Question Good beginner-ish live aboard destination

[Ares1590]

Me and my partner are both around 40ish dives each. By next year probably 60-70.

Curious what would be a good live aboard destination for our experience level for 2025. So many places but it’s too many to really understand.

Any thoughts or suggestions? Thanks.

 

[runsongas]

bahamas if you only have one week and don't want to fly too far

philippines if you have two weeks

 

[TravisD]

After we got certified, my wife and I's first Ocean diving was on a liveaboard - We had about 20 dives total under out belts at that time. We did Aquacat out of the Bahamas, and had a great time.

 

[lowwall]

Similans in Thailand. It's easy diving in warm water and the regular boats are relatively inexpensive for liveaboard. There are lots of inexperienced divers so they don't push any boundaries. You'll still want AOW before you go or they will probably limit you to 60'.

 

[rongoodman]

Agree with Bahamas, although mine was Saba—St. Kitts with Explorer Ventures and that worked out OK.

 

[Brett Hatch]

I have only done one live-aboard, the Belize Aggressor III in April of 2023. If you're near Dallas, the 3-hour American Airlines flight straight to Belize City should work for you.

I really enjoyed the boat, the staff, and the dives. Of course I expected the diving to be good, but was pleasantly surprised by the great food onboard. There is one dive, the Blue Hole, where you really need both a nitrox certification and AOW certification to make the most of it. Every other dive could be enjoyed perfectly well on air and in the OW depth range.