Trip Report Turks & Caicos Aggressor II 4/21-4/28 Trip Report

[Trailboss123]

Great report and thanks again for posting- It is much appreciated!

 

[rongoodman]

Nice report. I'd been watching a week in late July with a lot of openings, waiting for a bigger discount, but I hit a 50% sale on a trip to Cano Island in May, so I'm going back to Costa Rica instead on the Okeanos II. T&C on the Agressor boat will definitely happen though.

 

[SteveMKentucky]

Wow, nice report and very attractive trip. I'll be diving the Turks & Caicos next week but part of a cruise ship excursion. I don't expect it to be anything like what you've reported on.

 

[scubafanatic]

If you're diving a HP 3442 100 cu. ft. tank and averaging 3000 psi fills, you've actually got an 87 cu. ft. tank, not much of a superiority over an AL 80 @ 3000 psi. An AL 80 @ 3000 is really about 77 cu. ft, so @ 3000 psi maybe you had 10 cu. ft. more gas, roughly a 12% gas advantage.....although every little bit helps.

 

[dogengine]

Wow, excellent report. Thanks for sharing and including so much detail. T&C is definitely on our list now. I was amazed how incredibly similar the boat looks to the Cayman Aggressor. Your photo of the dining room and bedroom looked like it could have been the same photos my wife and I took in the Caymans last year. That was our first liveaboard and it was amazing. so much great diving, and the people are all really friendly and like-minded.

Honestly the only disturbing item from your entire report was the description of beagles for breakfast... They are such cute dogs, I just wouldn't be able to do it..

 

[Saboteur]

This is my main trip report. I’ll post a separate thread later, summarizing my research on this dive destination, with commentary based on my trip there, and links to online info. and regional discussions & reviews by others travelers and divers.

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I was blessed to enjoy a 7-day live-aboard trip on the Turks & Caicos Aggressor II from Sat. April 21 - Sat. April 28th, based out of Turtle Cove marina in Providenciales (Provo for short); we dove off the coast of Provo, then West Caicos, then hit Provo again. For weather report concerns I don’t know the specifics of, we never hit French Cay; our Captain indicated while still a fine night dive, French Cay had substantial damage from the 2017 hurricanes, including loss of some very old, large sponges.

Turks & Caicos has been held up as amongst the ‘best diving in the Caribbean’ (though I read that about Little Cayman much more), and it’s known for frequent reef shark sightings and stingrays. It’s wall diving with a reputation for the top of the wall starting deeper (~ 50 feet) than some alternative destinations. Provo has a rep. for being expensive, and long boat rides (I’ve read 45 minutes) out to the better diving sites if using a land-based op. Live-aboards offer an ‘all-inclusive’ and ‘turn key’ (very simple) trip plan, especially for a solo traveler.

I’ve done Aggressor trips to Belize and the Cayman Islands, and put in a request for one of the 100-cf tanks to offset anticipated higher gas needs due to deeper diving in T&C. Both the Turks & Caicos Aggressor II and Explorer II get strongly positive reviews; Aggressor Fleet offered a limited time 34% off sale in trips ending by May 2018, so saving ~ $950 made the choice for me. I booked through Diviac (now PADI Travel) and mentioned my Diviac log book; I got upgraded to lifetime premium logbook status (so I don’t have to pay anymore). Diviac included Dive Assure insurance; I already subscribe to DAN’s annual Preferred level plan.

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Southwest Airlines flies to Provo., so decent airfare with 2 free checked bags kept costs down. No need for car rental using a live-aboard. Chose the cheapest room category, a twin share – 2-person room, bunk beds, and share our bathroom with another twin share room on the other side. Said bathroom was ‘compact’ - but you could take a shower and vent yourself. I often used the single bathroom (a.k.a. ‘head’) at the dive deck, and the 2 showers at the back of it.

Excellent trip write up. I enjoy the "non commercial" pictures of the boat. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Cornellxc]

Great report! Based upon your pics, I would say that Grand Turk faired much better from the hurricanes reef wise. Still great diving but currently in GT there is much more healthy coral. I think you had bad luck not seeing many sharks. I've heard of a few ridiculous shark encounters lately on the liveaboards. What you describe of the sharks does align with what we're used to on GT. In general though, liveaboards tend to be more sharky. Anyways, glad you enjoyed it!

 

[darook]

Thanks for the report! I am heading there at the end of the week. Really looking forward to it.

 

[Trailboss123]

Thanks for the report! I am heading there at the end of the week. Really looking forward to it.

Have fun, Bruce! I know you will! Looking forward to hearing about your experience!