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Dive Review of Kona Agressor II in
Hawaii/Kona

Kona Agressor II, Jul, 2005,

by Jay Newby, AL, USA . Report 1894.

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 N/A
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving 3 stars
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ N/A
Beginners 4 stars
Advanced 4 stars
Comments This was my third time on a liveaboard and second time diving in Kona. The crew is extremely knowledgeable and Aggressor freindly. Our first day concluded with the Manta Ray night dive where 4 of these big animals showed up and devoured the plankton from the lights. Another boat nearby set a milk crate full of flashlights on the bottom and all the divers had lights too. I used the modeling light from my Ikelight DS125 twin strobes which emite a powerful light. I was told I constantly had a cloud of plankton above my head, which means the Mantas where constantly swooping down inches above my head and occasionally bumping me. A true religous experience. Throughout the week the diving just seemed to get better and better. I have not been to Palau or any other Pacific location so I do not have anything to compare it too, other than the Caribbean where I do most of my diving. But for the money, and the close distance to home and ease in getting there, the Kona Aggressor is hard to beat. The food was also just awesome. Every meal was a special occasion with Robert the chef cooking his ass off for the divers. Rob the boat captain said that they have the best food on any liveaboard due to the availabilty of fresh veggies and meat from the islands and the crew catches fresh fish too! I very much enjoyed the macro subject matter and the crew's knowledge of the ocean's critters both small and large. During week, we saw other mantas, eagle rays, dolphins, a white tip on a night dive and a large hammer head (some people saw him on second dive too). On one afternoon a pod of dolpins showed up and played with us for over an half hour. Most of us jumped in with snorkel gear and were able to get up real close to them. Some of the dolphins were real playful, and some where busy making baby dolhins! Another religous experience! Rob Clayton the boat captain is a professional shutterbug shooting a Canon Rebel in an Aquatica housing. He has a website which is www.divesights.net. He was a big help to me as I just went to the darkside (Nikon D70 in Aquatica housing) from shooting Nikonos V. LiveDive operates 4 Aggressor franchises in the Pacific; Kona, Palua, Fiji and Truk. They are moving the Truk boat to Indonesia in Dec. 2005 due to low volume of business. From what I have seen, they run a topnotch operation and have the advantage of moving their crew from boat to boat to reduce burnout. All the crew where hardcore passionate divers, with many being into photography as well. I rate this boat and the operation as 5 stars and will come back again though next year the wife and I plan to do the Palau and Indonesia Aggressor boats as they are running a special; dive one week on one boat and dive the other boat for half price.
















Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 251-500 dives
Where else diving Bonaire(my favorite!), Grand Cayman, BVI, Turks and Caicos, Kona, Florida
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny Seas surge
Water Temp 79-81°F / 26-27°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 100-0 Ft/ 30-0 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions Dive computer, within limits of sport diving or nitrox limits
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? N/A

What I Saw

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

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

Subject Matter 4 stars Boat Facilities 4 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 4 stars Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments Rob the boat captain is a professional photographer with his own website (www.divesights.net) I was blown away with the quality of the diving on the Aggressor compared to what I had seen on Kona land-based operations. Great macro subjects (for Hawaii) with many different kinds of cool nudibrachs. The manta dive was really awesome and we saw dolphins and sharks on other dives as well as other mantas and eagle rays.
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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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