1st Liveaboard trip, what to bring?

[opalobsidian]

Definately bring IMODIUM or the likes! My only liveaboard trip (in Northern Sulawesi) was seriously curtailed due to a wicked case of the screaming Manadoo-doos. Took the concept of muck diving to an all time low. Don't trust the onboard medical kit to supply you with anti-poop meds; my boat had some Indonesian stuff that didn't help a bit.

 

[Prostar]

Same as usual; half the clothes you think you'll need and twice the money.

 

[m.gong]

don't bother taking any wetsuit w/ u, even shorty. you don't really need one in thailand water, and even if u need, they will be happy to rent u one at a very nominal price.

 

[rrjc5488]

I would suggest buying "bodyglide" skin protectant. The liveaboard I was on I was basically wet the entire time and it saved alot of trouble from skin chafing in a wet bathing suit. Also, baby powder at night for when you're in your dry clothes.

Just bring a pair of soft cotton underwear to sleep in at night, and under armour type shirts to wear during the day. Those are basically the three things that saved my six weeks in the BVI's this summer.

 

[Damselfish]

Agree on skipping the TSA locks - like spectrum says, they're often more of a problem than a solution.

Swimmers ear drops (AKA ear beer) are good when doing all that diving. Assorted first aid stuff - cortisone cream, antibiotic cream, benadryl or equivalent in case you wind up itching from something, sudafed or equivalent, bandaids, etc, people will have lots of suggestions on this and doesn't take much space.

It's easy to take more clothes than you need, you just won't use many and likely won't wear shoes on the boat. I take floppers in case I want to slip something on on the boat and not be barefoot all the time, like on some boats the top deck will get really hot in the sun.

If you have a fish ID book for the region and are tempted to take it, you can probably skip that, as most boats seem to have a variety for people to look at on board.

 

[mike_s]

• Ear Plugs. Noisy snore-ers, engine rooms, and generators.
• First Aid - cloth band aids, athletic tape, duct tape, and liquid band aid. all for cuts or soft spots in the skin after being wet all week. Chloreseptic throad spray would have been nice on my last liveaboard as the air was really dry and your throat got really tender after long dives. chap stick is nice also. hydrocortizone cream helps with saltwater rash.
• long sleeve shirt or sweat shirt - cabins get really cold at night on most liveaboards as the outside temp drops and the A/C unit finally catches up.
• Insualted cup - I take a big one for soft drinks. Otherwise everyone's 'boat cup looks the same. Yours can easily stand out and not melt soon either.
• alligator clips and a 10' section of 1/4" nylon rope - use to hang up wetsuits and clamp down to keep from blowing away while boat is underway. Great for towels, wetsuits, swimsuits, etc. You can get a 2" or 3" aligator clip easily at any Home Depot type store.
• Flashlight for bunk - keep under pillow. In case power goes out on boat in the night or you can't find the light switch or don't want to wake up your roomies.
• short extention cord and 3 way power splitter for camera batteries. It seems that there are never enough power outlets for charging camera batteries these days.
• Pack everything in soft side luggage or "soft as you can" if a roller bag. Not much room on boats for hardside luggage storage.

If going on a forgein liveaboard, find out what the crew might need from the states. Lots of times they might need or want something hard to get as part of their tip.

 

[drewdude]

Great advice here!! Thanks all! I'm taking notes, keep it coming.

 

[charlesml3]

Travel Insurance!

Whatever you do, don't go without this. You probably have at least $3000 in the trip. If you come down with the flu two days before you leave....

-Charles

 

[spacemanspiff1974]

The air conditioner was on full blast on my last boat trip. I would suggest warm socks for sleeping at night.

 

[Doc]

You can assemble a "generic liveaboard packing list", but always tailor it to the specifics of the vessel.

Pull up the website, do a little research, ask some e-mailed questions.

Take a look: Welcome to Whitemanta.com

All but two of the rooms are well forward of the engines.

Why take a power converter if they have 110 volts? Ask 'em.

They appear to dive from RIB's (bootie, smb, gear rig considerations)

20 feet of 2.5mm line never hurt (a quick clothesline of your own)