Questions about the Cayman Aggressor

[KathyV]

We have done several Aggressor liveaboard cruises over the years and we don’t have any complaints. The last Aggressor trip we did was in 2013 on the T&C Aggressor and it was terrific. We did the Cayman Aggressor trip in 2008 and it was a fantastic experience. But 2008 was a long time ago and I know that the Cayman Aggressor has gotten a new Captain since then - so things may have changed.

I realize that the Cayman Aggressor is not the typical liveaboard location because most of the dive sites are accessible to land-based operations. I think that we decided to do that trip because they were offering a very attractive special price, but I’m glad that we did. We had the chance to do a lot of dives (4 to 5 per day) and we were able to dive the best sites off of all 3 of the Cayman Islands. But we spent most of our time diving off of Little Cayman and I recognize that if the weather had been bad, and they were unable to make the trip to the sister islands, it might not have been such a great trip.

The reason that I bring all this up is because we recently stayed and dived with a land-based operation on Little Cayman, it was a great trip but we heard a lot of negative comments about the Aggressor from the divemasters on our boat. I mostly dismissed the comments but they have been nagging at me ever since, in case we would like to repeat the CA liveaboard trip or recommend it to someone else. Hopefully someone that has been on the Cayman Aggressor more recently can share their experiences and help to sort the truth from the myth.

Most of the negative divemaster comments were rather minor and spiteful, like referring to the Aggressor as that “Big ugly boat over there!” but when one of the divers on our boat asked about the comments, the divemaster went into a rant against the Cayman Aggressor.

He said that they “always grab the best sites” and that they “sit on one site all day and never move the boat” and that they “never support the local environmental protection efforts on LC like the Lionfish hunt (but they do support efforts on Grand Cayman) even though they spend most of their time off of Little Cayman” and that they “chum for sharks”.

I was surprised by these comments, mostly because I think that it was rather unprofessional to make negative comments about a colleague/competitor to your customers – but I may be old fashioned in this thinking. But another guest at the hotel that was diving on a different boat told us that he had heard similar comments against the Aggressor – so what’s the deal?

Here are my take on the anti-Aggressor comments:

Regarding “always grab the best sites” that’s probably true but that is the reason that you take a liveaboard trip – to get the best sites. The Aggressor is out on the reefs all the time, and doesn’t need to travel back and forth to the hotel and dive shop, so they have first pick on the best sites – but there are a lot of great dive sites in the Caymans so I can’t imagine that it is big problem.

I don’t really believe “sit on a site all day and never move the boat” because the guests would get bored diving the same site over and over. I checked my log book and they moved the boat 2 times most days (and 3 times a few days) when we were on the CA, but it is a big boat and not easy to move. I feel sure that the Captain makes this decision based on weather and itinerary.

As far as “never support the local environmental protection efforts on LC like the Lionfish hunt but they do support them on GC even though they spend most of their time off of LC” that may be true. The Aggressor departs from Georgetown Harbor on Grand Cayman and they probably think of it as their home port. But they should support the environmental initiatives in the sister islands because they spend so much time there. However, I imagine that they pay a lot of money to operate in Caymanian waters and harbor in Georgetown, so maybe they think that is good enough. They should probably reach out to the other dive operators in the sister islands to make friends and join in supporting their environmental initiatives, if that is feasible.

But the “chum for sharks” comment was the one that really bothered me. I would not think kindly about such activities. But I checked the Aggressor web site and found this notice:

“Please note: All shark interactions are natural, passive and observational in style. The Aggressor Fleet does not actively feed sharks nor chum the waters.”

So obviously they do not “chum for sharks” but what is the basis of this rumor? Did they do it in the past and now they have stopped? We didn’t see any chumming going on when we were recently on the T&C Aggressor but there would be no need – there were sharks all over the place!

So I would love to hear from someone that has been on the Cayman Aggressor recently. What was your experience and how would you respond to these negative comments? Is it really the great trip that I fondly remember or have things changed in recent years? Thanks!

 

[drrich2]

Interesting what's construed as 'negative.'

I hope to try Little Cayman someday, and from what I've seen on the forum, for me that'd get down to the Cayman Aggressor (no guaranteed L.C. but would hit G.C. & maybe that wreck off Cayman Brac) vs. Little Cayman Beach Resort (not as many dives, but guaranteed L.C. diving). As to 'negative,' well...

1.) If the Aggressor always grabs the best sites, then I'd rather be on the Aggressor than a LCBR boat.

2.) The issue of whether spear fishing lion fish effectively depletes their numbers over a large enough area to make a significant conservation difference has been debated. I suspect it does, in providing 'reservations' for other species, but then again some oceanic creatures procreate with larval forms developing elsewhere, so I don't know how all that shakes out. And be mindful guides are sometimes criticized for focusing on nailing lion fish instead of watching customers, so this is a 'beware what you wish for' situation.

What is this lion fish hunt spoken of? Who conducts it, when & how often? If it's put on by the staff at LCBR, for example, I wouldn't expect a competitor to hand them money for it.

When I did the Sun Dancer 2 out of Belize, standard practice was moor in one place, do 2 morning dives, move the boat during lunch, do 2 afternoon & a night dive, then the boat would move during the night to reach the next day's morning site. I suppose from a 2-tank day boat perspective, the live-aboard's morning site might look like 'all day.' (IIRC LCBR offers 3 dives/day). Their day. So, does the Cayman Aggressor handle moving site-to-site like the Sun Dancer 2?

Richard.

 

[diversteve]

I seriously doubt Aggressor would risk their license by chumming.

SHARKS

No one may feed, attempt to feed or provide or use food to attract any shark in Cayman waters

Cayman Department of Environment » Marine Parks Maps, Regulations and Marine Conservation Laws

 

[drrich2]

Southern Cross Club has a page on what I'm guessing is the referenced lion fish hunting. From that page:

The Little Cayman dive resorts, including the Southern Cross Club, Little Cayman Beach Resort,Pirates Point Resort, Conch Club Divers and Paradise Villas, have all made a serious commitment tothe reduction of the lionfish population in the world famous Bloody Bay Marine Park. The effort is beingbacked by all of the resorts which have teamed together for weekly lionfish hunts. Each week a differentresort donates boat hours and all four resorts allow staff to attend.

From what I understand, live-aboard life for staff is demanding, and I doubt they have much in the way of 'off hours' to somehow go ashore & participate in lion fish hunts. As to whether they'd want to give money to an operation by their competitors, staffed by competitor staff, especially if they already contribute back at Grand Cayman, is it any surprise they might not here?

Richard.

 

[coldwaterlloyd]

I was on Cayman Aggressor July 2014 .

There was no chumming that we witnessed .

There was 3 regular reef sharks we encountered on several Bloody Bay dives , it was awesome

For the most part it was a great trip , you are right , if stuck on Grand Cayman it would be a long week

I almost booked another trip this year but the low canadian dollar kills it right now

I think it is a local us against them issue , it was a well run outfit

 

[Wookie]

Running a liveaboard is a balancing act of trying not to piss someone off. In the Bahamas this year, 2 of the well known local operators tried to get the US liveaboards kicked out because they saw the liveaboards as interfering with their business. Of course, the liveaboards include transit from WPB/FLL/MIA, dive multiple sites, dive in places only marginally accessible to day boats, then transit to a whole other island, so if they were only marginally accessible to the first day boat, they wouldn't be at all to a day boat from another island. Then, the liveaboard doesn't contribute much economically except where they pay their fuel and grocery bill. Day boat operators see this as "stealing" their business.

Liveaboard isn't for everyone. I don't take liveaboard vacations any more. I don't dive 5 a day, like to order off of a menu at night, and if I want to howl at the moon, I can without disturbing the person who is a very thin wall away from me. I prefer not to publicly trash my competition, I may need a hoseclamp or a compressor filter someday. I'd rather work with them, and make my service better than theirs. I am honored to have the best competition in the industry in the Dry Tortugas, we all respect each other, keep out of each others way, and are truly friends. If there is someone bad-mouthing me behind my back, well, take it for what it's worth. Maybe they are just having a bad day.

 

[KathyV]

...When I did the Sun Dancer 2 out of Belize, standard practice was moor in one place, do 2 morning dives, move the boat during lunch, do 2 afternoon & a night dive, then the boat would move during the night to reach the next day's morning site. I suppose from a 2-tank day boat perspective, the live-aboard's morning site might look like 'all day.' ...So, does the Cayman Aggressor handle moving site-to-site like the Sun Dancer 2? Richard.

Yes, that is the typical pattern on most of the liveaboard trips we have done including the Aggressors. Occasionally they might move the boat a 3rd time during the day. Like if the conditions aren't great at the afternoon dive site, or to find a better site for the night dive.

 

[Damselfish]

I suppose when doing land-based diving from Little Cayman I've heard a bit of this stuff, but it wasn't a huge thing. And I think whining about liveaboards by land based ops is not necessarily restricted to the Cayman Aggressor. I also think it's probably usually just sour grapes, and mostly silly, though I can believe there's sometimes a captain or op someplace that is less into the coopetition thing than they could be. And I've seen land based ops get into much bigger pissing matches.

We were on CA about 4 years ago, so not real recent. But there was no chumming. And it ran like most liveaboards in the Caribbean, often 2 dives on a site, sometimes only one, then move the boat to another site. It's true if they do 2 morning dives on the same site they are going to be sitting there the whole morning, and a day boat that went out there hoping to dive that particular site won't be able to on that run, and they may be annoyed. Or quite possibly they don't actually care that much - they'll just dive it another day, but maybe they figure complaining about the Aggressor will deflect any irritation of the guests onto the Aggressor rather than them?

Of course the liveaboard is going to do the best sites they can, just like the dayboats are (hopefully) doing. Just like another land based op would do. There's lots of good sites. Are they supposed to dive bad sites? When we were on the CA at Little Cayman, we actually spent a lot of time on sites further east that the dayboats don't dive so much, because of conditions or distance.

 

[scoobydrew]

Its a sad observation that I have made while working in the dive industry that often people who work for one operation instincitevly don't like other companies who share the same space as them. I work in Grand Cayman and was plesently surprised to find how friendly dive staff from other centres are (generally) to the point where dive ops carry each others tanks while sharing a dock in order to help get the job done.

The guys you were talking to work on a smaller island and have less operators running side by side, I guess that has had a bearing on their outlook.

The agressor is a big boat, I have never heard of them chumming, they do tie off to dive sites and sit there for longer than other boats but thats because they don't have to drop off customers and get back out in the afternoon with a new group. How can they always take the best sites? There is only one boat so they can only occupy one site at a time, surely there are other good sites to consider.

Someone said sour grapes, I agree.

 

[AdivingBel]

The only comment I heard from Reef Diver's staff about the Agressor was finding kitchen refuse (egg shells, orange peels, etc.) on the reef under their mooring. It was a minor mention during a dive brief that there might be more wildlife in the area having a snack. You're always going to have one bad apple in the DM barrel. Probably just missed their morning joe or dropped a tank on their foot . I've always found them to be a very pleasant and efficient bunch. I would dive with them anytime (wish I was there now). YMMV.