Belize Aggressor - single diver needs advice

[Alexandra]

I am looking to take a trip in December, where I can dive dive dive, and am very tempted with the Belize Aggressor. Unfortunately I cannot afford to pay double for the trip so will like have to room with someone whom I do not know.

My bigger concern is having to dive with this roommate/buddy if she very little dive experience. I hear that the Belize Aggressor does not have any dive masters guide the dives. You are completely on your own with your buddy. Is that really the case? do you have to navigate all your dives?

Would love to get people feedback before I book this or figure out somewhere else to go.

Alexandra

 

[Craig66]

First off just because you are rooming with someone does not mean you need to dive with them. There are usually enough singles that you can mix and match with.

In general although most liveaboards do not do guided dives there are almost always DM's in the water who are more than happy to dive with you.

You do have to navigate all your dives but the navigation is usually very easy and the very worst that can happen if you mis-navigate is having to surface away from the boat and either surface swim, redescend after having a peek about or wait comfortably on the surface for them to pick you up.

Remember that even newbies on a liveaboard are committed divers as there are not many who would sign up to be alone on a little boat if they do not take their diving seriously.

I have done 2 liveaboards - one at 25 dives and one at 350 dives and loved them both.

Have fun and do not focus on the absence of a leading DM or the presence of a learning newbie.

Craig

 

[Doubler]

I have dove off the Belize Aggressor 5 times and there are always DM guided dives offered or you can dive on your own. Diving in Belize is easy. The boat anchors on the wall you dive down the wall go left or right. On return go up to the top of the wall, usually about 40 feet, and swim back to the boat. Watch for the boat swing. I do not advise hanging onto the trapeze rope at 15. The boat swing WILL yank you up to the surface in a New York Second. You'll get the hang of timing about day two. Have a great time. I usually go down the day before and stay at the Prince George Radisson. The boat ties up to their pier.

 

[KnightDiver007]

If you have not booked anything yet. Check with your local dive shops around you. Someone might have a live aboard trip planned and you can join them. That way you get to meet other divers in you area.

 

[KeithG]

You should not have any issues. All of the Caribbean live aboards (aggressor, dancer, explorers) operate in a similar fashion. You will get the opportunity for lots of bottom time.

You are free to dive your own profile with a buddy OR you & your buddy can take advantage of following a DM. Just follow the rules of max depth, max time and 500 psi in the tank and you are free to make your own buddy team decisions. Belize navigation is trivial.

Note that very few people make all of the dives available. So that means buddy swapping occurs on a regular basis. Some people never night dive, some people never do the morning dive. Some people skip the blue hole dive,...

There is generally a group of divers who always go with the DM, there are a few buddy teams that never go with the DM (except blue hole - no choice it is a very short guided dive). And a buddy team can be more than 2 divers. We have taken a third diver on many occasions - we just made sure they understood what our dive profile was going to be - slow, shallow and long as we look for little critters.