Dive Review of CAYMAN AGGRESSOR in
Cayman Islands

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CAYMAN AGGRESSOR, May, 2006, by GILDA & WARREN SPRUNG, TX, USA . Report 2493.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	This was our 6th dive trip to Cayman and our 1st liveaboard there. We covered Grand, Little, and Brac during the weeks diving. Turtles and fairly large groupers are abundant as is the overall fish life. Saw 3 sharks on a dawn dive. Good Caribbean diving...but read on-- This was our 9th live aboard experience; the first on an Aggressor. We have been diving all over the world on with many different live aboard operators. This was our only unsatisfactory live-aboard. The boat was seriously undermanned (Captain + four crew) and not in tune with the guests or their needs. Four of the staff members were wonderful … Tom, Boris, Yanis (the wonderful cook), and Kat. But the overall synergy between the crew was lacking which added up to not being in tune with the divers. There was not always a Dive Master in the water, which we have become accustomed to on other live aboard operations. If they were in the water, the only one that asked if we wanted a guided tour was Tom. The accommodations were lacking in that my husband and I had to crawl over each other to get out of bed. The rooms were cleaned daily, but the dive deck lacked the cleanliness and the clean water rinses that we have become accustomed to. I know that each person wants different things, but on other operations once asked for something, we never had to ask again. This was not the case on this boat. The food was very good, but the overall experience was very lacking in quality. More like a class "C" operation with class "A" pricing. Captain Sam seemed to have the idea that his job was to entertain us with his not so wonderful wit. Dive briefings he gave always had the same theme: how lucky we are to be at this world-class dive site that only he understood. This guy is a total narcissist. He gave his crew no latitude to make decisions and we discovered late into the week that he was firing Boris, a most amiable and helpful hand from Austria. When Captain Sam informed us to only use the wetsuit rinse barrel if we peed in them. I asked if the barrel would have "Sink-the-Stink". He replied, “No, it was too expensive”! There was no bucket to rinse mask defog and when asked to supply one he reluctantly did so, only to leave it really dirty and never filled up. The camera rinse station, to my knowledge, never got changed the entire week. We had no rinse facility for our tank mounted scuba gear, yet the boat sun deck got a fresh water rinse every morning. The exception was the dive station area that was frequently covered with dead “Coconut Bugs”. The Captain also told us that the only way we could enter any of the carpeted areas of the boat after a dive was to first change into dry clothes. We not allowed into the salon or to return to our rooms after a post dive shower simply by toweling ourselves dry. And the only places to change into dry clothes were the dive deck restroom (very dirty & nasty as the marine head constantly overflowed) or the very cramped camera dark room on the dive deck. During the trip Captain Sam asked me about my anchor-chain bracelet. I told him who'd made it and that if he'd email me (I then gave him my business card) I'd put him in touch with the jeweler who'd made it for me. He asked me the price, and when I told him (pricey), he threw my card back at me! Have I mentioned the reaction of the guests when we were informed into the week that there was no more red wine? Also: The $10.00 per person shore tour on Little Cayman was more of a promotional thing for the dive operations and not anything that we had control of … why would I want to go see a research station that is under construction and their proudest moment was explaining how their composting toilets would work! And the Captain almost keel hauled those who did not go on the tour! The only interesting things were the Iguanas This was truly a class "D" operation as run by Captain Sam. Fortunately the wonderful efforts by Tom, Kat, Boris, & Yanis raised it to a "C". We will not book any future trips on an Aggressor Fleet boat.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	COZUMEL, TURKS & CAICOS, BELIZE, LOS ROQUES, GALAPAGOS, BAHAMAS, FIJI, PALAU, ISLAS REVILLAGIGEDO, CABO SAN LUCAS, ISRAEL
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas	choppy
Water Temp	81-82°F / 27-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	4
Water Visibility	75-100 Ft/ 23-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	130'
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	LARGE RINSE BUCKET. TO MY KNOWLEDGE THE WATER WAS NOT CHANGED THE ENTIRE WEEK.

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Dive Review of CAYMAN AGGRESSOR in Cayman Islands

CAYMAN AGGRESSOR, May, 2006,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of CAYMAN AGGRESSOR in
Cayman Islands