Tristyn
New
When looking for a great Liveaboard, the best way to book is through Bluewater dive travel!
How to Pick the Best Liveaboard for Your Next Dive Vacation
- Thread starter PADI Travel
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
ScubaDadThree
Registered
All things considered, one of the best vacations I have ever had was two weeks on a 64 ft. flush deck Ketch. We left From Miami and sailed in and around the Bahamas. Find a likely spot, fill the tanks and over the side you go. All you have to do is keep track of your residual N2 for the next dive. Eventually the dive day ends or (boring!) decompression becomes your best friend. All the fresh(as in it was swimming 30-60 minutes ago) seafood you want. You are on deck from sun up to sun down so bring an abundance of sun screen. Best tan I ever had! If you bring a non-diving "friend", make sure they don't get seasick. One guy's girlfriend got sick as soon as we left the dock, and stayed that way for 2 weeks. Poor girl hated the water thereafter. I love diving, I love sailing, and I love seafood so it was a perfect trip for me,
Adventureseeker
New
Great article. If you're looking into liveaboards but want the value of knowing someone on board before you go, feel free to message me to see about getting on one of our trips. We are based in Florida and currently have openings for a budget friendly trip on Blackbeard's Cruises in the Bahamas.
Pamela Williams
New
A really good post, although I have to be a little pedantic
Most destination, have multiple liveaboards that all follow the same route. Consequently you'll be anchored near them and likely to be on a site with other divers from a different boat. That said a quite a few operators try to liaise with other boats to schedule their dives on sites so as not to over whelm them, but not all do
More often than not people are fooled by the sail boat idea. Generally the sails are only hoisted once pre trip for a photo op., The rest of the trip is carried out under power. I don't have an issue with this and have done both.
My boots are another thing entirely, and I have been known to swill them with warm water before the first dive
Totally agree I use a Surf robe, great for pre and post the morning dive, after the night dive and in between dives I don't find it too warm and it dries easily I just wear tee shirts and shorts after the last dive post shower
Most destination, have multiple liveaboards that all follow the same route. Consequently you'll be anchored near them and likely to be on a site with other divers from a different boat. That said a quite a few operators try to liaise with other boats to schedule their dives on sites so as not to over whelm them, but not all do
More often than not people are fooled by the sail boat idea. Generally the sails are only hoisted once pre trip for a photo op., The rest of the trip is carried out under power. I don't have an issue with this and have done both.
It never ceases to amaze me that most people hang up their wetsuit after a dive the right side out. Why? I always turn mine inside out to dry - or at least remove the wetness. This works in all but the most humid conditions (where nothing dries) I never suffer from having to put on a cold damp suite first thing in the morning.
My boots are another thing entirely, and I have been known to swill them with warm water before the first dive
Totally agree I use a Surf robe, great for pre and post the morning dive, after the night dive and in between dives I don't find it too warm and it dries easily I just wear tee shirts and shorts after the last dive post shower
caro94
New
Thanks for sharing. Great article. Although im new, i learned a lot from it.
caro94
New
Thanks for sharing. Great article. Though im new, i learned a lot from it.
Shawn McDonald
New
Thank you for a wonderful read! As a person who is very new and still in training, I would love a section for location "suitably".
The day I decided to go after my dream of scuba diving I started my research of the good and bad. My research eventually came to "liveaboards" and vacations abroad. I found that alot of them book out months and months. I have read many first hand experiences where locations were not suitable for a novice but advertised "ideal" by the company. Travel thousands of miles to swim waters way "above your head"? I don't think so. This can end very bad.
Maybe you veterans can chime in with experiences to form consensus. Maybe a 1-10 grading system on difficulty? Times of year? Just food for thought.
Shawn
The day I decided to go after my dream of scuba diving I started my research of the good and bad. My research eventually came to "liveaboards" and vacations abroad. I found that alot of them book out months and months. I have read many first hand experiences where locations were not suitable for a novice but advertised "ideal" by the company. Travel thousands of miles to swim waters way "above your head"? I don't think so. This can end very bad.
Maybe you veterans can chime in with experiences to form consensus. Maybe a 1-10 grading system on difficulty? Times of year? Just food for thought.
Shawn
Shawn McDonald
New
****Location Suitability****
drrich2
Contributor
One thing I wish for, not just in live-aboard trips but even land-based, is a contrarian assessment; a list of barriers, problems, etc..., that a person needs to know about when considering the trip. One thing you don't want is the wrong customer having an awful time at the wrong destination, coming home & badmouthing it and/or the dive op. online to whoever will listen. A successful sell to the wrong person can cost you.
From what I've read, others have indicated Galapagos diving is 'challenging.' Cocos Island has been mentioned in this thread; I enjoyed a trip report discussing how long it takes to get to/from it, how remote it is and how you'd better have your dive travel insurance paid up because an evacuation could entail major cost. The Great Barrier Reef of Australia has enormous name recognition, but website DiveMedicals.com.au states "As a result, the regulations, requirements and medical standards relating to diving in Australia are amongst the strictest in the world, in order to ensure that Australia continues to be one of the safest places to dive in the world." Wonder how likely that is to knock a given customer out of some diving? If you show up for a live-aboard trip and don't answer 'No' to everything on the medical questionnaire, can you get a 'dive medical' done stat & still make the boat? Occasionally I read a trip report of someone on a live-aboard trip discovering English isn't the dominant language on the boat, or even being paired with a non-English-speaking dive buddy (I'm speaking from a U.S.-based perspective). IIRC, toilet paper is not universally available free for the taking in toilets in some Philippines locations (be nice to know that in advance).
How many unhappy trip reports have we seen on Scuba Board where the trip wasn't really 'bad' for that destination, but rather was a bad match for the dive tourist's goals and expectations?
Richard.
From what I've read, others have indicated Galapagos diving is 'challenging.' Cocos Island has been mentioned in this thread; I enjoyed a trip report discussing how long it takes to get to/from it, how remote it is and how you'd better have your dive travel insurance paid up because an evacuation could entail major cost. The Great Barrier Reef of Australia has enormous name recognition, but website DiveMedicals.com.au states "As a result, the regulations, requirements and medical standards relating to diving in Australia are amongst the strictest in the world, in order to ensure that Australia continues to be one of the safest places to dive in the world." Wonder how likely that is to knock a given customer out of some diving? If you show up for a live-aboard trip and don't answer 'No' to everything on the medical questionnaire, can you get a 'dive medical' done stat & still make the boat? Occasionally I read a trip report of someone on a live-aboard trip discovering English isn't the dominant language on the boat, or even being paired with a non-English-speaking dive buddy (I'm speaking from a U.S.-based perspective). IIRC, toilet paper is not universally available free for the taking in toilets in some Philippines locations (be nice to know that in advance).
How many unhappy trip reports have we seen on Scuba Board where the trip wasn't really 'bad' for that destination, but rather was a bad match for the dive tourist's goals and expectations?
Richard.
Similar threads
