Aggressor or Peter Hughes for Galapagos

[diveborg]

It seems PH's policy is actually better than Aggressor's IMO.

I hunted all around Aggressor's site for their policy. Where'd you find it??

At the top of the Aggressor website. It is the first thing below "News", stormcheck policy

 

[porsc]

can we keep the discussion to the quality of the galapagos trips, and leave the belize incident alone? we are also going to galapagos in june, and are wondering about which vessel would give us the best overall experience.

 

[oceancat]

Hi. Just wanted to let you know, we booked on the Aggressor (basically because it was a little cheaper) for July 2008. Now I just need to figure out what to do with the other week that we have!

 

[menemsha43]

I was on the Galapagos Aggressor in August 06. Had a great trip, boat was nice, crew was excellent. I have not had direct experience with Peter Hughes boats but asked the Aggressor crew about them and they said reasonably positive things about them for what that's worth. It means two things to me: 1) PH Galapagos boat is probably a solid operation and 2) the Aggressor guys are solid people and straight shooters

 

[ChrisM]

Did the Aggressor in Sept 05, going back again Sept 07. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the Aggressor boats. Clean, great food, great service, and, what you really want way up there at Wolf and Darwin (next stop Japan), great safety procedures.

Never dd a PH boat so can't compare. As far as diving experiences go, unless you have some say (i.e. group charter of the boat) the itinerary is likely to be pretty much the same. I'd look up reports (scubadiving,com forums) for past PH trips there.

For topside, Puerto Ayora is a cool little town, we thought about staying there after our charter, but we're going to go back to the mainland and spend some time in the Ecuadorian Amazon region (Sacha Lodge).

 

[smokey braden]

chrism,
how much was the ticket for the time machine ride?

 

[ChrisM]

chrism,
how much was the ticket for the time machine ride?

Sorry, bad hair day, what am I missing?

 

[mike_s]

Well, I don't think anyone can be certain. I do know that PH handled the aftermath of the tragedy badly, and that is the main reason I have a negative opinion of them. I would like to think that Aggressor would have done a better job, but that is just a guess.

since you asked... about who might have handeled it better.

From what I read, after the Belize tragedy, Hughes would not even return contact with victums families or the survivors. They were given no refunds and told to contct the US embassy in Belize to get their personal items returned.

But the Agressor passengers all received full refunds.

 

[mjh]

You might want to call either soon. We looked at a trip for 08 and both are booked for prime whale shark season June-Dec (I think).

 

[Thalassamania]

... none of us on the Aggressor would've been prepared for it. Basically, we had a hurricane party, with lots of drinking. No one was wearing life preservers, or thinking about the possibility that we might need them. So, when I heard about the Belize tragedy, all I could think was "there but for the grace of God, go I."

Hopefully both PH and the Aggressor folks (and every other liveaboard operation) learned something from the Belize tragedy.

I was running and ITC aboard the Cayman Aggressor when Gilbert went right over us. I have a background in marine operations and I'd say that we were well prepared. We had no problem when the largest storm of the century went right over our heads. I can't speak to the questions about PH's operation, nor can I really comment on any other Aggressor (or for that matter on Cayman Aggressor today), but if past performance is a good predictor of future performance, the Aggressor Fleet gets my vote.