Washington Area Scuba Club: A DC/VA/MD Scuba Meetup Group

Come and learn all about:

1. The Cayman Islands Live Aboard trip scheduled for May 30 - June 6.
2. Bonaire Trip (July/August)

I'll go through all the information and answer any questions for both of these trips.

Good Day all,

Sorry I’ve been slow on posting this years’ trips.

Our first trip will be the Cayman Islands Aggressor May 30 – June 6. Why? The Cayman Islands have some of the best diving in the Caribbean. We dove Little Cayman in 2024 and the diving was some of the best we had done in the Carribean.

During your Caymans Island liveaboard scuba diving trip, the Cayman Aggressor IV will dive the best of all three of the Cayman Islands, which includes the North Wall and South Wall in Grand Cayman, Bloody Bay Wall in Little Cayman & everyone's favorite, Stingray City. The Oro Verde, Doc Poulson, Russian Destroyer and Kittiwake wrecks are bustling artificial reefs that disguise once magnificent ships and are a must see for every diver. Some of the sites may include:
Grand Cayman: the Purpose sunk Kittiwake, wreck of the 10 Sails, finger reefs, Stingray City, and a wall are all available off Grand Cayman.
Little Cayman: Bloody Bay Wall is off Little Cayman and l is about 1,000 meters (3,280) deep and attracts all types of life. We saw sharks on almost every dive when we did Little Cayman a couple of years ago. The nice thing about a wall is that if the group goes deeper than you want to dive (or are certified for), you can just follow along above and keep the group in sight to stay with it.
Cayman Brac: Easy diving, relatively shallow with incredible soft corals. It is also home of the Captain Tibbits, which is the only Russian warship in recreational depths, that I am aware of, and is one of my favorite dives due to the types of coral on it. It is also one of the few purpose sunk warships that still has its guns.

• Diving begins Sunday morning and ends Friday around noon when the Aggressor returns to port.
• Up to 5 dives per day (including night dive), averaging 24-27 dives on 7-night charters.
• Depth Range: 25 – 110 ft (8m – 33m)
• All dives are from the yacht.
• 3mm wetsuit recommended, but exposure suit is a personal preference.
• Water temperature range from 78 - 82F, 25 - 28C.
• Boat has individual dive lockers and a camera table
• All diving is done from the mother ship
• You will set you equipment up once. No changing of tanks as tanks are re-filled with your gear on it (which saves a lot of time and effort, and which makes this some of the easiest diving that you will do)

Current pricing is $3,695 plus $95 port fee. If we can get a total of 5 people to sign up this week, we will get a $500 per person group discount, but I’ll need to have 5 paid people by Friday $/17 to get this. That would make a final price of $3,695 -$500 +$95 port fee for a total of $3,295. I’ll get the invoice on Monday 4/13 so I’ll be able to confirm the final price at that point. I’m seeing air fare to Grand Cayman between $500 and $600 at this point. Costs include all diving, all meals and snacks, accommodations, your own dive locker, and weights. I’ve added the port fees. You will be responsible for tips (unless you want me to handle that also), rental equipment if needed, etc. and air fare. I’ll go over everything in more detail at the info session.

The $500 cost through Meetup to sign up is the deposit. I'll send an invoice to pay the remainder within a couple of days. $500 holds your spot, but you need to pay the remainder quickly as the full amount is due to Aggressor. You can pay with check or charge or similar payments.

Remember, we need to get a total of 5 paid people to get that $500 discount, so share this info and bring a friend.

I’ll go over flight arrangements at the info session, but I will be able to purchase round trip flights from DC for up to 7 other people. The benefit is that you share my status and get upgraded seats (if still available), free checked bags, and priority boarding. This is on American Airlines. I’ll be booking the air fare by April 17 for those that want to jump on this.

There are 3 Types of cabins (prices may vary depending on room type):
Master state Room has a King bed
Deluxe state room has 2 single beds which can be pushed into a King bed
Bunk-Style Deluxe Stateroom which has a full bed on bottom and a twin bed on top.

Do you need to bring a dive buddy to get that price? No. You can come single as long as you are open to either the dive club or the Aggressor putting you with another person in the cabin.
Due to the short notice of this trip, we will need to pay our full amount of the trip within a week or two, so as soon as you sign up and pay the deposit, I’ll be sending out an invoice for the remainder. Air fare is paid at time of booking, so if I purchase your air fare, I’ll need it on 4/17 also.

We will have at least 6 spots on this trip, but let me know if you are considering joining so that I can get more.

Other upcoming trips are Bonaire in the summer, and probably the Belize Aggressor in the fall/winter.