Sea Dancer, May 1995, Dave Williams, Long Beach, CA. "Beautiful walls, but not the abundance of life I expected. Diving not challenging; better for beginners. Only one turtle, no eagle rays, dolphins or more interesting pelagics. Coral and tropical fish plentiful and beautiful. . . . Sea Dancer suffers from fatigue. 'State rooms' are small and heads are cramped. Old marine toilets requiring delicacy on the part of the user. Dive deck well laid out, plenty of room for photographers and lots of fresh water rinses. Crew professional, well trained, efficient. Assisted with your gear (even took tanks off on the swim step for the ladies), hot towels when you shed your BC, great dive briefs with lots of description of how the boat was moored related to the dive, etc. Four stars for beginners, three for experienced."

Sea Dancer, June 1995, Carolyn Kimball, Phoenix City, AL. "Pleasantly surprised by quality of diving. Average vis not good. The walls healthy, fish abundant. Many pelagics, including 7+ sharks, mantas and turtles. Crew friendly and made our trip enjoyable. Stan's cooking is stellar! Dining room not air conditioned and gets HOT. Mosquitoes a real problem; would be solved by enclosing and air conditioning this area."

Sea Dancer, August 1995, Jim Callahan, Cincinnati, OH. "Crew fantastic. Final cruise before refitting lido deck with air conditioning. Seas glass calm; vis 80­200 ft. Swam with dolphins twice. Sighted two sharks from deck, none on dive. Few large pelagics: plenty of groupers, approachable rays. Food superb. Sites had something for every level of diver, sponges and coral great. Hot shower and hot towel after every dive."

Sea Dancer, December 1995, Charles Stearns, Lilbuin, GA. "More sharks than I have seen in Caribbean. Allowed to dive almost independently - great - wanted to do Library at Turk Island but we only visited Provo and one other island. Stanley the cook incredible. Borkie the steward (Stanley's son) great. Captain arrogant; apparently in line for the Hughes Palau ship."

Sea Dancer, January 1996, Jeff Griest, Cinnaminson, NJ. "Wish I had been provided info on tiny personal storage and what to bring. Two-thirds of the clothing should have been left at home. . . . Food wonderful. Crew great; they enjoyed having you aboard. Operation ran smoothly and safely. . . . Ocean was rough most of the time. Not the best for an inexperienced diver because the tops of the walls are fairly deep. The staff did a great job of working with my inexperienced buddy and making him feel comfortable but he made only half the dives. Vis. 75­100 ft. water: 77°­79°."

Sea Dancer, February 1996, Evelyn McGlone, Huntington, NY. "The boat was terrific. Good operation. Nice dive sites and we worked around the weather. Take your Bonine. Relaxed atmosphere and top service. vis: 40­80 ft. water: 70°­74°."

Sea Dancer, February 1996, Kayla Koeber, Redondo Beach, CA. "Comfortable accommodations. Capt. Don, Len, Matt, Pat, First Mate Jeff, Iris and Cook Stan were outstanding. Helpful, fun, lighthearted; had complete confidence in their ability to handle difficult situations. Stan's cooking is legendary. . . . We hit rough weather mid-week (rain, choppy seas) and they found sheltered spots with good vis.. Due to weather we were treated to pristine exploratory diving. Saw eagle rays, silky sharks, one reef shark, typical fish and critters and an explosion of soft corals and gorgonian. Currents mild. Reef starts at 40­50' and wall starts often at 70 +". Walls are spectacular and vertical - many nooks with lobsters, crabs and morays. vis: 75­150ft. water: 78°­80°. . . . Due to winds I was glad to have a warm jacket at night. Wore my dive skin, a 3/2 mm spring suit and often my 5 mm California water jacket! Hood made a huge difference."

Sea Dancer, March 1996, Bethany Kolb, Albuquerque, NM. "Crew expected us to have release paperwork, cylumes, and emergency signaling device - the office never communicated these requirements pre-trip. Felt lost at first. . . . Diving at 8:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m., 2:00 p.m., 5:00 p.m. I expected flexibility - lot of activity on the dive deck and under the boat at the beginning and end of dives with 18 people fumbling into gear. Camera table roomy and convenient, crew always ready to help with camera gear. Hot shower on deck and crew ready to wrap you in a fresh towel. . . . Walls start 50 to 70'; panoramic with many canyons, curves, and dramatic under cuts. . . . Marine life abundant: eagle rays, sharks and turtles, schools of pelagics. One dive: 17 eagle rays circled several times. Captain moved the boat frequently for better diving or calmer weather; never did more than two dives at a site. vis. 50­100 ft. water: 78°­80°. . . . Cabins aren't as roomy as newer boats; requires a coordinated effort for two people to be in the cabin at the same time unless they are both asleep. Stan's food lived up to its wonderful reputation and was abundant. Great trip, wonderful diving."

Sea Dancer, April 1996, Dennis Sullins, Boulder, CO. "Peter Hughes requires you sign a waiver releasing his operation from negligence. . . . I wish I had brought my own coffee to brew, spouse wishes she had brought her own tea bags. Both coffee and tea brewed on boat were terrible! Vis: 50­100 ft.water:78°."

Sea Dancer, June 1996, Ken Kurtis, Beverly Hills, CA. "Had difficult time dealing with Dancer home office. On this and another trip for our store (I book our group travel), I did not have a good pre-dive experience setting it up. Vis: 50­200ft. water: 78­80°."

Sea Dancer, July 1996, Paul Costa, Phoenix, AZ. "Water: 78­82 degrees, Vis: 50-100 feet. Deep almost every dive. Long hang times. Most West Caicos sites look the same - too much sand/silt over wall. Open Deck not really open - No early morning or late night dives allowed or during meal times, even if you weren t hungry. Rooms small but food good although a choice of entrees would have been nice."

Turks & Caicos Aggressor, June 1995, Ruth & Craig Campbell, Long Grove, IL. "Good variety of coral, lots of fish, no large schools. Saw sharks daily. Crew made sure everyone had good experiences. Showed you marine life you might miss; let you buddy up and dive your own computer profile. Chef Tony went fixed special meals for special people. Vis 50­60 ft. and cloudy."

Turks & Caicos Aggressor, August 1995, Thomas Wolfe, Indianapolis, IN. "Adequate room for photographers. Crew excellent. Lots of interesting critters, big and small. 75+ vis. Walls 55 to 60 ft, which puts pressure to get photography done."

Turks & Caicos Aggressor, October 1995, Hap & Wendy Minshall, Montville, NJ. "Ship, captain, and crew were superior in service, concern for the details, and friendship. Absence of wind, 83° water, consistent 100' vis allowed us to dive normally inaccessible sites. Even a casual schedule permitted 24+ dives during the week. Sharks on 60% of dives, rays on a third. Excels at support of photographers including slide processing, equipment repair and rental/loaner gear. Food was excellent though there was excessive use of tomato-based sauces. After-dive snacks were great!"

Turks & Caicos Aggressor, October 1995, Randy Otterholt, Spokane, WA. "Staff top-notch. Good clean facilities, great meals and snacks, interesting dive briefings. 5 dives/day. Divemasters gave experienced divers independence and were helpful to beginners. Computers a must. Carefree week of serious diving!"

Turks & Caicos Aggressor, October 1995, David & Elaine Hollabaugh, Fulton, MO. "Excellent crew. Best food of eight live-aboards. Double bunks too small for two people. Excellent diving and boat. Alcohol now included, but only had Miller for beer. Water temperature 81° to 83°F. Visibility 75­100 ft. Depth limits to 110 feet enforced."

Turks & Caicos Aggressor, December 1995, David Lund, Minneapolis, MN. "Good, aging boat. Good captain (Julie). Fair crew, fair food. Less-spiced alternate dishes would have been welcome. Good attention to our pre-trip requests re: food and beverages. Wind and weather patterns made poor-fair visibility, long swims from the dive platform to the walls, and long boat rides between dives. Eagle rays on several wall dives. Walls are pretty and healthy. Vis: 50­70 ft. water: 82°. Fair trip."

Turks and Caicos Aggressor, February 1996, Gary Smith, Seattle, WA. "8-day trip to the Silverbank, between Grand Turk and the Dominican Republic, hosted by Stephen Frink. Aggressor, captained by Julie Jordan, provided an outstanding platform for whale viewing and photography. Crew made the trip a success. Boat comfortable and practical. Whale viewing outstanding. Three inflatables took 3­4 divers each for close encounters. 30-minute session in the water with three humpback whales performing acrobatics around me, one of my most powerful experiences ever. Stephen Frink was an outstanding trip leader, generous, gracious, and an excellent source of photographic advice."

Copyright 1997 by DSDL, Inc., publishers of Undercurrent. All rights reserved. No portions of this report may be reproduced in any way, including photocopying and electronic data storage, without prior written permission from the publisher. For more information, contact DSDL, Inc., P.O. Box 1658, Sausalito, CA 94966.