Aggressor Adventures' BVI Aggressor liveaboard highlights

BVI Aggressor takes divers to the best of the British Virgin Islands’ clear blue waters, coral reefs and wrecks

Scuba diving in the British Virgin Islands is among the best in the Caribbean. A British Overseas Territory comprised of the four main islands of Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Jost Van Dyke, Anegada and 50 smaller islands and cays, the BVIs are famous for their lush green mountains, white-sand beaches and beautiful, clear blue waters.

The islands are home to some of the Caribbean’s most famous wrecks including the RMS Rhone and Kodiak Queen, plus a few entertaining artificial reefs such as the ‘Sharkplaneo’ (you’ll know it when you see it!) and the Willy T – once a popular floating bar and restaurant, and now a popular dive site with a distinctively unusual clientele.

Aggressor Adventures runs liveaboard trips to the islands on board its BVI Aggressor, its 7-nigh itineraries taking advantage of the BVI’s year-round warm-water diving – here’s a look at some of the highlights.

Highlights from the British Virgin Islands Aggressor

The BVI Aggressor is a 110ft (33.5m) yacht with a wide 25ft (7.6m) beam. She carries a maximum of 20 passengers in ten climate-controlled suites – two balcony suites, five deluxe staterooms, each having two single beds or a king, and three twin staterooms with two single beds. All cabins have flatscreen TVs and private bathrooms.

On the upper decks is a roomy, air-conditioned salon and dining area; sun deck complete with a hot tub, lounge and deck chairs; an outdoor sound system; shaded cocktail deck and grill; and a photo editing computer for guests to use.

Diving amenities include a camera table with low-pressure air hoses, and two hot, freshwater showers.

Diving information:

Diving begins Sunday morning and ends Friday around noon when the BVI Aggressor returns to port
Guests are offered up to 24 dives on 7- night charters (multiple day dives and up to 4 night dives)
Depth Range: 8 – 40m (25 – 130ft)
1 – 3 mm wetsuit recommended in Summer; 3 – 5mm wetsuit for Winter
Water temperatures range from 25 – 28°C (76 – 84°F)
All meals, snacks and beverages are provided.

Click here for more from the BVI Aggressor

BVI Aggressor itinerary highlights

The dive sites that may be visited on a liveaboard in the British Virgin Islands (Image: Aggressor Adventures)

BVI Aggressor itinerary highlights:

Angelfish Reef, Norman Island

Angelfish Reef is best known for its maze of canyons and ridges, where snake eels, moray eels, turtles, eagle rays, southern stingrays, lobsters and nurse sharks can be found among a rainbow of colourful gorgonians. Spotted drums, triplefin blennies, angelfish, sea horses, shrimps, yellowhead jawfish, crustaceans, and anemones make Angelfish Reef a photographer’s dream site.

Painted Walls, Peter Island

Painted Walls is awash with a palette of yellow, red, orange, and purple corals. The site’s southern ridge has a huge coral reef bustling with macro critters. Hawksbill turtles, lobster, nurse sharks, barracuda, silversides, tarpons, and green moray eels cruise through canyons, a narrow cave and four gullies – a gorgeous site that can entertain divers for hours.

picture of schooling fish on ther wreck of rms rhone in the british virgin islands — The wreck of the RMS Rhone is now home to a huge abundance of marine life (Photo: Aggressor Adventures)

RMS Rhone shipwreck, Salt Island

In October 1867, a hurricane slammed the 310-foot (94.5m) long, iron-hulled steamship against Black Rock and broke her into two sections. The stern section now rests at a depth of 35ft (11m), around 100ft (30m) from the bow section at a depth of 80ft (24m). Rhone is considered one of the world’s greatest wrecks and served as a location for the 1977 Hollywood thriller, The Deep.

The wreck’s hardware includes its massive bronze propeller, drive shaft and 100lb (45kg) wrenches. Numerous artifacts are still intact including black-and-white tiles, a silver teaspoon, glass and metalworks. Nearly every surface of the Rhone is covered in a kaleidoscope of corals, and the interior is filled with coral gardens, cleaning stations and nurseries.

Schools of yellowtail snapper, jacks, grunts, and tarpon accompany divers throughout the dives. Macro life includes arrow crabs, shrimp and damselfish. Turtles, green moray eels, octopus and barracuda are also commonly seen in the marine park.

An entire day can be spent examining this incredible wreck and, conditions permitting, the Rhone makes a fantastic night dive.

Thumb Rock, Cooper Island

A huge pinnacle that resembles a large thumb gave one of the central BVI’s best sites its name. Clear, shallow waters and awesome marine life make this a favourite site for photographers. Spotted drums, seahorses, creole wrasses and lobsters can be found among the coral with tarpon, French angelfish, queen angelfish, filefish and barracuda among the larger visitors to the reef.

picture of a caribbean reef shark swimming above a british virgin islands coral reef — A Caribbean reef shark cruises over the soft coral of a BVI reef (Photo: Aggressor Adventures)

Ginger Steps, Ginger Island

Steps, or Ginger Steps, is a plunging three-step wall that descends 90ft (27m). Good visibility and bright white sand between the rocky drop-offs make this a great site for underwater photography. Pompano, octopuses, lobster, anthias, barracuda, dolphins, eagle rays and turtles add to the beauty of this amazing site.

Kodiak Queen Wreck, Virgin Gorda

The Kodiak Queen was a US Navy Second World War fuel barge, believed to be one of the few ships that survived the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. It was set to be scuttled as an artificial reef in 2017, but photographer Owen Buggy and Sir Richard Branson decided to add a unique sculpture to the old barge – an 80-foot (24m) Kraken sea monster crafted of metal appears to be attacking the old ship, its tentacles twisting and turning around the Kodiak Queen’s stern and wheelhouse.

Aggressor Adventures’ BVI Aggressor liveaboard highlights