Ever taken your non-diving spouse on a liveaboard?

[sassyalice]

I was on a LOB where a couple were one diver only. She kept her self busy and happy, after day 3 there is almost always one diver out for one reason or another so she got an assortment of company. You have to ask yourself can she amuse herself for a few days? The aggressor fleet is pretty nice for sailing with seasickness.

 

[diversteve]

Does it have to be an Aggressor boat? Aquacat has some off-boat non-dive activities that she might like to do while you're diving - Adventure Travel - Aqua Cat Cruises

Since it's a wide catamaran it's going to more stable than any of the mono-hull liveaboards also.

A similar option is the Cuan Law in the BVI's - they do a lot of non-dive activities also. It's a sailing trimaran - 44' wide. Activities in the British Virgin Islands

 

[bcaderunr]

Yup - I'd second the Aquacat. I took my ND Spouse on that itinerary 3 years ago and she loved it. Lots of land/beach/snorkling/kayaking options (mostly in the afternoon). Crew was very accommodating. Aquacat is as nice as anything afloat and the rooms are relatively large with big windows. If she doesn't enjoy that boat -- well, at least you tried! We went in the late Spring/Summer when the seas were calmer and the water was warmer.

 

[Shasta_man]

Incidentally, I remember there was a non-diver wife on the Bilikiki trip with us. She was always swimming but didn't dive. We came up from one dive and she was swimming around the Bilikiki, and another time she was swimming from the boat to a nearby island.

Yeah, a liveboard with more options might be the best to start with...

My wife is always up for a liveaboard, so my problem is always "it's a great price...but now 2x!"

 

[Quero]

A lot depends on the boat and the mix of customers as well as the destination. I've just booked a diver and his non-diving wife on a liveaboard to the Similans and Richelieu (Thailand's west coast) on a vessel that conscientiously caters to both divers and non-divers. The crew are particularly good at getting snorkelers in the water for some fun and doing a couple of island stops for people to scramble over rocks to look our at the scenery. The destination lends itself to island hopping and snorkeling, just as Galapagos mentioned above lends itself to nature hikes on the various islands.

I've also got a catamaran trip set up soon in which a group of half divers and half non-divers have chartered the boat. They get to do whatever amount and split of diving and non-diving stuff (including kayaking) that they wish.

 

[Damselfish]

it's going to depend on the person and the liveaboard and location whether this is a good or bad idea. You would be the best judge of that but without any liveaboard experience it's hard for you to know either. (I'm assuming you have none, as describing Aggressor or any other liveaboard in that class as "small boat, most likely over crowded with people and dive gear" is far from accurate.) It would help a lot if she snorkeled, both for something else to do and to have some appreciation of what everyone else is seeing and be part of it.

The Cuan Law is often recommended as a good choice for this situation, and then you will have an idea whether she'd enjoy being on something even more dive intensive with fewer or no land options. Catamarans (also Aquacat, Kona Aggressor, some other Pacific boats) are good to look at because they're more stable but that alone may not be enough to solve any seasickness issues she has so she really needs to figure out how work that out first.

I disagree with the suggestion of a 3 day liveaboard. Often the boats that do shorter trips WILL be smaller and more crowded with people and dive gear. Also without private cabins with private baths, which I expect she is more likely to prefer. It's not the way for her to get a good experience or learn what a better liveaboard would be like.

 

[diversteve]

This might be a compromise also - Paul Gauguin Luxury Cruise - m/s Paul Gauguin - PADI onboard and some sort of retractable watersports platform: Paul Gauguin Luxury Cruise - m/s Paul Gauguin - Watersports Marina

Assuming you've got an extra $25K or so you're not using...

 

[Mossman]

This might be a compromise also - Paul Gauguin Luxury Cruise - m/s Paul Gauguin - PADI onboard and some sort of retractable watersports platform: Paul Gauguin Luxury Cruise - m/s Paul Gauguin - Watersports Marina

Assuming you've got an extra $25K or so you're not using...

While the diving may be liveaboard-like off the Paul Gauguin when the skiff picks up at the fold-down stern, at best they'll schedule two dives in a day, usually just one dive in most ports. We did every dive possible on our 11-night trip to the Marquesas and only managed to log five total (would have been six, but they canceled the night dive in Bora Bora). Five dives over 11 nights is hardly liveaboard diving, plus you pay dearly for each dive instead of having the diving included in the fare as with a liveaboard. It also might not be the answer for seasickness - some of the crossings can be pretty rough and I was bounced around more on that boat than on at least a few of the real liveaboards I've done.

Pricewise, however, it's actually cheaper than many liveaboards out there even with the cost of diving figured in. A week in a porthole cabin currently goes from $3,000 to $4,500 per person, but note that this includes air fare to/from Tahiti which normally goes for around $1,200 alone. Subtracting that from the published fare yields $1,800 to $3,300 for the actual cabin for the week and that's very comparable to liveaboard prices, especially when you consider all the other included items: a larger and much nicer cabin than any liveaboard, far better food and drinks (including all alcoholic beverages from dinner wines to pina coladas), entertainment, and even a swimming pool.

 

[ewaiea]

Does it have to be an Aggressor boat? Aquacat has some off-boat non-dive activities that she might like to do while you're diving - Adventure Travel - Aqua Cat Cruises

Since it's a wide catamaran it's going to more stable than any of the mono-hull liveaboards also.

A similar option is the Cuan Law in the BVI's - they do a lot of non-dive activities also. It's a sailing trimaran - 44' wide. Activities in the British Virgin Islands

I second the above quote. Cuan Law and Aqua Cat - though I have not been on either - would be great choices. Stable boats that seems to cater well to non-divers.

I was on the Star Dancer in Papua New Guinea in April of this year. There was a couple from Colorado who were on board and the husband dove and the wife did not. She had been on two other liveaboards before and seems to really enjoy it. She brought a few books to read, found a shady spot on the sun deck and just enjoyed her entire 10 days on board. A very nice couple - if you're wife understands that there will be alot of time spent just lazing around (which so many of us love!) than I think she will enjoy a liveaboard.

You never know, she might want to "try" diving while onboard. The Aqua Cat for sure has a discover scuba program that could lead into an open water certification.

Liveaboard schedules usually have several shallow dive sites (especially in the late afternoon and night time) which if your wife wants to go diving to try it but doesn't not want to go balls to the wall - she might enjoy just the shallow dives.

Good luck!

 

[BTravlin]

In addition to what others have said about the Cuan Law above, another plus is that it sails almost entirely within the Sir Francis Drake Channel . This affords some protection from the open sea and therefore seasickness should be less of an issue. Loved that trip and the food was the best by far of all the liveaboard's I've been on so far.