Dive Review of Kona Aggressor II in
Hawaii/Kona Coast

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Kona Aggressor II, Jan, 2011, by Randall S Preissig, TX, US ( Top Contributor 37 reports with 15 Helpful votes). Report 5916.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	This was my fourth Kona Aggressor trip over the last 18 years. The weather was very unusual in that there was very large surge and considerable cloudiness and some rain--thank you La Nina! This cut visibility and compromised several dives. The Kona coast is usually perfect weather(where the Hawaiian kings stayed) and has been on all my prior trips. Unfortunately, the bad weather chased the Mantas from the usually spectacular night Manta dive. It has always amazed me that the Aggressor folks don't promote this more. People travel all the way to Yap to see mantas.... This was humpback whale season in Hawaii, and one whale surfaced just behind our boat. I was able to jump in with my snorkel and see a mother and newborn swim by!! How's that for a bonus? Amazingly, two of us were snorkeling between dives with a pod of dolphins two days later and another whale came within feet of us! Thank you Cliffe for taking time to shuttle us to the dolphins. We had a very senior staff on this boat with captains or captains in training. All the crew were exceptional. Our cook Grace was on of the best ever on a liveaboard. The other diver guests were exceptionally capable, friendly and well mannered. The rest of the dives had the usual colorful fish(lionfish, Whitley's boxfish(!), oceanic triggerfish), the usual critters(pipefish, nudibranchs, dragon wrasse, huge conger eel, etc) plus a spotted eagle ray that let me hover near him for 5 minutes, turtles and all the rest that you expect when you dive Hawaii. In summary, I think the Kona Aggressor is one of the most underrated dive options we have. It's closer/easier than other Pacific diving with almost a guarantee of seeing Mantas with usually great weather. And the boat is smaller and more personal(usually with less or far less than its capacity of 14)and the rates are often cheaper than other liveaboards, especially with special value trips that they run after the Christmas holidays(my 7 days cost $2000--a real bargain by today's rates). I'll be back.
Websites	Kona Aggressor II
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Sipadan, Palau, Tahiti, Fiji, Truk, Ponape, Galapagos, Cocos, Bonaire, Cayman, Cozumel, Belize, etc.
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	cloudy	Seas	surge
Water Temp	73-74°F / 23-23°C	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	10-100 Ft/ 3-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Nitrox limits on depth which was never a problem. Computers required.
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	1 or 2
Dolphins	Schools	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	> 2
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Aggressor always has the best photo set up, plus an excellent dive pro on this trip(Brandi) and an engineer who was very helpful with problems(floods, etc).

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Dive Review of Kona Aggressor II in Hawaii/Kona Coast

Kona Aggressor II, Jan, 2011,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

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

Dive Review of Kona Aggressor II in
Hawaii/Kona Coast