Canadian Looking For Live Aboard

[Mark Duddridge]

Hey everybody!

I live in Manitoba, Canada, and I'm looking for recommendations on live aboards. My preference would be an all-inclusive live-aboard which will allow me to cram as much diving as possible into a one week period.

Anyone have some recommendations on the the best value/best companies out there and where the best places to visit are?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Mark

 

[NCBabs]

Hey Mark

Liveaboards are the way to go for most bang for the buck diving. To me the North Sulawesi is the best and Maldives. For more details check out the websites below I work with both operators.
The Aggressor Fleet Aggressor: North Sulawesi Aggressor and

Manthiri Maldives Manthiri Maldives

Be glad to help make the arrangments for you just PM me

 

[robint]

Hey everybody!

I live in Manitoba, Canada, and I'm looking for recommendations on live aboards. My preference would be an all-inclusive live-aboard which will allow me to cram as much diving as possible into a one week period.

Anyone have some recommendations on the the best value/best companies out there and where the best places to visit are?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Mark

Mark, all liveaboards are all-inclusive with the exception of "adult beverages_ on some. The amount of dives per day are based on where the liveaboard is.... some places do only day dives as night dives are too difficult or not allowed (like Socorros).
What kind of diving do you want to do? Best is a relative term. Most liveaboards are a week, some are 10 days, some like in Calif or Gulf of Mexico are 2-3 days. Cold water? Warm water? Big critters? Small critters? Sharks? Reefs? Wrecks? What do you want to see? What is your dive experience?

check out some of the websites for the major liveaboards:
Aggressor Fleet | The ultimate in live-aboards since 1984
Explorer Ventures: Adventures in Live-Aboard Diving
Nekton Diving Cruises - Comfort, Stability, Worldclass Diving
Peter Hughes Diving Inc.
Home - Liveaboard Scuba Diving in the Philippines, Palau, Truk Lagoon


I have trip reports for a few different liveaboards:
Palau on the Eco Explorer - Dec 2007
http://www.rnrscuba.net/NektonCaySal.html

or some other people's reports:
Saudio's Trip Reports
Sapien's Stories

or you can read some reports here on the Liveaboard Forum:
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/cruises-liveaboards-charter-boats/

robin

 

[Mark Duddridge]

Thanks a lot you guys. Really appreciate the information. I'll take some time to review all these links. Probably wouldn't be looking at doing this until early 2009, but I wanted to start getting an idea of what's out there.

Sorry I put this post here... didn't realize there was a Liveaboard forum!

Mark

 

[robint]

Thanks a lot you guys. Really appreciate the information. I'll take some time to review all these links. Probably wouldn't be looking at doing this until early 2009, but I wanted to start getting an idea of what's out there.

Sorry I put this post here... didn't realize there was a Liveaboard forum!

Mark

don't put off booking too long. We booked our Palau trip last April and the Palau Aggressor was already full from mid-Dec to Late March (shark mating season there). So if there is someplace you really want to go, find out when peak seasons are and go ahead and book. The Aggressor website has a "reservation" area where you can check to see availability for specific weeks on each boat. Watch the videos on that website, too. They give you a good idea of their boats, diving, etc.
Another good resource is YouTube. You can do a search for a specific area or boat name and see videos. Check for videos on Turks & Caicos and Belize, etc.
Here is one by a boardmember, ronscuba:



Here is my topside video from Palau:


we were on the Eco Explorer but the Palau Aggressor does the same sites and is moored close by all week. It is a bit nicer boat than the Eco, but a few $$ more, too.

also, there are some really good DVDs out that would help you. The company is ScubaCore and you can get them on Amazon.com. They have 3 of them, each one has a couple of liveaboard trips on it with topside and underwater info. Good resource there -- the 2nd one helped us decide to do the Nekton to Cay Sal Bank! The 3rd one has us convinced that we must do the Turks & Caicos Explorer.


robin

 

[Mark Duddridge]

Do divers ever bring non-diving spouses? Is there anything for non-divers to do on this type of holiday?

My wife can't dive (ear issues), but she's not thrilled about the idea of me taking off on my own little holida

 

[robint]

Do divers ever bring non-diving spouses? Is there anything for non-divers to do on this type of holiday?

My wife can't dive (ear issues), but she's not thrilled about the idea of me taking off on my own little holida

yes.......see this:
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/cr...-wanting-do-liveaboard-non-diving-spouse.html