, and the photography opportunity is terrific. There are currently some friendly nurse sharks off the west side of Grand Cayman who come and visit every diver--even when groups are diving separately. It was amazing to me that the nurse shark we saw (Sawyer) made the rounds to come check out every single group. The nurse shark followed us, swam under us, around us, and circled back for repeat visits. I loved this! On Little Cayman in particular, the Nassau Groupers are very friendly. They have developed a habit of pointing out lion fish in the hope that divers will use a tool to scoot the lion fish closer to their mouths so they can eat them. There's a very old Nassau Grouper (Freddie) at The Great Wall off Little Cayman who also comes and just hangs out with divers, invites them to pet him, follows them around, and pretty much poses for pictures. Throughout the trip, we found lots of cooperative turtles who don't mind hanging around very close to divers.
Websites Aggressor Fleet   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 101-250 dives
Where else diving Most of the Hawaiian islands, Caribbean, La Jolla
Closest Airport GCM Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny Seas calm
Water Temp 82-°F / 28-°C Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility - Ft/ - M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions The crew did ask everyone to stay above 110 feet, which seemed more than reasonable considering nearly everyone was diving Nitrox.
Liveaboard? yes Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

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

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

Subject Matter N/A Boat Facilities 5 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 4 stars Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments Big camera table with plenty of plugs to charge all your stuff. There were tons of cameras on board, and it didn't feel too tight.
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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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