Dive Review of MV Caribbean Pearl in
Honduras/Utila/Roatan

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MV Caribbean Pearl, Jun, 2014, by Laurel Fulton, CO, US ( Contributor 13 reports with 12 Helpful votes). Report 7651 has 2 Helpful votes.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	I will preface this by saying I have been on multiple liveaboards over the past 10 years, many of them the various Aggressors. I believe this boat is the previous Utila Aggressor which has been renamed the Caribbean Pearl. It is owned and operated by Troy, who owns the Laguna Beach Resort as well. He lives on the Island and was on board briefly. I don't know how many charters this boat has been on, but they are off to a rocky start. The crew was excellent and couldn't have been more helpful,but a slew of mechanical problems really put a damper on the week. Between generator issues, engine failure and water pipes bursting in the cabins it was a bit of a trial for the guests! The nitrox membrane was faulty, so we dove 28% for the week, (at least for free). A women in the flooded cabin had her laptop and tablet ruined by water damage. My bathroom water pipe spewed after a corroded clamp broke. Several cabins had no or spotty air conditioning and left guests sleeping in the lounge for relief. The last 2 days of diving were done off of small boats because we were moored at the dock in Utila and not going anywhere due to all the issues. Thankfully the diving was pretty good- we only missed one dive despite all the problems. The whole boat was chartered for a REEF survey trip, so everyone was busy with our fish identification and surveying duties during and after dives. The crew was flexible and worked with the trip leader to get to sites we wanted to dive and accommodate our special requests for extended dive times in exchange for one less dive per day. As I said, the crew was excellent and really did their best to compensate for the problems- but I would not return to this boat until a full overhaul had been completed- which should have been done before any guests arrived! All dives done can be reached by land based boats- so no great advantage to the liveaboard except for being the first onsite at a few places- also getting to dive both Roatan and Utila was nice but you had to take a charter flight to and from Utila to board the boat, so could just as well do 2 land based on each Island and get the same result for less cost. I prefer liveaboards for ease and access to diving, and remember enjoying the Utila Aggressor in the past. The Pearl, not so much.
Websites	MV Caribbean Pearl
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	All over
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	choppy
Water Temp	80-82°F / 27-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	50-75 Ft/ 15-23 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Buddy diving, Recreational limits, no deco
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	1 or 2
Dolphins	Schools	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	Nice large table and roomy dive platform with dunk tanks. Limited charging outlets and no air blower set up to dry cameras.

Report currently has 2 Helpful votes

Subscriber's Comments

By Alice Ribbens in MN, US at Jul 03, 2014 09:28 EST

I was on the boat with Laurel. Rumor is that after the owner parted ways with Aggressor in 2012 they had some sort of non-compete that prevented them from doing direct marketing. Boat apparently has not been chartered much. Crew told us that a lot of repairs have been outstanding for quite some time, but that the owner was dragging his feet about them. In spite of all of the problems, the crew worked around the clock to make sure we were taken care of. Unfortunately, they don't have any back up. On the old Utila Aggressor, we transited at night so as not to miss dives during the day. They can't do this on the Pearl as they only have one captain who can drive the boat. The diving was as lovely as I remember from several years ago, but I would not bother with the Pearl until major repairs are undertaken and it starts to be chartered more regularly. There are plenty of land-based operations on both Utila and Roatan to choose from.

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Dive Review of MV Caribbean Pearl in Honduras/Utila/Roatan

MV Caribbean Pearl, Jun, 2014,

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):

Subscriber's Comments

Dive Review of MV Caribbean Pearl in
Honduras/Utila/Roatan