First Liveaboard Trip - What I Learned...

[Ana]

The socks have also worked for me but if you like the water in your toes (with full foot fins) you can avoid blisters by taping the toes from day one. The first aid isle in the drug stores have quite a selection of tapes, I like the spongy waterproof ones.
Of course the trick is using the tape "before" the redness/blister appears. I don't need to tape all 10 toes, usually a couple on each foot do the job.

 

[tterry1]

Find a friendly doctor who will prescribe an antibiotic (I think there's one called a "Z-pack" that takes five days) and antibiotic ear drops. Both have saved trips in remote parts of the world. When I've told my doctor where I'm going and what I'm doing, he's had no problems writing the prescriptions . . . after I agreed to a tetanus shot.

 

[Matt S.]

Excellent advice on the antibiotics!

For some destinations shots are suggested, so you may be seeing the doc already anyway.

 

[RJP]

Find a friendly doctor who will prescribe an antibiotic (I think there's one called a "Z-pack" that takes five days) and antibiotic ear drops.

Good advice, wrong product. (Antibiotic resistance to azithromycin is notoriosly high, which is why the average course of therapy on a Z-pak is TWO paks, instead of the intended ONE pak.) You're better off with a quinolone abx. I would get FloxinOtic ear drops and a three day supply of Levaquin 500mg tabs. (levofloxacin)

 

[NancyLynn]

Good advice, wrong product. (Antibiotic resistance to azithromycin is notoriosly high, which is why the average course of therapy on a Z-pak is TWO paks, instead of the intended ONE pak.) You're better off with a quinolone abx. I would get FloxinOtic ear drops and a three day supply of Levaquin 500mg tabs. (levofloxacin)

Bad advice - precisely for the reason you suggested: drug resistant bacteria. Over/misuse of antibiotics is a major reason that antibiotic resistance to azithromycin - and other antibiotics - is notoriously high.

MSRA, drug resistant TB , and other drug resistant bacterial infections are major public health issues.

To minimize the creation of additional antibiotic resistant strains, antibiotics should only be taken after evaluation of a particular infection by a physician who determines that it is caused by bacteria that is likely to be responsive to a specific antibiotic.

References:
MSRA: ("the massive overuse and misuse of antibiotics . . .fosters drug-resistant strains that can be difficult to treat. Article Viewer)

Drug Resistant TB ("But misuse of two, potent antibiotics, izoniazid and rifampacin, has made them ineffective in treating the disease, causing multi-drug resistance, or MDR-TB. Drug Resistant TB Is More Widespread Than Previously Believed )

On a more personal note - our family has unfortunately had some close up and ipersonal encounters with drug resistant bacteria - something I would not wish on anyone. . . . stepping down off my soapbox now.

 

[ketchumid]

We were diving in Palau last April and hooked up with some divers who were on their way to stay on the liveabaord. They did a couple of days with us diving with Sam's Tours before boarding their boat for a week. We kept running into them at all the dive sites, it was starting to get funny. While we went out for the day from the land base Sam's tours we would always see the Boston whaler form the live a board at the sites.

It looked like a fun time but I personally enjoyed staying in town, nice hotel, great ethnic restrurants every night, and getting to know the locals a bit more-

I think I would like to try a live a board but maybe a 3 day would be all I could handle.

Post some pictures if you could of your experience in Palau and your accommodations- it's such a great place for a diver.

 

[Rickg]

charlesml3,

I always take one pair of thin nylon socks to wear inside my booties. They are easy and light to pack and are almost dry between dives and are dry over night. Just finished a 7 day trip on MV Celebes Explorer in the Sipadan Island area followed by 4 more day on Mabul Island and not blister or sore spot one.

Rickg

 

[vanessar]

Gang,

I read a lot of threads on Liveaboard Dive ships before doing my first trip. There were some things I did right, others I could have done better. Here's a summary:

- If you're traveling across a lot of time zones for the trip, you really should get out there a few days early to adjust. I felt awful the 2nd day I was there after traveling from North Carolina to Palau. I went out three days early and by the time we boarded the Aggressor, I felt fine.

- Bring your "cool" water wetsuit. Even if you're diving in the tropics, you're going to start getting cold by about the third day. I started out with my "farmer john" but moved to my full 3mil after a couple of days.

I agree about getting there a couple of days early as it took a couple days for my bags to catch up to me in Palau. Additionally, a dry wet suit for a night dive is a good thing, wish I'd had one.

Vanessar

 

[charlesml3]

Here's another one I forgot to mention earlier. You're going to be making 4 or 5 dives a day and taking a LOT of photos. It's going to be impossible to remember where you were each time. Here's what I do:

- Before each dive, take a photo of the briefing whiteboard. It'll show the site name, depth, and most likely the route through.

When you download your photos to your computer, each section of photos will be preceded by a photo of the whiteboard indicating the site name.

-Charles

 

[sberanek]

My mom thought I was crazy taking pictures of signs and clocks when we were in Ireland. I used it as a reference for determing where all my pictures came from, and it turned out to be a reference she had to use to determine where all her pictures came from so she could put them in order in the album. (granted, my digital camera keeps them in order, but it helps in remembering what part of the trip each pic came from)

I left out the "I told ya so."

--Shannon