How to get best deal on liveaboard?

[stanky1]

Hello,

My daughter is doing a college internship at the University of Sydney in marine biology and wants to dive the GBR before she comes home in early August. She would like to try one of liveaboards out of Cairns. How should she proceed to get the best price on a trip? I have read elsewhere on ScubaBoard that operators will offer last minute deals. What is considered last minute, an hour, a day, a week? Is the end of July considered high season? Do you need to be actually in Cairns to negotiate a last minute deal or can these be secured over the phone from Sydney? If anyone can share their experience or knowledge on this subject I would appreciate it. PM me if you prefer to discuss it that way. Thanks!

 

[El Orans]

Contact [user]Andrew Jones[/user]. He's a local in Cairns and help you with your questions.

 

[Eau_Girl]

Yep, I second El Orans' advice to contact Andrew Jones! He will give good advice and knows all of the operators but still independent.

 

[MA]

i've been on a lot of liveaboards you get what you pay for. for the best GBR experience you need to get to the Ribbon reefs. Probably the cheapest boat going out there is the Taka.

The really cheap options are cheap for a reason.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Can you get a good deal by booking at the last minute? I don't think that question was answered and I'd love to know. We are lucky enough to be flexible and book at the last minute. If it saves us some money, it helps offset airfares.

 

[Eau_Girl]

Can you get a good deal by booking at the last minute? I don't think that question was answered and I'd love to know. We are lucky enough to be flexible and book at the last minute. If it saves us some money, it helps offset airfares.

Again Andrew Jones is a good contact. He knows all of the operators and gets a heads-up when they offer a last minute deal. He can advise you on availability during different periods of the year. He can give you an idea of what to expect at the different pricing levels.

I understand the desire to save some money, but remember if you are traveling that far during a busy period the boats could fill up, and you might miss out on something you really want to do. It's a trade-off.

 

[thanksforallthefish]

I recall not so long ago Andrew was offering cheap liveaboard deals as a lastminute thing, I have no idea how often these happen, but as the others have said contact Andrew.

 

[chrisal]

We recently booked direct with Mike Ball on Spoilsport - it was within 10 days of the booking there was one club cabin left and they offered us a 30% discount. A great trip. My advice would be to ring around about 7-10 days away from your trip and deal direct. Australian companies/businesses seem much more open to negotiation than those in the UK which is where i'm from.

Had a great trip on Spoilsport, conditions below water were perfect but it was a little windy up top!

 

[Darnold9999]

Was there a couple of years ago - called last minute to Taka - boat was full, next choice was Mike Ball - they had one spot left gave me a 30% discount if I took it on the spot (by phone). Did and had a great trip.

Bottom line is you can get a great deal last minute, but you can also lose out if the boats are full. A very long way to go and miss the trip you want.