Just got home from 10 day Cayman Aggressor trip. I will try to sum it up here and post pictures as I get them sorted out.
The dive shop I use put together a trip on the Cayman Aggressor. It was started last year, I am thinking I first heard about it in September. I decided to go. My wife is a non-diver and did not want to go. A friend of mine that I went on another trip with last year was looking for a room mate and we decided to do it. The Cayman Aggressor is well run and well maintained boat, everything worked for the entire trip with the exception of Nitrox. We still had nitrox it was 28-29% instead of 32 but it worked out well. On that note the fills were generous and always 3200-3400 PSI. The charge for the nitrox was $150 for the trip and since the Nitrox was not up to par we were given a discount on the Nitrox. That is the only negative I can think of and it was not really much to complain about.
We were in Cabin 8, one of the small ones with double bunks that shares a bathroom with the cabin next door. No problems there because we spent little time in the cabin. The crew was top notch, very attentive and worked their butts off to make all of us happy. Captain Alan, Jonathan, Heather, Emily, Rodel and Chef Kingsley were all personable and willing to do whatever was necessary to keep us happy. The food was EXCELLENT Kingsley did an amazing job with everything considering the size of the kitchen. My wife would complain to no end if she was expected to cook the meals in a kitchen that size.
The weather was 100% cooperative and the seas were smooth as glass. The only rain we had was a rather intense shower lasting about 30 minutes on the Friday afternoon we returned to the dock. It did hamper gear drying for some people but I managed to get my gear off the top deck before it had mother natures fresh water rinse,
The crossings were uneventful and smooth. It was so smooth dinner on the return trip was served in the salon with full dressings. Only 1 person got seasick and he is prone to it so he knew how to handle it.
We left Denver at 7AM on time. We arrived MIA and swiftly made it to our next gate for the flight to Grand Cayman. There was a delay getting to Grand Cayman though I don't know why. We were 2 hours late but made it safely. As soon as you get on the boat you put your gear together and unpack your bags. The bags are then left ashore for the duration of the trip. There is storage under the benches for all your gear and the rooms have small but ample storage for clothes and your personal items. Once completed the food is served and continues for the entire trip. I gained 5 pounds and was never in search of something to eat. Most meals are served, not buffet style but at the table. There are 3 or 4 meals served buffet style on the top deck but the majority are served in the salon with the crew serving you at the table.
We left the dock that evening and headed out to the place for our first dives. The first 2 dives were on the Doc Poulson the next morning and then on for 2 dives on the Kittiwake for the afternoon. Then we moved on to Big Tunnels and Stingray City. I will also add that there was 39 dives offered and I did 36 of them. I am not a big fan of night dives and deferred to having a beer instead of the night dives. We them moved on to the crossing to Little Cayman. We stayed mostly around Little Cayman with a breif visit to Cayman Brac for 2 dives on the Russian Destroyer 356. With dives on Randy's Gazebo, Meadows, Leah Leah's, Donna's delight, Bus Stop (my favorite), Nancy's cup of tea, Sarah's Set, Great Wall, 3 Fathoms and Marilyn's Cut over the next few days. We made the crossing on the evening of 7/31 and woke up on Trinity Caves and a quick move to Devil's Grotto for our final 2 dives before returning to the dock. Most of my dives were in the 80-100' range at the first part of the dive and then finished off working our way back to the boat finishing in the 20-30' range with plenty of time for a good long safety stop at 15-20'. Most of my dives were of the 60-70 minute range depending on how long we stayed in the 80-100' range. Once the first dive on a specific site in done, the pool is open and you can go in anytime you wish as long as you remain a responsible diver with reasonable surface intervals.
All of the dives were very well briefed. There was a crew member in the water to provide a guided tour if you wanted but you could do your dive if you didn't. I liked doing the first dive on a site with a guide and subsequent dives were done with my buddies the direction we wanted to go. You are responsible for your dives and your safety, the guided dives were only done if you wanted to do it that way. No scuba police on this boat. Simply amazing!
Little Cayman was IMO the best diving with the most life of anyplace I have ever been. While my live on board experience is limited I don't know how things could get much better than The Cayman Aggressor. I would return for another trip next week if possible. Right now I am worn down and need a few days to rest up and get rid of that 5 pounds I gained.
The return trip was a little less pleasurable. I was informed at the ticket counter that I had been randomly selected for special security screening. My carry on's and I were subjected to an intense search. My bags were opened with the contents removed and inspected, everything was gone through including opening each of the dry boxes and camera boxes I have. Once I cleared that I was then paged on the overheads to catch up with my checked bag which was gone through the same as my carry on bags. I was taken into a room with just myself and the security agent where my gear was all unpacked, including my bag with dirty unders and other items and each was looked over. I returned to an overfull gate area where IMO there were too many people and actually to the point of things being unsafe. The plane did leave on time thankfully and the flight to MIA was uneventful. My experience in MIA has been less than pleasant in the past and we had 2 hours to claim our bags, clear customs, recheck our bags, go back through security and get to the gate. I think it took about 45 minutes this time, everything moved well unlike other trips through MIA. Only to find our plane was once again delayed returned to Denver. It ended up being a 45 minute delay and I arrived in Denver safe and sound.
All in all this was a memorable trip that I could suggest to anyone wanting a dive eat dive eat dive eat dive sleep repeat.
The dive shop I use put together a trip on the Cayman Aggressor. It was started last year, I am thinking I first heard about it in September. I decided to go. My wife is a non-diver and did not want to go. A friend of mine that I went on another trip with last year was looking for a room mate and we decided to do it. The Cayman Aggressor is well run and well maintained boat, everything worked for the entire trip with the exception of Nitrox. We still had nitrox it was 28-29% instead of 32 but it worked out well. On that note the fills were generous and always 3200-3400 PSI. The charge for the nitrox was $150 for the trip and since the Nitrox was not up to par we were given a discount on the Nitrox. That is the only negative I can think of and it was not really much to complain about.
We were in Cabin 8, one of the small ones with double bunks that shares a bathroom with the cabin next door. No problems there because we spent little time in the cabin. The crew was top notch, very attentive and worked their butts off to make all of us happy. Captain Alan, Jonathan, Heather, Emily, Rodel and Chef Kingsley were all personable and willing to do whatever was necessary to keep us happy. The food was EXCELLENT Kingsley did an amazing job with everything considering the size of the kitchen. My wife would complain to no end if she was expected to cook the meals in a kitchen that size.
The weather was 100% cooperative and the seas were smooth as glass. The only rain we had was a rather intense shower lasting about 30 minutes on the Friday afternoon we returned to the dock. It did hamper gear drying for some people but I managed to get my gear off the top deck before it had mother natures fresh water rinse,
The crossings were uneventful and smooth. It was so smooth dinner on the return trip was served in the salon with full dressings. Only 1 person got seasick and he is prone to it so he knew how to handle it. We left Denver at 7AM on time. We arrived MIA and swiftly made it to our next gate for the flight to Grand Cayman. There was a delay getting to Grand Cayman though I don't know why. We were 2 hours late but made it safely. As soon as you get on the boat you put your gear together and unpack your bags. The bags are then left ashore for the duration of the trip. There is storage under the benches for all your gear and the rooms have small but ample storage for clothes and your personal items. Once completed the food is served and continues for the entire trip. I gained 5 pounds and was never in search of something to eat. Most meals are served, not buffet style but at the table. There are 3 or 4 meals served buffet style on the top deck but the majority are served in the salon with the crew serving you at the table.
We left the dock that evening and headed out to the place for our first dives. The first 2 dives were on the Doc Poulson the next morning and then on for 2 dives on the Kittiwake for the afternoon. Then we moved on to Big Tunnels and Stingray City. I will also add that there was 39 dives offered and I did 36 of them. I am not a big fan of night dives and deferred to having a beer instead of the night dives. We them moved on to the crossing to Little Cayman. We stayed mostly around Little Cayman with a breif visit to Cayman Brac for 2 dives on the Russian Destroyer 356. With dives on Randy's Gazebo, Meadows, Leah Leah's, Donna's delight, Bus Stop (my favorite), Nancy's cup of tea, Sarah's Set, Great Wall, 3 Fathoms and Marilyn's Cut over the next few days. We made the crossing on the evening of 7/31 and woke up on Trinity Caves and a quick move to Devil's Grotto for our final 2 dives before returning to the dock. Most of my dives were in the 80-100' range at the first part of the dive and then finished off working our way back to the boat finishing in the 20-30' range with plenty of time for a good long safety stop at 15-20'. Most of my dives were of the 60-70 minute range depending on how long we stayed in the 80-100' range. Once the first dive on a specific site in done, the pool is open and you can go in anytime you wish as long as you remain a responsible diver with reasonable surface intervals.
All of the dives were very well briefed. There was a crew member in the water to provide a guided tour if you wanted but you could do your dive if you didn't. I liked doing the first dive on a site with a guide and subsequent dives were done with my buddies the direction we wanted to go. You are responsible for your dives and your safety, the guided dives were only done if you wanted to do it that way. No scuba police on this boat. Simply amazing!
Little Cayman was IMO the best diving with the most life of anyplace I have ever been. While my live on board experience is limited I don't know how things could get much better than The Cayman Aggressor. I would return for another trip next week if possible. Right now I am worn down and need a few days to rest up and get rid of that 5 pounds I gained.
The return trip was a little less pleasurable. I was informed at the ticket counter that I had been randomly selected for special security screening. My carry on's and I were subjected to an intense search. My bags were opened with the contents removed and inspected, everything was gone through including opening each of the dry boxes and camera boxes I have. Once I cleared that I was then paged on the overheads to catch up with my checked bag which was gone through the same as my carry on bags. I was taken into a room with just myself and the security agent where my gear was all unpacked, including my bag with dirty unders and other items and each was looked over. I returned to an overfull gate area where IMO there were too many people and actually to the point of things being unsafe. The plane did leave on time thankfully and the flight to MIA was uneventful. My experience in MIA has been less than pleasant in the past and we had 2 hours to claim our bags, clear customs, recheck our bags, go back through security and get to the gate. I think it took about 45 minutes this time, everything moved well unlike other trips through MIA. Only to find our plane was once again delayed returned to Denver. It ended up being a 45 minute delay and I arrived in Denver safe and sound.
All in all this was a memorable trip that I could suggest to anyone wanting a dive eat dive eat dive eat dive sleep repeat.
![13518451015_e40388a9a1_o.jpg](http://[URL="https://flic.kr/p/mAzAvD"][IMG]https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3674/13518451015_e40388a9a1_o.jpg)
