Cayman Aggressor IV Captain's Logs

[Aggressor Adventures]

Cayman Aggressor IV Captain's Log March 24 - 31, 2012

Cayman Aggressor IV March 24 - 31, 2012
Captains Log

Air Temp 78-86*F
Water Temp 80-82*F
Wet suit 3 mm or less
Visibility At least 100’
Entry by: Captain Nelson

Saturday

What a great week it's going to be. Our guests are not from the same area but they have bonded nicely and have been laughing continuously since their arrival and all through dinner. The forecast looks exceptional for making the crossing to Little Cayman on Sunday night.

Sunday

The weather continued to hold favorably on Sunday for our checkout dive on the Doc Poulson. The water was still on the surface and the visibility on the wreck and along the adjacent reef was well over 150’. After everyone check out their gear and weights, we moved to Sting Ray City for our second dive before lunch. This is one dive I always love being present for. Even if it’s not my turn to do the dive, I love to watch the smiles and hear all the great comments from our divers as they exit the water. Even the few that come up with sting ray ‘hickies’, seem to be proud of the little nick. For our third dive we headed East to Babylon where our guest reported seeing a green turtle, juvenile spotted drums, large lion fish, mutton snappers, and lots of other colorful species of fish. I think they were also impressed with the variety, size, and abundance of sponges along the fringe of the wall. After our dive on Babylon we began our 66 mile crossing to Little Cayman under the best sea conditions of 2012.

Monday

Woke up on Little Cayman to perfect sea conditions; calm seas with a light breeze of less than 5 knots. Our first dive site of the day was Randy’s Gazebo. Our guests saw several turtles resting and/or eating, yellow rays, mating lobsters, and a gray reef shark swimming off the wall in about 75’. The mild current made the return to the boat easy as divers gently glided over the shallower portion wall.

During the afternoon dives guest were able to explore the wall at Nancy’s Cup of Tea and the channels and tunnels that connect the wall to the back side of the reef. I’ve always loved how, on a beautiful day like today, the sun reflects off the sand in 40 feet and brings out the colors of the corals and sponges that adorn the fringe of the back reef.

The night dive was a good one as most of us were able to see channel crabs, lobsters, and extended baskets stars actively feeding on bloodworms. My guest, Miguel, and myself got to see a beautiful octopus extended fully on the sandy rubble in about 25’, just below the ladder to the Cayman Aggressor.

Tuesday

Friendly Nassau groupers and an alpha male hogfish came out to join our divers during our dives. A large nurse shark was seen sleeping by several of our guests on the second dive of the morning at The Meadows.

For our afternoon dive we dove Lea Lea’s, which is usually a great site for dusk dives. We weren’t disappointed as we saw two gray reef sharks, two turtles within 10 feet of one another, and many other smaller critters that were hanging out on the top of the shelf in about 25-35 feet of water. Mark, one of our dive instructors, gave a very informative briefing on some of the 3 F’s that happen during dusk in and around the reefs. Those included feeding, fleeing from predators, and fornicating.

Wednesday

We had a great turn out for our weekly dawn dive with 12 of our 17 guests rising to the occasion for the opportunity to see the reef awaken as the sun came up at 6 am. One thing that is always guaranteed after dawn dives, the energy level at breakfast is much higher.

Our second site of the morning was Marilyn’s Cut. On my dive with the guests we saw a large green moray, a Hawksbill turtle that wanted to pose for our photographers, and for the last third of the dive a large Nassau grouper escorted us during our return to the Cayman Aggressor.

Bloody Bay Marine Park is made up of a reef that stretches almost two and a half miles along the west side of the North coast of Little Cayman. Some divers also know that this reef tends to be shallow towards the top, from 40 feet and shallower, and that the wall drops fairly precipitously after those 40 feet or so. In my opinion, there is no other place on Bloody bay where this is more obvious than at the site of our afternoon dive on Wednesday, The Great Wall.

Thursday

Back on Grand Cayman we did a couple of dives in the calm waters of West Bay at Big Tunnels and followed up on a favorite wreck of mine, the Kittiwake. Our guest Miguel successfully finished his SSI Wreck Diver course while doing the last two dives of his certification on the 251’ wreck that sits upright in approximately 60’.

Although the Kittiwake and the adjacent reef are a great location for a night dive, many of our guests were so satisfied with our Chef’s Kingsley dinner, that the opted to sit the night dive out and let the meal settle comfortably.

Friday

To finish of the week we did one dive on Trinity Caves with visibility over 150’ and then moved south so another great site, Devil’s Grotto.

This week’s guest have been jovial all week and I expect tonight’s cocktail party should be a blast!

Cayman Aggressor IV Crew

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Cayman Aggressor IV Captain's Log April 7 - 14, 2012

Cayman Aggressor IV Captains Log April 7 - 14, 2012
Air Temp: 78-86*F
Water Temp:80-82*F
Wet suit: 3 mm or less
Visibility: At least 50 to over 100’
Entry by:Captain Nelson

Saturday
With all guests aboard, we decided to do a sunset cruise on our way to our Sunday morning dive site. The sunset was stunning and the breeze was light as our guests had dinner on the sundeck.

Sunday
We had great conditions at the wreck of the Doc Poulson during our check out dive on Sunday morning. Our plans had included diving Sting Ray City after the Doc Poulsen but uncertain weather conditions led us to do two dives on the colorful gardens of Babylon. Immediately after our third dive, we departed for our crossing to Little Cayman.

Monday
Sea conditions were not the best so we chose to tuck in at The Meadows were our guests saw sharks and lots of very large Nassau groupers.

For our afternoon dive, we dove 3 Fathom Wall/Mixing Bowl. Guests loved this site. They saw a free swimming moray, and lots of yellow headed jawfish; one of which had eggs brewing in his mouth.

Tuesday
Weather continued to challenge us but not enough to keep us from diving some great dive sites. But Stop was the site of our morning dives. I FINALLY saw my first yellow headed jawfish with eggs in his mouth (for my own and not someone else’s fish tale). What a great site that was!

Prior to our crossing back to Grand Cayman, we were able to get a great dive in at Lea Lea’s. One guest commented that ‘it was the dive where I saw everything’. I guess that means it was a good one!

Wednesday
For our first dive site we visited Kelly Cavern on the southeast side of Grand Cayman. It’s not often that we get to dive the southeast side of Grand Cayman. I’ve waited nearly 3 years to get a chance to dive some of these and it was worth the wait. The coral structures are truly impressive and the awesome visibility (150’+} allowed us to really appreciate the magnitude of the valleys and channels which are sometimes in excess of 50’ deep.

Our second site was Pedro’s wall where there are several pinnacles that measure at least 40’ in diameter with a range from top to bottom of at least 60’. Again, the conditions on the south side were breath taking with at least 150’ of horizontal visibility (and that was with an overcast sky).

The night dive on Pedro’s wall was fantastic. I was able to find an octopus, 4 or 5 spotted lobsters, a free swimming spotted eel, and other eels that were tucked up in their holes, a yellow ray, spotted drum, and lion fish of all sizes.

Thursday
Eagle Ray Rock…and it was. Eagle rays greeted our guests along with several very large mutton snapper. To help identify the Mutton snapper one can think of the saying ‘Mutton has the button’. Snappers have sloping heads and tapered bodies. The Mutton snapper has a black spot on the mid-body line below the rear dorsal fin.

The water in West Bay was calm with just enough cloud cover to keep things cool. The second site of the day was the Kittwake.

Friday
We had great visibility and no current at Big Tunnels for the first dive of the day. Then we moved south so Devil’s Grotto for our last dive of the week.

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Cayman Aggressor IV Captain's Log April 21 - 28, 2012

April 21 - 28, 2012

Saturday, we departed Georgetown dock with 18 guests enjoying a BBQ dinner and beautiful sunset. Followed by the captains briefing and a good night’s sleep in preparation for an excellent week of eating, sleeping and diving.
Sunday, Tarpon Alley on the North side was our first site. What a great site to start our week of diving! Here we enjoy the alleyways that lead out to the edge of the wall many having small schools of tarpon hanging out waiting for their food to go by, today we were visited by a couple of feeding turtles and a solo eagle ray . This is one of our favorite sites here on the NE side and we were happy yo be here today. Next up our visit to Stingray City. Once again we were molested by these frisky critters and just about everyone had the wounds to prove it! A short cruise east put us on Babylon, the pinnacle towers off the edge of the wall like a giant building covered with deep water gorgonians and plenty of sponge life. Two turtles, plenty of schooling jacks and a beautiful scorpion fish were enjoyed The winds were changing so we decided to cruise around the east end and dive the south side!

Monday, Kellys Caverns were up next. Here we got to explore the many crevices that run out to the wall and into the deep blue! another couple of turtles, 2 reef sharks and let’s not forget the maze like cave formations a wonderful place for us all to lose our way and have a whole lot of fun! The tunnel of love was our first PM site and what a great dive we had, another shear wall drops down to over 3000 ft 2 pinnacles make for great exploration, There was plenty of reef fish out and about this afternoon with 2 huge black groupers hanging out off the wall, a giant barracuda came by to say hello another reef shark, Scorpionfish, schooling jacks and gaggles of reef fish everywhere! The night dive produced all the usual night time critters including, crabs, lobsters, squid and yes octopus! A great day of Cayman style diving!

Tuesday, Lighthouse Wall was our next site. Here the wall drops straight down from 50ft into the abyss with several cuts from the shallows leading into the blue, the sponges were spawning like smoking chimneys! Everyone enjoyed the swim thru’s and exploring the cuts and crevices. Pedro’s Castle was our PM site. We explored two different areas of this dive site. A short swim to the deep water and pinnacles, but well worth the effort the shallow area with caves swim thru’s and caverns on the second dive was awesome. We enjoyed seeing Lobsters, crabs, Feather dusters, Shrimp, Scorpion fish, cowfish, box fish and a pair of turtles. The dusk dive was enjoyed by all with the day crew changing the guard with the night time critters.

Wednesday, Pedro Point was up first! Wow what a great morning of diving, Giant Bommies rise from the deep making for amazing formations and swim thu’s, a eagle ray and a giant Loggerhead turtle came by as did all the usual reef critters. Doc Poulson was up next! the wreck sits in 50ft of clear, warm Caribbean water and there’s always plenty of critters including out resident Green Eel, giant mutton snapper a couple of rays, feeding barracuda and friendly a turtle! A nice drop off brought in another Turtle and eagle ray and garden Eels plus the small wreck covered with snappers and jacks.

Big Tunnels was our AM site, This is an fantastic dive and today we were treated to 150ft vis and plenty of critters came by including an old turtle with 2 remora’s on its back! 2 giant green eels, Caves, swim thru’s the archway at 100ft and plenty of tunnels made for a great morning of diving NW point style. Its wreck time and everyone was excited to visit the Kittiwake. A 250ft+ US Navy Submarine rescue vessel that was intentionally sunk in Jan 2011. Its an awesome site to explore with just about every deck and compartment open for us to explore. What’s really nice is that the wreck was sunk on the Sand Chutes dive site making 2 dive sites for the price of one! Everyone enjoyed the wreck but also the wall and drop off at the sand chutes Wow what a great afternoon and the night dive produced.

Friday, First dive of the morning was Trinity caves! Another favorite for many and this week we were treated to as well as all the swim thru’s, tunnels and caves And as always Devils Grotto was our last dive of the week. Swim through, Caves, Cracks and Crevices were there for the exploring always a great way to end a great end a week of diving on the Cayman Aggressor IV. All that’s left to do is wash our gear! Pack our bags and get ready for a cold one or two and say our farewells at the Cocktail party! ☹ Congrats go out to Bob for completing his Photo class and to Mark for passing his wreck class. And a BIG thank you to all for making this a safe week of Cayman style diving!
Until next time……
Cayman Aggressor IV Crew

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Cayman Aggressor IV Captain's Log June 2 - 9, 2012

We had the pleasure of 18 guests this week and I believe they all had been on Aggressor vessels somewhere around the world. The weather was beautiful so we decided to head over to Little Cayman and enjoy our captains briefing and delicious BBQ dinner and a calm midnight cruise!

Sunday. , Randy’s Gazebo was up first. two chimney’s. the arch way and a shear wall were enjoyed with, turtles, reef sharks, eagle rays, spotted eel’s, spotted drum’s and a few Nudi-branch’s set the pace for the week! The Meadows was the afternoon night site. Here Cosmo ad his gang of friendly groupers came out to play as did several reef shark, eagle ray turtle and a huge school of Jacks. Once again the night dive produced all the usual night critters and topped of another great day of diving!

Monday Today we woke to glass like seas a beautiful sunset and a full moon! Leah Leah’s Lookout was up first, the 2 crevices and pinnacle made for a awesome morning of diving! Plenty of cleaning stations, a couple of friendly groupers and the visibility was at least 150ft 3 Fathom wall was next, Here we get to dive the 3 different dive sites in one, The shear wall drops from 20 to 6000ft very quickly, swin thru’s sleeping stingrays, a couple of sharks, schooling reef fish and Frederica the Labrador grouper came by for a little loving! The night dive provided the usual suspects including, lobsters, crabs, sleeping turtle and a couple of octopus!

Tuesday. A short cruise up the wall put us on “Nancy’s Cup Of Tea” Another great wall dive with a beautiful “Tea Cup” pinnacle a never ending wall with plenty of cleaning stations, cracks and crevices to explore and a swim thru leading up to the old lost anchors in the sand patch. Over to Donna’s delight for the afternoon and dusk dive! Another serious wall and shallow reef make for long bottom times and plenty of critter finding! The dusk dive made for something different! The closing of the day shift and the early night shift all were enjoyed as well as a sleeping turtle, scorpion fish a couple of friendly Nassau groupers and 2 spotted eels!

Wednesday We enjoyed a smooth crossing over to Cayman Brac last night to put us in place for us to enjoy 2 dives on the wreck of the Russian Destroyer! The bridge, Capt. Cabin, bow gun, engine rooms were all explored, Sweet-lips the giant Goliath grouper made her rounds as did a giant green eel and eagle ray! Calm seas made for a great morning of diving and a delicious BBQ Cheeseburger in paradise were enjoyed on the sun deck on the way back over to Little Cayman during lunch! Bus Stop was our afternoon and night dive site and Wow! What an afternoon we had. A tour through the archways and swim thru’s off the edge of the wall at Cumbers cave was the start to our dive with 2 sharks, eagle ray and 2 turtles the the hunt was on for the elusive sail-Fin Benny and Pistol shrimp which provided several of each and Scott found his Male Jaw-fish with eggs in his mouth!

Thursday! We had a wonderful final day here in Little Cayman! The weather again was flat calm and beautiful so we decided to do something a little different and drift from one dive site down Bloody Bay wall about 500 yards to finish up at Marilyn’s Cut! Wow what a dive! Nurse sharks, turtles and plenty of reef critters made for a great dive! Another dive at Marilyn’s was enjoyed before we completed our 2 final dives at the “Great Wall’ of Bloody Bay l to enjoy the drop off and the pleasure of Freddie and other Nassau groupers company. The wall is shear and starts at 25ft dropping down to 6000+Ft its temping to keep on going and going! Wow. We headed back to GCM enjoying our Farewell dinner and watching the weekly video in calm seas and a good nights sleep J


Friday. We arrived at the wreck of the Kittiwake! Everyone was excited to dive this wreck with its many entries and exits all over the ship! The “Sand Chutes” wall dive was right next to the wreck so many diving dove both sites! Congrats to Rich on winning the “Free T-Shirt” for finding the AFL plaque on the wreck! As always the week goes by way too fast One last dive at world famous devils Grotto completes the week with 26 possible dives! Congrats go out to Margo for completing her SSI Nitrox Advanced course, It was great to spend a week with long time friends and fellow AFL & Dancer Fleet staff Larry and Sharon Conner again! And a BIG thank you to all for making this another great week of Eat Sleep & Dive Aggressor style.

Until next time
The Crew of the Cayman Aggressor IV

Water temp 80f+
Air Temp 80s
Vis 80ft+
Wetsuit 3-5mm

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Cayman Aggressor IV Captain’s Report June 9 – 19, 2012: Special 10-day Charter

Cayman Aggressor IV Captain’s Report June 9 – 19, 2012: Special 10-day Charter

The sun was shining when we departed Georgetown dock for another week of fun in the sun! 17 excited guests were ready for 10 days of diving eating and sleeping Cayman style and there was no better way to start the week than with a short cruise up Seven Mile Beach, a lovely BBQ dinner and awesome sunset!

Water temp 82f+
Air Temp 87f+
Vis 80-100ft+
Wet suit 3mm or skin


Sunday. The wreck of the Doc Poulson was up first a perfect site to start our week. The wreck is in 50 ft, always plenty of critters including out resident green eel! A nice drop off brought in a turtle and eagle ray, garden eels and plenty of jacks made for a great start to our 8 1/2 days of diving. The wind’s blowing today so we decided to make it wreck Sunday and cruised over to the Kittiwake! Here we find plenty of places to explore with plenty of bottom time and plenty of critters being that the deepest point of the wreck is only 60 ft. A fun tour around the wreck with Lauren and her video camera made for a great afternoon dive and the night dive produce all the usual including, crabs, lobsters, squid and yes octopus!

Monday. Big Tunnels was up next and what a great morning we had! 2 dives through all the cuts, swim thru’s and caves made for plenty of happy faces! A giant green and small spotted eels were found as well as 2 turtles, barracuda, cowfish, spotted drum and an eagle ray! The wind was still blowing so we headed down to Jax Dax for the afternoon. What a great afternoon we had, an out and about octopus, green eels, a spotted eagle ray and turtles.

Tuesday. Trinity Caves was up first and is always a great morning dive with its series of tunnels and caves. A short cruise over to the north side put us on Stingray City for another chance to be molested by these frisky little critters. The weather had calmed down so we headed over to Little Cayman to dive world famous Bloody Bay Wall!

Wednesday. After a calm crossing we made it over to Bloody Bay! Randy’s Gazebo was up first. Clear 150ft+ vis, two chimneys, the archway, shear wall and more turtles than at Sea World. It was a great way to start our morning The Meadows was our dive site of the afternoon and what a wonderful day of diving was had. You name it we saw it and photographed it too! We encountered turtles. sharks, eagle rays, schooling jacks, barracuda, friendly groupers, green and spotted eels and much, much more. The night dive produced all the usuals including, crabs, sleeping turtles, lobsters and 3 octopuses! What a great day!

Thursday. Leah Leah’s Lookout was our AM site. Here we got to enjoy the crevice that runs from the 20ft shallows out to the wall at 100ft! Today we had incredible visibility and a little current and were treated to reef sharks, another sleeping nurse shark, 2 spotted drums, and lets not forget - 3 Fathom Wall! For the afternoon site, 3 dive sites in one make for plenty of exploring and enjoying all the critters, including, eagle rays, sharks, scorpion fish, turtles, friendly groupers and spotted drums! The night dive was enjoyed by all slipper lobsters, crabs, octopus and rainbow squid were all spotted throughout the dive! Wow!

Friday. Nancy’s Cup Of Tea was up first! A beautiful pinnacle perched on the edge of the wall that drops down into the abyss. A short swim up the wall put us at Paul’s Anchors where we photographed several old ships’ anchors lost in another time. Donna’s Delight was the afternoon site! Yet another shear wall with plenty to see and take pictures was enjoyed by all!
Saturday. After a beautiful evening cruise over to Cayman Brac last night we arrived at the wreck of the Russian Destroyer, the Keith Tibbets. Everyone enjoyed exploring the ins and outs of this wreck. The vis was excellent and plenty of pics were taken around the bridge and stern gun. Of course the guys enjoyed going inside the wreck and exploring the engine rooms. Today we were treated to 2 eagle rays, turtles and “Sweet lips” the giant Goliath grouper. Bus Stop was the afternoon site. Believed to be one of the best dive sites in the Caribbean!! Golden coneys, queen angelfish, sleeping stingrays, lobsters, rainbow squid, Nassau groupers, plenty more reef sharks, juvenile file and butterfly fishes and a beautiful eagle ray all were spotted But lets not forget the hunt for the sail fin blennies! Another good night dive topped off our seventh day of diving! Phew!

Sunday. Once again we had several guests get up at 5.30AM for the pre-breakfast dive and what a great time we had! The reef was waking up, as were the divers, and it was a great way to start the day and breakfast tasted so-o-o much better. A drift/swim dive from Sara’s Set down the wall to Marilyn’s Cut made for a fun dive cruising 400 yards of shear wall! Wow!!! The Great Wall was our final site in LC; we all loved the shear drop off and meeting “Freddy” and his band of friendly groupers! Sadly its time to head back to GCM.

Monday. A smooth crossing back to Grand Cayman put us back on the West Bay and just 2 dives left to enjoy! The wreck of the Oro Verde and Devils Grotto was our last dives of the week and what a great way to end a awesome 10 days onboard the CAIV of diving, Congrats go out to Leslie & Russell for completing their SSI Nitrox class! All that’s left to do is wash our gear and get ready for a cold drink or two at the farewell party. Congrats go out to all for making this a wonderful 10 days of Aggressor style diving in the Cayman Islands.

Until next time…
Cayman Aggressor IV crew.

 

[deeper thoughts]

thnx for sharing

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Water temp 84f+
Air Temp 87s + Thunderstorms
Vis 100ft+
Wetsuit Req: 3mm shorty

Wednesday - All 18 guests arrived in the afternoon with happy faces and were eager to get going on their 10-day charter! A cruise up the North Side gave us time to enjoy our BBQ dinner on the sundeck followed by our welcome aboard briefing and a good night’s sleep in anticipation for our upcoming day of diving

Thursday - The wind was blowing from the south so we decided on Tarpon Alley for our check out dive. This vis wasn’t as good as it could have been, but it was still a great place to check out the tarpon, the wall and get wet! A short cruise east put us on Babylon for a couple of dives before we headed over to Little Cayman

Friday - Randy’s Gazebo was our first site and here we enjoyed descending into the blue, cruising the drop off, exploring the chimneys and swimming through the archway where we spotted a sleeping nurse shark in on the ledge along with a couple of turtles, scorpion fish and a cruising reef shark. Meadows was the afternoon site and what a great afternoon it was. Two dives to enjoy the shallow reef top! And explore the swim thrus. “Cosmo”, the friendly Nassau grouper came by. So did an eagle ray, several turtles, nurse shark, school of squid and plenty of reef sharks. The night dive produced all the usual night time critters including a curious reef shark!

Saturday - Lea Lea’s Lookout was our AM site. Here we get to enjoy the crevice that runs from the 20ft shallows out to the wall at 100ft! Today we were treated to a couple of turtles, eagle ray, spotted drums, scorpion fish and even a Mantis Shrimp! Donnas’ Delight was our PM site and two afternoon and a dusk dive produced plenty of reef critters including reef squid, flounders, yellow spotted rays, friendly groupers and plenty of crabs and lobsters.

Sunday - Nancy’s Cup of Tea was our morning site with its pinnacle; swim thru’s and old anchors making for a fun morning for everyone! A couple of friendly turtles, reef shark and mating French Angels, Donna’s Delight was up for the afternoon! A shear wall a shallow reef produced plenty of reef critters including peacock flounder, yellow spotted stingray and scorpion fish.

Monday - We cruised over to Cayman Brac last night to dive the wreck of the Russian Destroyer 356, aka “M/V Keith Tibbets”. Here we woke to lake-like conditions with flat calm sea’s and clear blue skies. Two dives were enjoyed by all here exploring the many different areas of the wreck. A tour through the Captain’s quarters, bridge, crew mess, engine room and control room gave everyone a good look inside the ship while still enjoying the missile launcher pad, bow & stern guns and radar mast. Back to LC for the PM dive and 3 Fathom Wall was the afternoon site. Three dive sites in one make for plenty of things to see! Golden coneys, queen angelfish, sleeping stingrays, lobsters, rainbow squid, Nassau groupers, another reef shark, and a beautiful eagle ray all were spotted! The night dive produced all the usuals including, lobsters, squid, crabs and octopus. Wow what a great day of diving!

Tuesday. We decided to head back over to Randy’s Gazebo for the morning. For the afternoon we moved to my favorite sites - Bus Stop! You name it we saw! Eagle rays, sharks, turtles, groupers, stingrays, lobsters, channel crabs, green eels and spotted eels. The hunt for the “Sailfin Blennie” was successful, as well as spotting a couple of pistol shrimp The night dive was awesome again with all the usual suspects, including reef squid and 2 octopus!

Wednesday. Leah Leah’s was up again and what a great morning we had! Nicole (12 year old new diver) got to see her turtle, nurse shark, eagle ray, mating lobsters and her first lettuce leaf slug! Marilyn’s Cut was our afternoon night dive site. Here we enjoyed the shear wall, friendly groupers, squid and plenty of reef critters; including a scorpion fish and yellow ray! The night dive was awesome! Free-swimming eels, giant sleeping turtles and Karyn spotted her first octopus! Another awesome day of LC diving!

Thursday. An early pre-breakfast dive to start our day today. 12 Gung-ho divers jumped in before they were awake. Reef sharks, turtles, schooling jacks, grouper cleaning stations and a shear wall were all enjoyed before breakfast, and for those who didn’t get up and dive the early we headed over to Sara’s Set for a quick dive then the “Great Wall” for the afternoon dives. Here we have “Freddie” and his band of very friendly groupers, more turtles, spotted drums, yellow rays and of course the shear wall! Back to GCM on calm seas and a following sea!

Friday. Just two dives left to enjoy, the first being the Wreck of the Kittiwake with plenty of places to explore with plenty of bottom time - being that the deepest point is only 60 ft. As always, Devil’s Grotto was our last dive of the week and is always a favorite. All that’s left to do is wash our gear and get ready for a cold drink or two at the farewell party. Great to see several familiar faces onboard again.

Congrats go out to Nicole for completing her SSI Nitrox class, to Andrew for passing his advanced class and thank you all for making this another wonderful week of Aggressor diving in the Cayman Islands.

Until next time……
Cayman Aggressor IV crew.

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Cayman Aggressor IV Captain’s Report June 30 – July 7, 2012

Water temp 82f+
Air Temp 80s
Vis 80ft+

And again we had the pleasure of 16 happy divers coming to spend a week onboard the CAIV. Once the last couple came onboard we started the engines and headed up the West side to enjoy a BBQ dinner, complete the welcome safety briefing and get a good night’s sleep getting ready for our first dives in the AM.

Sunday - The wreck of the Doc Polson was up first! A shallow tugboat wreck in 50ft of water with an easy 20-yard swim to the drop off. Plenty of critters around today and everyone enjoyed getting back into the water and getting wet. A perfect spot for our check out dive! Stingray City was the afternoon site and here we enjoyed 1 hour of hilarious fun! Babylon was our next site and what an awesome site it is! A shear wall with a beautiful pinnacle covered in soft corals, red rope sponges and 2 turtles made for a great afternoon.

Monday - After a semi-calm crossing we ended up on Bloody Bay Wall! Randy’s Gazebo was our first site and here we enjoyed descending into the blue, cruising the drop-off, exploring the chimneys and swimming through the archway. Along the way several turtles, a yellow ray, nurse shark and plenty of reef critters were seen. Meadows was the afternoon site and what a great afternoon it was. Two dives to enjoy the shallow reef top and explore the swim thrus. “Cosmo” the friendly Nassau grouper came by and so did an eagle ray, several turtles, nurse shark, giant green eel, a couple of reef sharks and a huge school of horse eye jacks. The night dive produced all the usual suspects including channel crabs, sharks, sleeping turtles, lobsters, eels and of course octopus! Another incredible day of diving CAIV style!

Tuesday - Leah Leah’s Lookout was our AM site. Here we get to enjoy the crevice that runs from the 20ft shallows out to the wall at 100ft! Today we had incredible visibility and a little current and were treated to reef sharks, another sleeping nurse shark, 2 spotted drums, friendly groupers and more lobsters!! 3 Fathom Wall was the PM site followed by a dinner cruise over to the Brac to dive the Russian Destroyer for our night dive that produced all the usuals including 2 octopuses!

Wednesday - We dove the wreck of the Russian Destroyer again first thing in the morning. Everyone enjoyed exploring the ins and outs of this wreck. The vis was excellent and plenty of pics were taken around the bridge and stern gun. Of course the guys enjoyed going inside the wreck and exploring the engine rooms and a quick visit by “Sweetlips” The Goliath grouper. Bus Stop was up for the afternoon, one of my favorite dive sites and always a hit with our guests! Reef Sharks, turtles and all the amazing swim thrus off the wall and let’s not forget the sailfin blennies and jawfish with eggs hunt. The night dive produced more stuff including a giant lobster, crab, pufferfish and yes you guessed it another octopus!

Thursday - 8 hardcore (or hard headed?) braved the early 5:45AM dive at Nancy’s Cup Of Tea. Another beautiful dive on the Tea Cup Pinnacle brought in plenty of shark action! Turtle, eagle ray, several very old anchors and a giant 10ft nurse shark. “The Great Wall” was our last stop here in LC before heading back to Grand Cayman. This 20ft shallow reef dropping off to 6000ft makes for an awesome afternoon dive. “Freddie” and his friendly band of groupers came by to entertain us and get their fair share of attention, as did another couple of turtles, mating angelfish, a sleeping nurse shark and a dozen giant lobsters.

Friday - A smooth crossing back to Grand Cayman to our first site at The Sand Chutes Wall and the wreck of the Kittiwake. Plenty of places to explore with plenty of bottom time being that the deepest point is only 60 ft. Jam and Craig completed their SSI Deep dive here and Jack finished his SSI wreck class. As always, Devil’s Grotto was our last dive of the week and once again we enjoyed the schooling silversides and the tarpon enjoying an “All You Can Eat” buffet. This is always a favorite site. All that’s left to do is wash our gear and get ready for a cold drink or two at the farewell party.

Congrats go out to Ilay & Dick for completing their SSI Nitrox class, Suzie for completing 200 dives, Happy Birthday Karen and to all for making this another wonderful safe week of Aggressor diving in the Cayman Islands.
Until next time…… Cayman Aggressor IV crew.

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Cayman Aggressor IV “Family Week” July 7 – 14, 2012

Water temp: 82f+
Air Temp: 80s
Vis: 80ft+

And again we had the pleasure of 11 happy divers coming to spend a week onboard the CAIV. This week is very special because it’s “Kid’s Week” and we have the pleasure the well-known “Dot” artist Ron Steven aka “Rogest” to entertain us all this week. Henry from Portugal was completing his SSI Open Water class and Ashley was getting her dive experiences to be ready to complete her Open Water class next time. After everyone got onboard we headed up the West side to enjoy a BBQ dinner, complete the welcome safety briefing and get a good night’s sleep getting ready for our first dives in the AM.

Sunday. The Wreck of the Doc Polson was up first! A shallow tugboat wreck in 50ft of water with an easy 20 yards swim to the drop off. Plenty of critters around today and everyone enjoyed getting back into the water and getting wet. A perfect spot for our check out dive! After lunch today Rogest started his “Dot” art class and boy - do we have some amazing talented artists in the making onboard! They have 4 days to complete a masterpiece and by the looks of the completed 1^st day’s work we are going to be seeing some incredible artwork! The wind was blowing so we decided to stay in the calm waters of the west side and enjoy the Wreck of the Kittiwake and the shear wall and beautiful reef for the afternoon and night dives.

Monday. The wind had dropped so we headed over to Big Tunnels and Orange Canyons for our first dives and we were treated to some incredible vis and a fun dive checking out the caves, swim thru’s and tunnels. Stingray City was up next. Here we enjoyed 1 hour of hilarious fun! This was organized chaos at its finest, however everyone had a great fun time with battle scars to prove it and Andrea ending up winning a free t-shirt for her hickey of the week! Compliments of a hungry stingray J Babylon was next. What an awesome site! A shear wall with a beautiful pinnacle covered in soft corals, red rope sponges and 2 turtles made for a great afternoon. As we have a little time on our hands it was time to start the poem contest for everyone! Everyone has the chance to create a poem to be shared on Thursday with everyone and prizes will be given to the ones voted to be the best!

Tuesday. After a little bumpy crossing, we ended up on Bloody Bay Wall! Randy’s Gazebo was our first site and here we enjoyed descending into the blue, cruising the drop off, exploring the chimneys and swimming through the archway with several turtles, a yellow ray, nurse shark and plenty of reef critters. Meadows was the afternoon site and what a great afternoon it was. Two dives to enjoy the shallow reef top and explore the swim thrus. “Cosmo”, the friendly Nassau grouper, came by and so did an eagle ray, several turtles, four reef sharks and a huge school of horse eye jacks. Today we chose to do an early evening dusk dive and it was great! All the usual nocturnal critters came out to say “hello”, including a couple of squid and a sleeping turtle. Another incredible day of diving CAIV style!

Wednesday. After a beautiful evening cruise over to Cayman Brac we dove the Wreck of the Russian Destroyer. Everyone enjoyed exploring the ins and outs of this wreck. The vis was excellent and plenty of pics were taken around the bridge and stern gun. Of course the guys enjoyed going inside the wreck and exploring the engine rooms. Both of our new divers enjoyed exploring the shallower parts of the wreck and seeing all the critters just hanging out.

I just checked on the art class and I’m not sure who’s having more fun the kids or the adults! There are some great pieces of “Dot” art emerging from Ron’s class! The judging is going to be tough! Bus Stop was up for the afternoon, one of my favorite dive sites and always a hit with our guests! Reef Sharks, turtles, 2 eagle rays and all the amazing swim thru’s off the wall at Cumbers Caves - and let’s not forget the sail-fin blennies and jaw fish hunt. WE sent a search party ashore in search of the lost treasure of Little Cayman! However, all the kids brought back were coconuts! Mmm, Mmm! The night dive produced more good stuff including several giant lobster, gaggles of crab, puffer fish, a crazy turtle and a spotted eel! What a great first night dive for the kids. Wow what another great day of diving!

Thursday. Eight hardcore (or hard headed?) braved the early 5.45AM dive at Nancy’s Cup Of Tea, which was another beautiful dive at the Tea Cup Pinnacle. A friendly turtle, eagle ray, several very old anchors and a giant 10ft nurse shark. Our second dive was called a “Man” dive, as it involved swimming the length of the dive site to try and see it all in one dive! Phew - I need a cookie after that dive! J So now its time for a “Girly” dive! Marilyn’s Cut was up next. Another shear wall with an amazing crevice and formations! No long marathon swims required! L “The Great Wall” was our last stop here in LC before heading back to Grand Cayman. This is a 20 ft shallow reef dropping off to 6000 ft making for an awesome afternoon dive. “Freddie” and his band of groupers came by to entertain us and get their fair share of attention, as did another couple of turtles, rainbow squid, spotted drum, yellow stingray and even a octopus! WOW!

Friday. A smooth crossing back to Grand Cayman to our first site at the Wreck of the Oro Verde. Also known as the “Aquarium”, it’s a great dive for our last day of diving. It’s a shallow 50 ft reef/wreck with plenty of critters to enjoy before we moved over to Devils Grotto and once again we enjoyed the schooling silversides and the tarpon enjoying an “All you can eat” buffet. This is always a favorite. All that’s left to do is wash our gear and get ready for a cold drink or two at the farewell party.

Congrats go out to Mario for completing his SSI Nitrox class, to Henry for passing his SSI Open Water class and a big congrats goes to Ashley for being a fish! I know she’s going to be an incredible diver when she finishes her OW class. And a BIG thank you to the “Biggest Kid Onboard” - Rogest for making this a wonderful, fun, interesting and productive week onboard the Cayman Aggressor here in the Cayman Islands.

Until next time… Cayman Aggressor IV crew

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Cayman Aggressor Captain’s Report July 14 – 21, 2012

Water temp - 82f+
Air Temp - 80s
Vis - 80ft+
Wetsuit Req - Skin

18 more happy divers from Norm, Oklahoma USA joined us to spend a week onboard the CAIV for a fun week of “Eat, Sleep, Dive and laugh!. Once the last couple came onboard we started the engines and headed up the North side to enjoy a BBQ dinner, complete the welcome safety briefing and get a good night’s sleep getting ready for our first dives in the AM.

Sunday. Tarpon Alley was up first, a great way to start the week being a shallow 45 ft to the top of the wall with a couple of turtles, Alan’s hammerhead shark and plenty of alleys to get lost in! A short cruise up the wall put us on Hammerhead Hill. Here we enjoyed the shear drop off and the company of 2 free swimming green eels and 3 Eagle Rays! Babylon was next. What an awesome site - a shear wall with a beautiful pinnacle covered in soft corals made for a great afternoon and night dive including another eagle ray and two turtles.

Monday. A midnight cruise put us on Kaibo Kut for our first morning dive. This North Wall site is famous for its eagle ray sightings. Yes, we saw a couple more eagle rays, a turtle, scorpion fish and a giant channel crab. Trinity Caves was our next site. A series of cuts and crevice lead out to the drop off making for a fun exploration dive. The Sand Chutes Wall and the Wreck of the Kittiwake were our sites for the afternoon and night. We had plenty of places to explore with plenty of bottom time being that the deepest point is only 60 ft. The night dive treated us to more crabs and lobsters and a giant brilliant blue/green-feeding octopus! Wow what a great day of GCM diving!

Tuesday. After a calm crossing we ended up on Bloody Bay Wall! Leah Leah’s Lookout was our AM site. Here we get to enjoy the crevice that runs from the 20ft shallows out to the wall at 100ft! Today we had incredible visibility again and, a sleeping nurse shark, 2 spotted drums and plenty of Nassau groupers!! Bus Stop was the first afternoon site. Believed to be one of the best dive sites in the Caribbean!! Golden coney, queen angle fish, sleeping stingrays, lobsters, rainbow squid, Nassau groupers, a reef shark, and plenty of jawfish kept the gang happy! Meadows was the afternoon site and what a great afternoon it was - 2 dives to enjoy the shallow reef top and explore the swim thrus. “Cosmo”, the friendly Nassau grouper came by, so did a eagle ray, couple of turtles, nurse shark and several curious reef sharks. Another day of awesome LC diving!

Wednesday. Randy’s Gazebo was our first site and here we enjoyed descending into the blue, cruising the drop off, exploring the chimneys, and swimming through the archway along with several turtles, a yellow ray, nurse shark and plenty of reef critters. Donnas’ Delight was our first PM site. Just another incredible shear wall and shallow healthy reef was enjoyed before we headed over to our next site. Bus Stop was up for the afternoon. One of my favorite dive sites and always a hit with our guests! Reef sharks, turtles, eagle rays and all the amazing swim thrus off the wall - and let’s not forgetting the sail fin blenny hunt as well as the feisty little Pistol shrimp and corkscrew anemone!

Thursday. Three hardcore (or hard headed?) braved the early 5.45AM dive at Nancy’s Cup Of Tea. Another beautiful way to start the day with a dive around the “Tea Cup Pinnacle” with a couple of turtles, several very old anchors and another free swimming green moray eel. One quick dive at Donna’s Delight provided an incredible shallow reef with plenty of the usual suspects, including a school of 20 or more reef squid! Awesome! The Great Wall was our last stop here in LC before heading back to Grand Cayman. This 20ft shallow reef dropping off to 6000ft makes for a awesome afternoon dive. “Freddie” came by to entertain us and get more than his fair share of attention, as did another couple of turtles, mating angelfish, sleeping nurse shark, scorpion fish, a school of reef squid and 3 octopus that were out and about!.

Friday. A smooth crossing back to Grand Cayman to our first site at Big Tunnels. An amazing wall dive with incredible reef formations and tunnels make for a fun dive, and as always, Devils Grotto was our last site and is always a favorite. All that’s left to do is wash our gear and get ready for a cold drink or two at the farewell party. Congrats go out to all for making this another wonderful safe week of Aggressor diving in the Cayman Islands.

Until next time……
Cayman Aggressor IV crew