Bay Island Live Aboards

[KevinG58]

Why is it the bay island boats are all (that I can find googling) based out of Utila? Every itinerary I've seen starts at Utila, goes around Roatan and back. Why not the reverse, with direct flights to/from US to Roatan it would seem to make sense to base there. Taxes / fees? Generating business for the ferry & puddle jumpers? It is what it is (in the islands)?

I'm not interested in debating the relative values, merits, or drawbacks of the boats vs. land-based or boat vs. boat.

 

[Doc]

Taxes / fees?

It does cost less for them to do it that way, yes, but not due to taxes.

It does add the perceived panache of exotica- a trip into the unknown that is Utila, a place that has marketed their association with one of the holy grails of diving: Whale Sharks.

I'm not interested in debating the relative values, merits, or drawbacks of the boats vs. land-based or boat vs. boat.

I'm with you. Everybody should just pay their money and go.

However, if you want to understand why its only possible to successfully sell spots on a liveaboard operating out of Utila (not departing Roatan), that factor is a huge part of the equation.

But you didn't want to talk about that.

 

[DeepBlueResort]

There really is one reason only, no one in Roatan has purchased one

 

[Doc]

There really is one reason only, no one in Roatan has purchased one

Except for Isla Mia, Bay Islands Aggressor and The Tabutne. No, no one in Roatan, other than those. Nope.

 

[DeepBlueResort]

The Bay Islands Aggressor, the Tabutne I do not think have been running for a long time and Isla Mia I must admit I have not heard of, but we had only one real one the Bay Island Aggressor so really Roatan has not had a big liveaboard since the Bay Islands Aggressor, unless the Isla Mia is.

 

[Doc]

I was speaking over a time-frame that Liveaboards have been in existence- but what came first, the chicken or the egg?

If you look at a snapshot in time, like TODAY, okay, there's only one to compare- Utila is it.

With a sense of totality and long term history, there have been several in Roatan, plus a few more than I mentioned, but I do not recall their names. (One was operated by Bill Evans in 1982-84 out of Oak Ridge, maybe Port Royal)

Those named three did some amount of trade to make them memorable.

The Isla Mia is believed to be the first liveaboard in the Caribbean that was used year round, exclusively for that purpose. She now lies broken up in a few feet of water, on top of Fantasy Island's Newman's Wall.

And the BIA:

If you do consider the long term historical perspective, the reasons why they have so far failed on the Bay Islands become more visible. Just that they have so far simply been based on Roatan (vs Utila) doesn't seem to be much of the reason.

I'm sticking with my post #2.

 

[DeepBlueResort]

Ahh I understand I was talking about liveaboards that are available for a customer

 

[large_diver]

I saw the old BIA when I was there last year....I assume it will just sit there rusting in the harbor?

 

[Damselfish]

Back when the Bay Islands Aggressor stopped running and the Utila Aggressor started, the scuttlebutt I heard was that since the BI Aggressor was getting to be in bad shape and developing a not so great rep, the location/name change was a way of distancing the new boat from the old one. It made perfect sense at the time. That was a long time ago, but once it was running from Utila, maybe it was simply easier to keep running from there?

I could see running from Utila instead of Roatan if costs are much higher - but then again maybe not. I know I'd rather pay a little more for the boat to have easier travel and not deal with dive gear & puddle jumpers.

I can believe a few people get blinded by the whale shark thing, but don't buy the "Utila seems more exotic so it's easier to sell" idea. I figure anyone that would be more likely to book a boat on that basis probably thinks of Roatan as just as exotic. (Actually, I found the name "Bay Islands Aggressor" more appealing from a marketing point of view, it said to me "easy way to dive several islands.")

 

[Wookie]

I'm sticking with my post #2.

As a liveaboard owner, I'll stick with your post number 2 too. A liveaboard cannot compete with a good day operator.

The Utilla Aggressor was in Utilla because it was owned in Utilla, and associated with a Utilla resort. I assume that under it's new name that will continue. The BIA did not start out that way, it started as the Caribbean Dream. I helped build it. I didn't install the sewage plumbing, however.