Best diving on a liveaboard hands down is....

[going2aussie]

I'm looking to use a bunch of miles to travel to wherever the best liveaboard diving is. Most of the dive websites give top lists, but they all seem ot stray away from really saying where the best diving is. Can anyone give some guidance? Thanks.

 

[Wookie]

What kind of diving do you like? What kind of accommodations do you prefer? How long are you going for?

 

[ronscuba]

Galapagos.


[video=vimeo;7228823]https://vimeo.com/7228823[/video]

 

[Hintermann]

It all depends upon what kind of diving you like. Colourful reef fish in a colourful coral background? Pelagics and other big animals? Wreck diving? A combination of various critters?

I have been on 19 liveaboards and all of them were at least very good.

All the following destinations have one or (usually) more liveaboards. IMO, Komodo and Maldives come closest to having a wide variety of diving. Fiji is also good but weather and diving conditions there can be unpredictable. Raja Ampat is great for colourful coral and critters. I enjoyed my recent trip to Socorro for big animal action. You cannot beat Truk Lagoon for wreck diving.

Red Sea liveabaords also offer good varied diving and you'll have a choice of boats at very competitive prices. But dive sites (particularly the northern ones) can be very crowded to the point of being 'touristy'.

 

[ronscuba]

....Red Sea liveabaords also offer good varied diving and you'll have a choice of boats at very competitive prices. But dive sites (particularly the northern ones) can be very crowded to the point of being 'touristy'.

Any recommendations for a particular Red Sea liveaboard boat ? Interested in the high end.

 

[KeithG]

Best for what? As noted above, if you can provide some more insight regarding your preferred type of diving and your abilities, then you will likely get better input.

Ignoring that, I have been told that the "best" dive boat is m/s Paul Gauguin | Paul Gauguin Cruises Still waiting for the lottery win so I can find out.

Based upon my limited experience I would suggest PNG for diversity Walindi Resort & MV FeBrina - MV FeBrina (way more species than the Caribbean).

We commonly use the Belize Dancer, T&C Explorer and the Saba Explorer for our close to home jaunts where we focus on macro creatures.

The Galapagos (and other locations) can provide big creature adventures, but they are mostly beyond our skill level and cold tolerance.

 

[Scubagolf]

Best for what? As noted above, if you can provide some more insight regarding your preferred type of diving and your abilities, then you will likely get better input.

Ignoring that, I have been told that the "best" dive boat is m/s Paul Gauguin | Paul Gauguin Cruises Still waiting for the lottery win so I can find out.

We have been on the Paul Gauguin. It is definitely not a dive liveaboard. It is a fantastic small cruise ship with limited diving opportunities.

 

[KeithG]

We have been on the Paul Gauguin. It is definitely not a dive liveaboard. It is a fantastic small cruise ship with limited diving opportunities.

i agree! but based upon their preferences, many others would not.

so we need to know more aout the OP preferences before we can claim victory!

 

[diving4ever]

I think there are several factors: What you prefer (pelagics, marcro, etc), what you are skilled enough to do (you don't want to have to sit out dives because of depth, current, etc), and what level of service you would want (quality of food and accomodation), and even things like water temp. I'm a relatively new diver (just over 100 dives) and I already know The "best" diving doesn't exist. It is the best diving for you. And even then its seasonal and weather dependent. If you are really only at 24-50 dives you might want to avoid really challenging dive environments which can exist in places like the Galapagos (note: I have not been on a liveaboard in the Galapagos). That said, I'm curious what more experiences live-aboard divers would suggest.

 

[Hintermann]

Any recommendations for a particular Red Sea liveaboard boat ? Interested in the high end.

You just have to shop around and look at the facilities. The Red Sea liveaboard scene is so competitive that operators keep on trying to outdo the competition in offering better value for money. That value can be quite amazing especially if you are from northern Europe, where the package usually includes chartered return flights. There are a lot of new and upgraded boats with excellent hotel facilities and it is not easy to tell which is better than the other. A few years ago, boats like MV Emperor Elite or MV Grand Sea Serpent were leaders in comfort but I am sure there are now many others that can outdo those.