First live aboard pointers?

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Newspaper in the booties....works a charm.

Surf robe...nice to strip down, dry off and pull up some dry shorts all on the wet deck before heading into the salon (dry area).

Baby wipes.

Pack light....most people are more interested in your underwater experience than your variety in topside apparel.

Foldable hanger for your wetsuit to drip dry between dives.

Eat light and stay away from spicy food....the dives will come at you quickly with little chance for your food to digest. It’s miserable when your lungs are working against a really full stomach. And nothing worse than dive-induced heartburn. I guess a full on case of DCS would be worse but you know what I mean.

sorry nothingclever...gotta call you on the baby wipes. I strongly disagree with this. Please try to avoid single use plastics..there are plenty of alternatives to baby wipes...

if you are 100% insistent on using wipes (boo to you) then eco by naty are some passable ones, but remember not to flush them!
 
Here’s how I pack my dive gear bag (soft bag with 2 hard sides, the back & bottom with rollers). I put the fins on the sides to protect the 2 soft sides. As mentioned in my earlier post, I put spare socks and underwear for the return flight in my booties and slip the booties into the open heel fin slots for top side protection. Put the BCD in the middle, in between the fins. Strap my regulator bag inside the BCD. Roll T-shirts, shorts and fill them in empty spots in the bag as padding’s, including the First Aid Kit. Put the wetsuit over everything as front protection.

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I’ve pack my gears this way with total weight < 50 lbs (23 kg) for trips to pretty much all over the world (Australia, Caribbean, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Egypt, Indonesia, Mexico, Oman, Palau, Tanzania, UAE) without any damage inside (knock on wood).
 
dive in/wear Microfiber Board Shorts. They'll be almost dry b4 you sit down to eat. Mine also have velcro om the front pockets to keep small things from falling out. They pack small and are light.

Those and a long sleeve t-shirt would be my LOB exposure protection in summer. I bought a lycra skin once- been hanging in the closet for a decade.
 
My first LOB was the Belize Aggressor 3 (BA3), and I learned a lot on that trip.

First, what to pack, get out the clothes that you want to take on the trip. Then put half of them away. Take a good look at what is left, and put half of those away. Wear some comfortable but relatively nice clothes (like a golf shirt for instance) on the flights and to have available if you want to go out Friday night to a nice restaurant in Belize City, but you will not need anything fancy on board the boat. Plan on a couple pairs of shorts and a few t-shirts. I tend to wear gym shorts because they are comfortable, but the big thing is that you will want to have something dry, so having more than one pair is important (or at least advisable). Also make sure that you have a few swimsuits so that you can rinse them out and have a dry swimsuit when you really want it.

You asked about a "typical day". The boat's motto is "Eat, Sleep & Dive" and IIRC, pretty much every day was a variation on this:
  • Wake up
  • Have breakfast
  • 1st Dive
  • Snack
  • 2nd Dive
  • Lunch (move boat)
  • Maybe a quick nap
  • 3rd Dive
  • Snack
  • 4th Dive
  • Dinner
  • Night Dive
  • I seem to remember that on the Monday night there was no night dive to give as much time as possible to off-gas because Tuesday morning was the Great Blue Hole. Even if you are diving NITROX, this will be on air because of the depth. After this dive, you can either do a 2nd shallow dive or a tour of a bird sanctuary with Blue Footed Boobies. I opted for the shallow second dive and actually found the reef that forms the atoll surrounding the GBH more interesting & a better dive than the GBH itself. Tuesday afternoon it is back to your "regularly scheduled program".
Friday, diving will end after the 2nd dive and the boat will head back to Belize City where you can just chill on the deck or go for a tour. The big thing is that the crew will be busy "turning the boat" for the next group and it is best to stay out of their way. This will be the one time when you will not be their priority.

As for iPads etc. I am a photographer, but for the most part, I don't tend to edit my shots while I am on vacation. I do, however take an iPad Mini with me because that is what I use to log my dives. I might upload a few shots that I want to get a better look at than the LCD on the back of my camera can give me, but I personally would rather hang out with everybody than bury my face in an iPad or Laptop while I am on vacation.

One thing to keep in mind is that on a LOB, there is much less room, so no matter how sociable the group is, be aware of and respect peoples' personal space and their privacy to an even greater extent than on a shore based trip.

Since this is you first LOB, a couple other things to keep in mind are that for most people, 5 dives a day is a lot. Both heat loss and exhaustion tend to be cumulative. If you do plan on doing 5 (or maybe more) dives every day, then bring proper thermal protection (a thick enough wetsuit) and take every chance you get to have a nap. Don't be afraid to sit out a few dives, after all, you are on vacation. Relax.

One last thing. No matter what else. Stay safe & have fun!
 
You don't necessarily need Lycra socks - just about any socks will work as boot liners in a pinch. I have some old wool socks that worked great. I have finally broken down and bought some fancy ones now... we'll see if they can keep up...

My luggage is all Pelicans. All 4 of them. Deal with it :)
- If you do buy multiples, try to get nesting sizes
- Pelican Air 1615s lie down nicely on their side beside your bunk and pretty much disappear to everyone except you stepping over them each morning.
- Pelicans can be stored anywhere and don't need to stay dry - ignore the ignorant looks of horror and find practical options (there's always lots of rope on a boat)
- If the boat can't fit your luggage the boat's too small - book with a more reputable operator next time :)

If you have devices that need charging have a plan and be self contained such that you can consolidate down to a single plug. Bring a triple/splitter to go above that so you can sneak in on any open plug. Make sure you can adapt your single plug to both NA and EU plug. Make sure anything you have is autoranging 100 - 240VAC and 50/60hz. Buy electronics with North American approvals (UL, CSA, ETL, etc.) approvals - CE is meaningless.
 
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I'm surprised no one has mentioned hygiene products, tampons to be specific, if you're travelling as/with a female diver :D
 
Guy once asked me if I had any condoms I suppose....

I didn’t.

I find someone is always thankful that I have a tube of icy/hot cramp can start to kick in after day 4/5

That last part was not related to the condom request...
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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