Trip Report Cat Ppalu Bahamas Liveaboard Trip

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Messages
2
Reaction score
7
Location
Indiana
# of dives
500 - 999
I just wanted to share what a great experience I had in the Bahamas on Cat Ppalu. I chartered the boat with my family in December and it was perfect! For a fairly low-cost trip, it was definitely more than we expected. Getting to the Bahamas was pretty easy, too.

It's one of the All Star Liveaboards boats (I went on a Blackbeard's trip a few years ago), so I had a good feeling that it would be another fun trip...but I didn't expect it to be as family friendly as it was. My brother, his wife, and myself were the only divers. We logged 10 dives (they offer 19 but we skipped quite a few to do things with the non-diving folks) and they were all great.

While we dived, the rest of the family stayed busy snorkeling and kayaking, etc. I was so glad I didn't have to sacrifice too many dives to keep everyone else from getting bored! They loved all the shore excursions and water toys. When we weren't out adventuring, everybody hung out around the big table inside or out on the deck...pretty great places to be.

The food, cocktails, and rooms were unbelievably good, too. I probably could've just stayed on the boat with rum drinks and snacks while we sailed around for the whole week and been happy with it, haha.

Day 1
We made it onto the boat nice and early in the day, and the captain let us know that we'd be able to get in our first dive before mooring up for the night. We got to dive PacMan Reef, which was a blast. Then all of us got to relax on the boat for the night, having drinks and enjoying the warmer weather.

Day 2
The crew got an early start and we were already heading to our first dive site of the day, Lobster No Lobster. It was a great shallow reef absolutely covered with sharks and even a spotted moray. After our second dive at Barracuda Shoals, we took the afternoon off from diving to go to the beach and feed the iguanas on Allen's Cay. The kids loved it, and we ended up spending hours on the beach. Then, more hanging out under the stars with the family while the crew sailed us south for another good dive site.

Day 3
We dived Hammerhead Gulch and Black Tip Wall (two more great sites) and then departed for the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park. It was a long trip, but absolutely worth it. We all went for an excursion on Shroud Cay. On the island, we hiked up to an amazing view and visited Camp Driftwood. Some of the group snorkeled in a mangrove creek.

Day 4
On Tuesday, we decided to take a day off from diving, and we got to meet the famous swimming pigs near Staniel Cay! I think the kids wanted to spend the rest of the week there, haha. We ended up making our way to Thunderball Grotto - make sure you make a stop here next time you're in the Exumas! It was incredible. We even got to do some fishing (caught a decent sized mahi) while we were cruising toward the Rocky Dundas. It's a beautiful cave and pictures don't do it justice at all. We saw Rachel's Bubbblebath, a really interesting pool of water that "bubbles" as the water is sucked through a pile of rocks. Definitely a fun stop for those who make it so far south.

Day 5
After a dive on Jeep Reef, we kept sailing north to dive Amberjack Reef. We even got in a third dive at Cracked Coral next to Norman's Cay since it was mostly a travel day. Everyone enjoyed the loved the sailing and having a bit of down time after 4 days of adventuring was a nice way to wind down the trip. We moored up for the night and played games while we enjoyed some more rum drinks.

Day 6

Our last day at sea, and it was a really good one. Our morning dive was a shark feeding at the Austin Smith Wreck, and it was incredible. The more adventurous non-divers actually snorkeled on the surface during the feeding, too. They were just as blown away as we were! Dozens of sharks came out and we spent the rest of the dive looking for shark teeth and exploring the wreckage. We did our last dive at Hammerhead Gulch, where I mostly stayed around the grass looking for seahorses. We got to visit one more beach, everyone looking for shells and souvenirs from a really nice week, before we had to go back to port in Nassau. Once we got back to the marina, we sat out by the pool and actually spent time with the crew while they were off duty. They were a lot of fun and it was the perfect sendoff!

Bottom line -- If you want to try out an awesome new family vacation, Cat Ppalu won't disappoint.
 
Glad to see a trip report on this vessel; it's mentioned occasionally, but I rarely see trip reports on it here.

What water toys did they have?

Non-divers on a live-aboard...brings to my mind an image of Eskimos on a camel caravan...:wink:
 
Thanks for the report, that sounds like an awesome trip. Very cool that you got to do some island hopping, exploring and diving. I really like to hear that there were enough activities for the non-divers, I think that is something Allstar can claim that none of the other liveaboards have going. I could not imagine a non-diver on an Aggressor boat, but it seems the Aquacat and Cat ppalu have created a unique spot for that.

I am booked on the Aquacat for May, and am very excited to go.
 
Glad to see a trip report on this vessel; it's mentioned occasionally, but I rarely see trip reports on it here.

I was on the Cat Ppalu in 2014. There were several non-divers on the boat and they had a great time snorkeling. Same for the Aqua Cat.

I agree with @Redfoot that the company has made a great effort to accommodate non-divers.
 
Glad to see a trip report on this vessel; it's mentioned occasionally, but I rarely see trip reports on it here.

What water toys did they have?

Non-divers on a live-aboard...brings to my mind an image of Eskimos on a camel caravan...:wink:

They had kayaks and stand-up paddleboards, plus fishing rods if you want to count them in the water toy category.

Yeah, non-divers on a strictly diving liveaboard probably wouldn't have a great time! But Cat Ppalu is kind of more like a charter yacht - so we got to pick and choose other stuff to do to keep the non-divers having fun, too.
 
...but it seems the Aquacat and Cat ppalu have created a unique spot for that.

I'm glad you mentioned that. It's been awhile, but I've read posts about the Cuan Law indicating it, too, offers a broader experience beyond the 'eat/sleep/dive' experience live-aboards are known for (and some of us love), and it's also in the AllStar fleet.

For future reference, it might be good to keep in mind the short list of live-aboards that make sense for non-divers.
 
Thanks for the report, that sounds like an awesome trip. Very cool that you got to do some island hopping, exploring and diving. I really like to hear that there were enough activities for the non-divers, I think that is something Allstar can claim that none of the other liveaboards have going. I could not imagine a non-diver on an Aggressor boat, but it seems the Aquacat and Cat ppalu have created a unique spot for that.

I am booked on the Aquacat for May, and am very excited to go.

Actually, my husband and I have been on several dive trips with another couple and the wife does not dive. She loves liveaboards! She likes sleeping on the boat, and just enjoys hanging out and reading a book while we are diving. A while back, so that she could feel more part of the group, she started keeping track of Steve's dives and makes a log for him.
 

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