Belize in December... Like to hear from anyone with Liveaboard experience in Belize.

[Damselfish]

My first choice would be any of the 3 liveaboards. Haven't done the Nekton but I might chose it next time as people seem happy with it and because it skips the Blue Hole. (Once was more than enough for me, I'd prefer to do other dives. I've done the Sun Dancer twice and toured the Aggressor. The Sun Dancer is a very nice boat. The Aggressor is a little smaller, cabins not quite as nice. Inside dining room is small and cramped compared to nice inside diving room and lounge on Dancer. Dive deck on Aggressor is bigger and nicer though Sun Dancer's is also very good. Aggressor outside public/lounging areas feel nicer to me somehow even if a little smaller. Aggressor is a slightly faster boat but for practical purposes I don't think that matters.

 

[DiveMaven]

We chose Nekton for our Dec. 17 Belize trip because of 2 main reasons: Excellent reviews, and $1000 cheaper per person than the Aggressor boat. We decided that potentially having 30+ divers on the boat was worth the $2000 savings, particularly when every review we've read says that only the dive deck gets crowded, but if you wait 10 minutes after the pool opens, it won't be crowded at all.

It's our first liveaboard, so we're excited to see what it's all about.

 

[mchiapetto]

Exciting!! I am sure you will have a great time.

We will be on the Nekton Pilot in Belize two weeks later (starting Dec 31). Should be a great way to start the new year!

If you can, post a trip report as soon as you get back. It would be great to see some current information just before we leave.

Have fun and dive safe.

 

[uglyredshoes]

Exciting!! I am sure you will have a great time.

We will be on the Nekton Pilot in Belize two weeks later (starting Dec 31). Should be a great way to start the new year!

If you can, post a trip report as soon as you get back. It would be great to see some current information just before we leave.

Have fun and dive safe.

How many days would the LOB be anyway? The daily itenary is just diving right, up to maybe 5 a day?

 

[djanni]

We booked the Nekton Pilot for the week of the Dec 3rd. Mostly because of your comments and recommendations. We're excited about it and anxious to get going.

They don't do the Blue Hole. Probably a good thing from what I hear. The plan is to go to Glover's for a day, weather permitting. One report I read said they use 95cf steel tanks but I forgot to ask Nekton. You do dive your computer.

They say up to 5 dives a day counting a nite dive and it's for 6 days so there is an opportuity for as many as 30 dives.

Nitrox - 29%, which seems unusual, it's $250 pp unlimited or $15 per tank. We signed up for the unlimited Nitrox but it's incredibly expensive. We're counting on it to help us get through all those dives for the week.

Don

 

[Mantasscareme]

Just wondering, how come none of the Belize liveaboard do the whale shark dive?

 

[DiveMaven]

Oh yeah, I thought of 2 other reasons we booked with Nekton instead of anyone else: They are US flagged vessels and subject to Coast Guard inspection and standards; and they offer 6 full days of diving instead of just 5 (if you aren't flying out on Saturday morning when you disembark).

I will definitely post a trip report Mchiapetto, and I'll make every effort to do that right when we return. We've added 3 days onto our trip to spend a little time on land (off-gassing) and see Tikal in Guatamala, so we don't be home until the 27th. Hopefully that'll be enough time to post a report for you to read before you leave.

Don Janni, you're going to post a trip report when you return too, right?

Yes, they do provide steel 95's, which will be great for weighting and extra bottom time. We had planned on signing up for Nitrox, but $500 for the 2 of us seemed rather steep. We decided that we'd rather sit out a dive or two if we have to and spend the money on extra time in Belize. Also, we don't night dive, so we'll do some serious off-gassing between dive 4 one day and dive 1 the next day.

Too bad we're all going to miss eachother by just days.

 

[Damselfish]

Just wondering, how come none of the Belize liveaboard do the whale shark dive?

Gladden Spit? The whale sharks are best seen only certain days around the full moon in certain months, and they only allow so many boats into the reserve for this, and the spots must be applied for through a lottery. The dives can't actually be done from the liveaboard, as there's a max size on boats allowed in the reserve, so they need to use another op. (You also have to be out of the reserve by something like 5pm, and apparently the whales are more likely to show up after that.) They've been tightening up the rules. Altogether, non-trivial for a liveaboard to schedule.

 

[Damselfish]

Also, we don't night dive, so we'll do some serious off-gassing between dive 4 one day and dive 1 the next day.

You might want to take it up, even if you only hang in the glow under the boat. Some of my best night dives ever have been there. Dense schools of large fish swirling under the boat, often including like 100 tarpon feeding on little stuff. Major food chain activity. Sometimes you can see part of the show from deck, but of course doesn't compare to being down there.

 

[djanni]

Yes, I'll post a trip report. It is too bad we'll be missing each other by a week... sort of passing in the night as they say. I hope you have a great trip.

Oh yeah, I thought of 2 other reasons we booked with Nekton instead of anyone else: They are US flagged vessels and subject to Coast Guard inspection and standards; and they offer 6 full days of diving instead of just 5 (if you aren't flying out on Saturday morning when you disembark).

I will definitely post a trip report Mchiapetto, and I'll make every effort to do that right when we return. We've added 3 days onto our trip to spend a little time on land (off-gassing) and see Tikal in Guatamala, so we don't be home until the 27th. Hopefully that'll be enough time to post a report for you to read before you leave.

Don Janni, you're going to post a trip report when you return too, right?

Yes, they do provide steel 95's, which will be great for weighting and extra bottom time. We had planned on signing up for Nitrox, but $500 for the 2 of us seemed rather steep. We decided that we'd rather sit out a dive or two if we have to and spend the money on extra time in Belize. Also, we don't night dive, so we'll do some serious off-gassing between dive 4 one day and dive 1 the next day.

Too bad we're all going to miss eachother by just days.