- Messages
- 567
- Reaction score
- 16
Cayman Aggressor IV Captains Report Feb 16 23, 2013
Water temp 84f+
Air Temp 70s-80f+f
Vis 100ft+
Wetsuit Req: 3mm shorty or full suit
All 15 guests arrived on Sat afternoon with happy faces and were eager to get going! A short cruise around to the south side gave us time to enjoy our BBQ dinner on the sundeck followed by our welcome aboard briefing and a good nights sleep in anticipation for our upcoming day of diving.
Sunday Mother nature decided to give us some cloudy skies and windy conditions on the north side! However the south side was calm and our first morning of diving was at Spotts Bay. Here we enjoy the beautiful coral reef as well as the drop off to the wall. A free swimming green eel, eagle ray, turtle and a bunch of jacks made for a fun morning and a great site to check out our gear and get wet! Pedros Castle was our PM dive. A series of caves, swim thrus and cuts in the shallow reef is always a fun place to explore and theres always the drop off with the majestic pinnacles off the deep blue. We decided on a dusk dive and were treated to plenty of lobsters, a channel crab and all the usual nocturnal critters.
Monday the Fish Market was our AM site and wow! What a morning! First of all the vis was 150ft+ and an incredible series of pinnacles and a swim thru on the edge of the drop off. Another free swimming green eel, eagle ray and 3 turtles were all sighted. We cruised 12 miles east to dive the caves and beautiful wall at Kellys Caverns. What a great afternoon of diving we enjoyed with sightings of another eagle ray, turtles, and a sleeping giant nurse shark. The beautiful wall and the maze-like caverns and swim thrus at Kellys! Our first night dive produced a giant sleeping turtle, lobsters, channel crabs and yes - an octopus! A great day of Southside diving!
Tuesday the wind had switch around to the ENE so we ventured further west to dive the wall and reef at The Lighthouse. Here we get to explore the shear wall and explore the several chutes that cascade into the deep blue. The vis was incredible and the fish life was outstanding. Another cruise west put us on Southwest Cut. This site is known for the schooling tarpon in the cracks and crevices at 50ft, as well as, the many nurse sharks, turtles, free swimming green eels and several curious black groupers. Today we opted for a Dusk dive so we jumped in around 6.00PM to enjoy the sunset from 50ft and watch the nighttime critter shift start up. Always nice to come back to the boat after 5 dives, a good hot shower and enjoy an incredible grilled steak dinner, a glass of wine, and tiramisu for dessert! It doesnt get much better!! J
Wednesday Eagle Ray Rock on the SW corner was up first. A good dive including a couple of eagle rays and turtles,
however the vis wasnt as good as we expected so we cruised up West Bay and enjoyed a quick dive at the Doc Poulson before heading over to the wreck of the Kittiwake for the afternoon and night dives! Two great afternoon dives were enjoyed by all exploring the many areas of the wreck thats available to us. The engine rooms had the resident silversides and Oscar the Goliath grouper came out to say Hello. The galley, crew mess and pilothouse were all visited, as well as, the shear wall at Sand Chutes just off the port side of the wreck. The night dive was popular with plenty of nocturnal sightings including several lobsters, a spotted eel and 4 octopuses!
Thursday an early before dawn start to our day. 13 Gung Ho divers jumped in before the sun came up to see a reverse night-dive at Big Tunnels where several swim thrus, arches and caves make for a great exploration dive. Stingray City was up next! Here we gamble with our lives (or skin) and get molested by these hungry pesky critters, but its a whole lot of fun! Two afternoon dives at Trinity Caves with a couple of spotted eagle rays top off a beautiful sunshine-filled Cayman day and a great day of Cayman diving.
Friday and just two dives left to enjoy! Today the seas were flat calm and the skies were blue for our first dive at the Aquarium. This great wall dive was also filled with plenty of critters on the shallow reef and wreck. As always Devils Grotto was our last dive of the week and is always a favorite. All thats left to do is wash our gear and get ready for a cold drink or two at the farewell party. It was great to see lots of familiar faces onboard again and several new ones too.
Congrats go out to Jenny & Jesse for completing their SSI Nitrox class! Happy birthday again to Karyn and Jason and a big thank you to all for making this another wonderful week of Aggressor diving in the Cayman Islands.
Until next time
Cayman Aggressor IV crew
Water temp 84f+
Air Temp 70s-80f+f
Vis 100ft+
Wetsuit Req: 3mm shorty or full suit
All 15 guests arrived on Sat afternoon with happy faces and were eager to get going! A short cruise around to the south side gave us time to enjoy our BBQ dinner on the sundeck followed by our welcome aboard briefing and a good nights sleep in anticipation for our upcoming day of diving.
Sunday Mother nature decided to give us some cloudy skies and windy conditions on the north side! However the south side was calm and our first morning of diving was at Spotts Bay. Here we enjoy the beautiful coral reef as well as the drop off to the wall. A free swimming green eel, eagle ray, turtle and a bunch of jacks made for a fun morning and a great site to check out our gear and get wet! Pedros Castle was our PM dive. A series of caves, swim thrus and cuts in the shallow reef is always a fun place to explore and theres always the drop off with the majestic pinnacles off the deep blue. We decided on a dusk dive and were treated to plenty of lobsters, a channel crab and all the usual nocturnal critters.
Monday the Fish Market was our AM site and wow! What a morning! First of all the vis was 150ft+ and an incredible series of pinnacles and a swim thru on the edge of the drop off. Another free swimming green eel, eagle ray and 3 turtles were all sighted. We cruised 12 miles east to dive the caves and beautiful wall at Kellys Caverns. What a great afternoon of diving we enjoyed with sightings of another eagle ray, turtles, and a sleeping giant nurse shark. The beautiful wall and the maze-like caverns and swim thrus at Kellys! Our first night dive produced a giant sleeping turtle, lobsters, channel crabs and yes - an octopus! A great day of Southside diving!
Tuesday the wind had switch around to the ENE so we ventured further west to dive the wall and reef at The Lighthouse. Here we get to explore the shear wall and explore the several chutes that cascade into the deep blue. The vis was incredible and the fish life was outstanding. Another cruise west put us on Southwest Cut. This site is known for the schooling tarpon in the cracks and crevices at 50ft, as well as, the many nurse sharks, turtles, free swimming green eels and several curious black groupers. Today we opted for a Dusk dive so we jumped in around 6.00PM to enjoy the sunset from 50ft and watch the nighttime critter shift start up. Always nice to come back to the boat after 5 dives, a good hot shower and enjoy an incredible grilled steak dinner, a glass of wine, and tiramisu for dessert! It doesnt get much better!! J
Wednesday Eagle Ray Rock on the SW corner was up first. A good dive including a couple of eagle rays and turtles,
however the vis wasnt as good as we expected so we cruised up West Bay and enjoyed a quick dive at the Doc Poulson before heading over to the wreck of the Kittiwake for the afternoon and night dives! Two great afternoon dives were enjoyed by all exploring the many areas of the wreck thats available to us. The engine rooms had the resident silversides and Oscar the Goliath grouper came out to say Hello. The galley, crew mess and pilothouse were all visited, as well as, the shear wall at Sand Chutes just off the port side of the wreck. The night dive was popular with plenty of nocturnal sightings including several lobsters, a spotted eel and 4 octopuses!
Thursday an early before dawn start to our day. 13 Gung Ho divers jumped in before the sun came up to see a reverse night-dive at Big Tunnels where several swim thrus, arches and caves make for a great exploration dive. Stingray City was up next! Here we gamble with our lives (or skin) and get molested by these hungry pesky critters, but its a whole lot of fun! Two afternoon dives at Trinity Caves with a couple of spotted eagle rays top off a beautiful sunshine-filled Cayman day and a great day of Cayman diving.
Friday and just two dives left to enjoy! Today the seas were flat calm and the skies were blue for our first dive at the Aquarium. This great wall dive was also filled with plenty of critters on the shallow reef and wreck. As always Devils Grotto was our last dive of the week and is always a favorite. All thats left to do is wash our gear and get ready for a cold drink or two at the farewell party. It was great to see lots of familiar faces onboard again and several new ones too.
Congrats go out to Jenny & Jesse for completing their SSI Nitrox class! Happy birthday again to Karyn and Jason and a big thank you to all for making this another wonderful week of Aggressor diving in the Cayman Islands.
Until next time
Cayman Aggressor IV crew