OP
First liveaboard advice
- Thread starter MrBigfins
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mcohen1021
Contributor
Be sure to search for my socorro aggressor review. I think I was the 1st to review that boat on the forum.
That beings said, your crew is awesome. Boat is ok, I hope they have reduced the issues.
DMs Rana and Trucu are awesome... Dinghy drivers Christian and Alex are great.
PM me or we can text offline with any questions man
We went last week of April 2019
OP
MrBigfins
Contributor
That was an awesome video, I'm gonna send you my footage for production and editing. What thickness suits were people wearing when you went? How were water and air temps? Gonna dig up your review, I read of some issues earlier after the boats launch. Hopefully with the drydock engine overall they will be avoided for my trip. Bought trip insurance with liveaboard rider just in case
mcohen1021
Contributor
everyone was very comfortable in a 5 mil, never cold until back on boat. They liked keeping the scuba gear on the dighys so all u had to do was get your suit and camera on. no big deal unless u like testing your own nitrox.
Thanks on video, the hardest part reall is picking the music lol... I have several others from Red Sea Aggressor (purchased) and other home mades from cozumel, brac, etc... I figure while my ex enjoys taking care of her kids and shoveling her horses poop, I publish badass vacay and waterski vids... Kinda like payback.
At El Canon (prob your 1st dive of the trip), you'll arrive at an anchored rope with some buoys. If you see it, stop there, hold on to it, turn on your camera and let it all come to you!!!
OP
MrBigfins
Contributor
What do you mean if you like testing your own nitrox? That's not optional to me, if you insisted on checking your own nitrox they will pull the gear onboard between each dive correct?
I’m sure he wanted to do a magic act and make it disappear. The guy who brought the machine and had earplugs had a great nights sleep and the boy who didn’t hardly got a wink. Hilarious
Not likely, although you might be able test it yourself in the panga. On the Aggressor boats out at Cocos a crew member analyzes the gas and shows you the reading. Minimizing the number of times the guests have to climb in and out the of the pangas only makes sense, especially when you're a day or more away from definitive medical care.
mcohen1021
Contributor
Correct, they tested the mix with the analyzers. Makes no difference really, I do not recall ever getting to even 95' to be honest... The wildlife was all between 40 and 80.
UTscuba
Contributor
I was on the Vortex a few weeks ago, same system.
While they'll do everything to help you test your own tanks if you REALLY want to, practically it's impossible to do it.
Your tanks (& BCD) are put in the pangas while the panga is on the boat, then the panga is put out in the water from a crane on the upper deck. The tanks then stay on the pangas all day and they're filled out there between dives with a long hose.
If you want to test yourself, you have two options: have the crew haul your tanks back to the boat after filling so you can test them on the boat, or test them out on the pangas yourself.
In practice, neither of those is easy. There's usually a swell in the sea and just getting yourself in and out of the panga is hard enough and usually requires someone on the boat AND someone on the panga helping you. Asking the crew to do the same while carrying a tank, and doing it two or three times a day, is unreasonable because there's a high chance someone will get injured. Testing in situ on the panga is almost impossible too. Holding an O2 sensor against the first stage when the boat is being tossed around, and expecting to get a stable reading just ain't going to happen.
I tested my tanks on the first night and found them to be exactly what they'd told me they were. I then figured the dive guides were far more experienced and competent than I am ever going to be, and I might as well trust them with my gas since everything else I was trusting them with had a far greater chance of killing me if they got it wrong.
I've not been on the Agressor, but the dive crew on the Vortex was in a different league to any other dive guide/master/professional that I've ever experienced, and I had no problem trusting them with every aspect of my dive. Usually I won't let anyone even touch my fins
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