While there are a diverse number of dive vacation options to the diving community, there is nothing quite like the Aggressor experience. At the time I was still fairly new to dive vacations and hadn’t gotten myself fully educated on it. I had heard good things, but I had also heard it was very expensive. My opportunity to experience the Aggressor fleet came after winning a $500 certificate from my local dive shop, Seaventures,

I started looking at options and decided to try something in the Caribbean and I also didn’t want to go alone. When I reached out to my dive buddy, Ellen Thuss, she made two great recommendations.

When Booking A Dive Vacation

While your local dive shop typically will organize some dive trips over the course of a year, Many times it either doesn’t work out with your schedule or the destinations aren’t exactly what you have in mind. When you book your own dive vacation, you can get exactly what you want, when you want it.

First, Ellen recommended we look at the Aggressor Adventure Specials and see if we could find a deal. This is something that your local dive shop will not be able to offer. This is especially true if you are flexible with your travel and are open to last minute opportunities. You can often find a 10 day trip for the price of a 7 day trip, or 20% off when there is additional space available.

Secondly, Ellen recommended we leverage a travel agent who specializes in dive vacations. Not all dive trip destinations are straight-forward, so they will make sure you have the right paperwork, visas, transportation, etc. While so much travel can be booked easily over the Internet, leveraging a travel agent doesn’t cost you any more and they will handle all the phone calls and logistics with the local dive operators.

In an attempt to avoid the hurricane seasons, we booked our trip with the Roatan Aggressor from October 30 – Nov 3, 2017.

The Amazing Crew

There were seven crew members taking care of our every need. Most of them have been working together for years and they were a great team.

• Captain Eddy
• Operation Manager / Director Jonathan
• Chef Dorian
• instructor Willie
• Sous Chef & Steward Jana
• Engineer John B aka. John Glenn
• Assistant Steward German

We had an unusually small number of divers onboard and Ellen and I were the only Americans onboard. The remaining eight passengers were Russian. This meant we both had cabins to ourselves. The rooms are typically very small and this boat was no exception, so I welcomed the extra space. The room was a bunk bed configuration with an on-suite toilet and small shower. It was more than adequate because you really don’t spend much time in your room. Instead, you are enjoying spacious dining room with air conditioning or the upper deck for reading and sun.

Dive Briefings and Locations

There are a ton of great dive sights all around Roatan and we never ran out of amazing walls, wrecks and reefs. Here was how our agenda played out.

• Sunday – Pirates Point, Mr. Bud
• Monday – Calvin’s Crack, Mary’s Place
• Tuesday – Tavianna’s Wall, Eel Garden
• Wednesday – The Pinnacle, Wreak of the Halliburton, Jack Neil Point
• Thursday – Cayo Cochinos Seamount, Lighthouse Reef, Mr. Bud
• Friday – Cara a Cara, 40′ Wall

Cara A Cara

Literally means Face-to-Face. This dive was the highlight of our week and is a great dive location for both experienced divers as well as for those who want to experience the thrill of being so close to these amazing creatures. This is a very popular dive location, so we arrived at 7am before other local dive operators arrived.

We received a complete briefing from the crew and descended to 70 ft, setting up in a semi-circle kneeling shoulder to shoulder with a rock wall behind us. This meant that sharks were not able to come at us from behind. We cross our arms and waited in anticipation for the sharks to arrive. This was my first shark dive and once I saw those first few reef sharks, my adrenaline started pumping. Within a few minutes, there were 20 – 25 reef sharks circling the area. As we remained still, they would swim past 18-24″ away.

Swimming even more closely to the bait bucket were two groupers and some smaller reef fish. They were completely undaunted by these predators that were 100x their size. The divemaster waited for just the right moment to swim up to the bait bucket and lift the lid. Soon there was a fury of activity and the sharks began to swim at the bucket and pick up a quick meal. It was incredible.

Almost as quickly as the sharks had arrived, they now began to disappear. Twenty-five, then twenty. Seventeen, then ten. Five, then three, and finally none. We all surfaced together and I climbed aboard the boat with a new appreciation for sharks. I learned that really aren’t dangerous – they simply saw the opportunity for a free meal and took advantage of the opportunity. I never for a moment felt as though the sharks were interested in me.

Post-Trip Options

On Saturday we had to be off the boat by 8:00am, so we took the advice of Jonathan and the crew and signed up to go to the day spa at Pineapple Resort. For just $45 in resort fees, we enjoyed a free brunch and transportation to the airport. It was so worth it.

Although it has been a great vacation, we were pretty exhausted, so a 90 minute massage and a few hours in the pool were a great way to finish our holiday. We felt like we were the only ones there.

The Verdict

I can’t say enough about the great experience we had with Jonathan and the crew aboard the Roatan Aggressor. We had 6 days of amazing diving. There is so much to enjoy being aboard the Aggressor. It is truly a 5-star experience.

D&W