Water Temperature 79-82 deg F.
Air Temperature 80-85 deg. Visibility 75 to 100 ft. Wets suits 3 mm to 5 mm.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Greetings from warm and sunny George Town, Grand Cayman! With another beautiful sunny day ahead the staff spent the morning cleaning and getting ready for another great week of diving and adventure on the Cayman Aggressor IV. As you noticed, the water and air temperature is slowly but surely rising. From the surface down to about 10 feet; soon we will have 80 plus all the way to our max depths. The guests begin boarding at 2 pm sharp and are entertained by a colorful carnival parade (Batabano) making its way down the street right in front of the boat! With one late arrival we opted to sleep at the dock in George Town and depart early Sunday for our first site.
Sunday, May 4, 2008 ENE 10-15
We woke bright and early this morning and slipped away from the dock in George Town headed for our first site of the week, the Doc Polson. One of our typical "checkout" dive sites, this unique little wreck is resting on a clear sand patch in 50 feet of water. The old island style tug boat is now home to a green moray eel, some really big jack, blue tang and a huge cleaning station housing a yellowline arrow crab and Pedersen cleaner shrimp. After one dive here we pulled up anchor and headed around to the north side of Grand Cayman. Our next stop today, Stingray City, is always a favorite. We had the whole area to ourselves and the water was crystal clear. The stingrays were out in force and hungry and everyone got in on the action. After a long swim with these unique animals we pulled the anchor and headed east along the north shore of Grand Cayman for Old Man Bay. Our last site on Grand Cayman today, Babylon, is one of the best dives on Grand Cayman. A beautiful pinnacle covered with black coral, gorgonian sea fans, tube sponges and barrel sponges leads down to the wall. Today, up in the shallows we found a couple of turtles, brown spotted eel, trunkfish, lobster, crabs and several barracuda. After two good dives here the staff secured the Cayman Aggressor IV for the crossing to Little Cayman, and at 5 pm sharp we were on our way!
Monday, May 5, 2008 ENE 10
With another lovely day in store we woke up early to a beautiful Bloody Bay sunrise. Our first site on Little Cayman, Randy's Gazebo, is located right in the heart of Bloody Bay Wall. This morning there was a little current and clear water, making the perfect conditions for a nice wall dive. Several turtles, a cruising reef shark, stingrays and an eagle ray were the highlights of the two morning dives. After lunch we moved slightly to the east and into Jackson's Bight. Our afternoon and night dive site, The Meadows, was as clear and calm as it could be. Sharks cruised around the boat as we finished lunch and got ready to go exploring. The two afternoon dives produced more sharks, sting rays, brown spotted eels, a feeding eagle ray in the sand right below the boat and swim thrus leading to the beautiful Jackson's Wall. After dinner it was time to go night diving. With the sun setting a little later every day, we decided to take advantage of the late light and hop in for a transitional dive. Heading over the wall as the sun was setting we saw the big jack coming out for the early feeding. Parrot fish heading for their resting places and the basket starfish opening up on the top of the reef wall. After it got good and dark we headed for the shallows and found two brown spotted eels, a Spanish lobster, dozens of star fish making their way through the rocks and several smaller kinds of shrimp.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008 E 5-10
After another peaceful night moored in Jackson's Bight, we woke up early and moved back into the Bloody Bay area. This morning's first dive, Lea Lea's Lookout, is another magnificent wall dive along with a beautiful pinnacle and deep crevices leading back into the shallow reef area. This morning we saw a shark, turtles, yellow rays, some huge lobster on the pinnacle and a nice show by a school of Caribbean reef squid. After our two morning dives, we moved back up the reef and into Jackson's Bight to Bus Stop for our afternoon and night dives. Bus Stop, located not too far from the Meadows, is part of the long sandy strip that lines Jackson's Bight and makes up what we call "shark alley". This afternoon, more sharks, eagle rays and turtles along with a yellow headed jawfish with eggs in his mouth, several sailfin blennys and a few sting rays feeding were the main attractions. After dinner only four (4) brave night divers suited up and hopped in for another night dive in shark alley. The reef sharks were out cruising as well as a couple of octopus and some more lobster and crabs. After the dive we secured the Cayman Aggressor IV for the quick crossing over to Cayman Brac for a couple of dives on the Russian Destroyer #356!
Wednesday, May 7, 2008 E 5-10
After a smooth trip over to the Brac, we woke early this morning secured to the stern section of the 330' Russian war ship now known as the Capt. Keith Tibbetts. After breakfast everyone was excited about the chance to explore this wreck and the reef around it. Around the bow section a couple of nice French Angelfish were feeding and on the stern section we found four (4) scorpionfish! After two good dives here we headed back towards Little Cayman and Bloody Bay wall. Next stop, Three Fathom Wall a/k/a The Mixing Bowl. One of my favorite dive sites, this area always delivers something unique. This afternoon we saw a couple of sharks, turtles, feeding stingrays, a scrawled cowfish with a remora attached to his belly and a southern stingray laying on a rock being cleaned by several gobys and other cleaner fish. After two long dives here everyone settled in for dinner and the crew secured the Cayman Aggressor one more time for the trip back across to Grand Cayman. Off we sailed into the sunset with another day of great diving and adventure behind us!
Thursday, May 8, 2008 E 15
Waking up bright and early this morning we started the day's diving at Rum Point. Rum Point Drop Off, a wall dive right outside of North Sound on the north side of Grand Cayman, is also sometimes referred to by the crew as "lobster alley". Several sandy crevices leading to the deep wall are always loaded with huge Caribbean lobster. Today we lost count! Along with all the lobster we also caught sight of and eagle ray, reef shark, turtle and several stingray up in the sandy area. Next, we headed around the northwest point of Grand Cayman for the west side and Seven Mile Beach. Our last site of the day, the wreck of the Oro Verde, is probably one of the best night dives in the area. The two afternoon dives were filled with angelfish, turtles, stingrays, snapping shrimp, arrow crabs and a brown spotted moray. The night dive produced several octopus, huge rainbow parrotfish, tons of little things like shrimp, nudibranch, flat worms, crabs and Spanish lobster.
Friday, May 9, 2008 E 10-15
This morning we decided to head to Devil's Grotto, a nice and shallow site, giving our marathon divers plenty of bottom time for their last two dives of the week! A series of caverns and swim thrus, this site was made famous by Jim Church many years ago. Today the caverns were full of tarpon and silversides. A couple of turtles and lots of little stuff right under the boat kept everyone busy for the morning. With nothing left to do now but rinse and dry the gear, everyone settled in for an afternoon of relaxing and shopping in George Town.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Check out and Goodbyes. Congratulations to Michelle for obtaining her Advanced Open water certification and to Marlene for completing her nitrox course. Thanks everyone for another great week of diving and adventure on the Cayman Aggressor IV!
Until next week,
Capt. Jon Kreider
Cayman Aggressor IV
