Roatan Aggressor

Roatan Aggressor is a 31-metre yacht running week-long charters around the Bay Islands year-round: Roatan, Utila and the Cayos Cochinos archipelago. She takes 18 guests in nine en-suite cabins, looked after by a crew of six. Honduras has been an Aggressor destination since 1989.

Boarding is on Saturday at the Roatan Yacht Club dock in French Harbour, on the south side of Roatan, between 3:30 and 4:30 pm; the yacht then leaves for the first anchorage. Diving starts on Sunday morning with a check-out dive and runs through Friday: up to five dives a day, 24–27 over the week, with night dives on several evenings. The yacht is back in port by Friday midday, followed by a cocktail party and dinner ashore. Check-out is Saturday by 8 am.

Every dive is made from the yacht’s own stern platform — she anchors or moors right at the site. Wide platform, easy boarding ladders, hot freshwater showers and warm towels waiting at the top. There is a tender on board, but it is used for shore landings only, never for diving. A crew member is always in the water shooting video, spotting critters and pointing things out, but does not lead the group: you and your buddy plan your own dive.

Roatan sits at the heart of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, the second longest in the world. The West End walls drop from the coral crest into the blue, while the shallows on the north and south sides of the island hold coral gardens and huge barrel sponges. The week also covers the wreck of the El Aguila, the reef gardens of Cayos Cochinos — a protected archipelago that is all but impossible to reach except by liveaboard — and the shallow seamounts off the south-eastern tip of Utila, which draw in pelagics. Typical encounters include Caribbean reef and nurse sharks, spotted eagle rays, green and hawksbill turtles, moray eels and big grouper. Water is 24–29 °C, visibility 18–30+ metres and currents are mild, so the route suits certified divers of any level.

On board there is an air-conditioned saloon with a media system, a dining area, a bar, a sun deck with a hot tub and loungers, and a shaded cocktail deck with a grill. Photographers get a camera table with low-pressure air hoses, a separate camera rinse and a charging station on deck. All cabins are on the lower deck, each with its own climate control, an en-suite bathroom with shower, a monitor with media player, USB and 110 V outlets and a hair dryer.

All meals, snacks, soft drinks and a limited selection of local beer and wine are included. Spirits are not sold on board — guests bring their own from duty free.