If you’ve considered going on a scuba diving liveaboard trip, chances are, you’ve heard of Aggressor Adventures. It’s a well-known company in the diving community and is a great option for a scuba diving vacation.

As a relatively novice diver with only 33 dives under my belt at the time, I hadn’t considered doing a liveaboard yet. However, I was introduced to Aggressor Adventures at a travel writers’ conference and was really excited once I learned more about scuba diving liveaboards. The next thing I knew, I was booked for a week of diving in Belize.

In this Belize Aggressor IV review, I’ll go over everything you need to know about this boat including cabins, common areas, dining, crew, and of course, what the diving was like. Let’s get to it.

Thanks to Aggressor Adventures for hosting me on my first experience on a liveaboard scuba diving trip. All opinions are my own. This post may contain affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Aggressor Adventures

Aggressor Adventures offers 4 distinct types of vacations for the adventure traveler — Aggressor Liveaboards, Aggressor River Cruises, Aggressor Floating Resorts, and Aggressor Safari Lodges. They’ve been operating adventure trips for almost 4 decades.

What the company is most well known for is Aggressor Liveaboards and that’s what I got to experience. My trip on the Belize Aggressor IV was my first scuba diving liveaboard experience and my first time traveling with Aggressor Adventures.

 

Belize Aggressor IV Review

Belize Aggressor IV is a 138′ yacht that sleeps up to 20 guests in 10 cabins. It sails 7-night itineraries from the dock at the Radisson Fort George Hotel in Belize City.

Common Areas (Dining Room, Lounge, Sundeck)

There are 3 main common areas on Belize Aggressor IV that you can use throughout the day. First, you’ll eat all of your meals in the dining room. During the rest of the day, snacks and beverages are always available here.

 

The main lounge was right outside of the dining room and had lots of cushy couches and chairs that were perfect for between-dive relaxing. This is also where we had most of our dive briefings.

 

The top level of the boat was a sundeck with lounge chairs. There was also a covered bar area that had a cooler with self-serve drinks and beer on tap.

Room

We stayed in cabin 2 which is one of the master staterooms. The room was dated and small but comfortable, with a queen-sized bed, a nightstand, a closet, and some additional cabinets above the bed. There was also a large window which helped let in light during the day.

The bathroom was small. There was a toilet, a sink with a medicine cabinet, and a stall shower. There wasn’t much room to move around, but it was functional. Shampoo, conditioner, and body wash were provided in the shower.

The master stateroom cost extra and I didn’t think it wasn’t worth it. The twin beds in the regular rooms can be combined into a king-sized bed and the master only had a queen. The masters are also at the front of the boat so they are a bit angled which makes them feel smaller than the other rooms and makes it so that there’s only 1 nightstand.

However, the bed was comfortable and was a nice spot for a post-lunch pre-dive nap.

The only benefit to the master room that I can see is that because it’s at the far end of the hallway, you’ll never have anyone walking by your door. If you’re a light sleeper this may be a good reason to go for the master.

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Pro Tip: When traveling on a scuba liveaboard (or any cruise for that matter), bring a hanging toiletry bag. Boats tend to have tiny bathrooms with little counter or storage space, so a hanging toiletry bag can keep all of your essentials organized and ready to go.

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Food

The food on Belize Aggressor IV was much better than I was expecting. Chef Carlos made some delicious meals and snacks during my week-long trip. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner as well as 2 snacks were served each day (the only exception was Friday when dinner wasn’t included). It’s safe to say you won’t go hungry on an Aggressor liveaboard trip!

 

Breakfast

Each morning, our incredible stewardess, Elia, woke us up with coffee delivered to our door — in the most fantastic travel mug I might add (I was so disappointed that Aggressor didn’t sell these).

We then got dressed and made our way up to breakfast. There was a continental breakfast available early each morning that included cereal, fruit, toast, bagels, and English muffins as well as juice, coffee, and tea. A little later in the morning, a hot breakfast was served. Each day there was a different offering ranging from eggs and omelets to french toast or oatmeal.

Snack #1

Oh, how I looked forward to our first snack of the day. It was always served after our first dive and always something sweet and carb-y, which is exactly what you want after a scuba dive. Some of my favorites were the freshly baked oatmeal raisin cookies, apple cake, and zucchini bread.

Even better, the snacks were always ready right after our first dive, served with a smile by Elia.

Lunch

After 2 morning dives, I was always ready to eat again. At lunchtime, there was usually a soup (these were so delicious) and an entree like beans and rice with chicken, fajitas, or a cheeseburger.

Here are a few of the lunch entrees that were served on Belize Aggressor IV:

• Roasted chicken with coconut rice, stew beans, and coleslaw
• Chicken chimole soup with beef and chicken fajitas, refried beans, salsa, and guacamole
• Cheeseburgers with potato salad, baked beans, and potato chips
• Beef stew with cilantro rice and plantains

Snack #2

The afternoon snack was a savory one served after the 3rd dive of the day. We had things like chips and salsa, hummus and pita, or quesadillas.

Dinner

I always looked forward to seeing what Chef Carlos prepared for dinner. There was always a soup or salad in addition to an entree with sides. Here’s a sample of some of the dinners we had on the Belize Aggressor IV:

• Baby back ribs with macaroni and cheese, glazed carrots, and vegetable rice
• Split pea soup, reef and beef, baked potato, brussels sprouts
• Baked pork with mushroom sauce, spinach salad, mashed potatoes, and roasted veggies
• Traditional turkey dinner including stuffing, sweet potatoes, green beans, and cranberry sauce (an Aggressor tradition)

Dinner always ended with a freshly baked dessert like Bailey’s cheesecake, bread pudding with caramel sauce, chocolate cake, carrot cake, and brownies with ice cream.

The kitchen was very accommodating to different diets and preferences. I don’t eat any fish or seafood (because it’s gross, not because of an allergy) and they had no problem swapping out the fish portion of my meals.

Scuba Diving on Belize Aggressor IV

 

We visited 11 different dive sites, including the famous Blue Hole, around Turneffe Islands and Lighthouse Reef off the coast of Belize during the week-long trip. The crew had a plan of where they wanted to go each day but could make changes based on weather or sea conditions if needed.

The Belize dive sites we visited include:

• Amber Head South
• Angelfish Wall
• Black Beauty
• Blue Hole
• Cathedral
• Chain Wall
• Half Moon Caye Wall
• Shark Point
• Silver Cave
• Que Brada
• Zip Line

Before each new dive site, we’d meet for a short briefing so we knew what to expect underwater.

 

One of the things I loved about Belize Aggressor IV was how easy it was to get on and off the boat for diving. Once you geared up, you headed to the dive platform and a staff member would put your fins on for you. This was AWESOME. Then, after each dive, a staff member would be in the water to remove your fins so you could climb the ladder to the boat. Taking off fins in the water can be challenging so this was so helpful. I’m totally spoiled now and will never be able to put on or remove my own fins going forward.

 

The dive deck itself had plenty of space for everyone to move about. Each diver had an assigned spot and there was space under your spot with a basket to hold things like dive computers, masks, ear drops, and dive booties.

Each side of the boat had a rack for hanging wetsuits and a spot to leave things you wanted to keep dry like a bathing suit cover-up, sunglasses, hat, or a phone. Additionally, there were 2 camera tables with rinse tanks as well as a low-pressure hose on the dive deck.

 

After each dive, you could rinse off in one of the two hot water showers on deck and there was always a fresh towel available to help you dry off.

After the night dives, you were greeted back on the boat with hot chocolate, spiked or regular.

Half Moon Caye

After the Blue Hole dive, we stopped by Half Moon Caye, a nature reserve and Belize national monument. Half Moon Caye is part of the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve World Heritage Site. It’s also a bird sanctuary for red-footed boobies.

Aside from the actual importance of this place, it was just really nice to get off the boat and walk around for a bit.

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Read More: Bonaire Scuba Diving | Cancun Scuba Diving | Punta Cana Scuba Diving

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Belize Aggressor IV Staff

The staff on the Belize Aggressor IV was fantastic. They seemed to work non-stop to ensure we had a great trip. One of the standouts for me was Elia, the boat’s stewardess. She acted as the waitress for every single meal and also served snacks and morning coffee. On top of that, she made up our rooms each day. She worked her butt off and always seemed to do it with joy.

Our captain was Shea and he did a great job getting us where we needed to go and keeping us safe. Carlos prepared incredible food all week with some help from Zander and Marcelo was on night watch duty. Our dive masters/instructors were John, Simon, and Daniel. They did an awesome job explaining each dive and making sure we made it back to the boat each time. Plus Daniel documented the whole trip with photos and videos.

Final Thoughts

I really enjoyed my week of scuba diving on Belize Aggressor IV. While it was a bit out of my comfort zone, the trip really increase my confidence as a diver. On top of that, I had some great dives, ate delicious food, and met some fantastic people.

If you are planning a dive trip to Belize and want to squeeze in as much underwater time as possible, you can’t go wrong with Belize Aggressor IV.

For more videos from the Belize Aggressor IV, find me on Instagram @zenlifeandtravel and on my YouTube channel.