Internet access on liveaboards

[robint]

Hi,
I'm trying to plan my first proper dive trip with my husband (I'm doing all the planning....)
I have 8-9 days and planning to go the last week in Nov/1st week in Dec. We're not very experienced divers so I'm considering Honduras.
Anyway, I would like to consider a 7-day liveaboard, but my other half will only consider it if there is internet access (something to do with him working )
Does anyone know of any Caribbean liveaboards with internet access? Would a liveaboard be suitable for inexperienced divers?, Honduras?

Thanks,

Dee

I think you may want to go land-based instead of a liveaboard for your "first" proper dive trip. If your dive buddy wants to work on the trip, he isn't going to be getting his money's worth on a liveaboard trip. The point of liveaboards is to get out away from land, and dive dive dive. Since liveaboards average about DOUBLE the $$$$$, why would you want to go on one and only do 1-2 dives per day then sit around on your laptop???

Now, as far as going to Roatan - yes, it would be a great destination. There are a couple of great all-inclusive resorts, all with internet access, and the diving is beginner to advanced, perfect for you.
Look at:
Welcome to CoCo View Resort
www.fantasyisland.com
All Inclusive Roatan Resort & Roatan Diving | Anthony's Key Resort

robin

 

[Damselfish]

If he really needs to be connected a liveaboard probably isn't the best choice. And if he plans to work a lot it may be a waste for him - but at least you can always dive with someone else while he works. (Any service you can get will be expensive - see if his company will pay, and if they won't maybe it's not all that important.

Kona Aggressor I've heard called the "Cell Phone Aggressor" - you'd probably have good cell coverage for much of the trip, though you could lose it for a couple days too depending where they go. So if he has a cell modem might do ok and the diving is easy but it's a long trip if you just have a week. Some boats have email service - you can't actually browse the web in general and get access to your regular email, you get a special email address to use for the duration and not cheap. TAKA in Australia had internet service on much of the route we were on, it was regular service that you could access stuff normally, but again not cheap, and it's use didn't really seem encouraged either. Probably cut into the crew's bandwidth.

Land based, some places have much better service than others, but even places that normally have pretty good service can have quirks and extended problems.

 

[deepstops]

If he really needs to be connected a liveaboard probably isn't the best choice. And if he plans to work a lot it may be a waste for him - but at least you can always dive with someone else while he works. (Any service you can get will be expensive - see if his company will pay, and if they won't maybe it's not all that important.

Kona Aggressor I've heard called the "Cell Phone Aggressor" - you'd probably have good cell coverage for much of the trip, though you could lose it for a couple days too depending where they go. So if he has a cell modem might do ok and the diving is easy but it's a long trip if you just have a week. Land based, some places have much better service than others, but even places that normally have pretty good service can have quirks and extended problems.

Damselfish beat me to the post. A laptop with an cellular aircard would work on the Kona Aggressor, you'll rarely be out of general cellular coverage.

 

[RonFrank]

Hi,
I would like to consider a 7-day liveaboard, but my other half will only consider it if there is internet access (something to do with him working )

Hi Dee,

You may want to qualify *internet Access*. Does he need it daily, every other day, full time? If the answer is the later, than skip a liveaboard. If he just want to be able to check him email, and respond a couple of time on the trip, you should talk to the Captain(s), and ask them if that is available and what it would cost.

 

[octopuppy]

In August, on Kona Aggressor, iPhone surf'n and calling worked fine all week. A good "first time" liveaboard.

 

[darkstar]

When I was there in Feb, the Belize Aggressor had Internet access suitable for sending and receiving email. I think it was satellite based and may be a standard configuration for the fleet. I think I remember it being something like $10-$15/MB. My dive buddy used it a few times to check on his business and said it worked fine. They provide you with a temporary email account with their service provider, and you send/receive from that account.

There was absolutely no cell signal on the outer cays.

Many of the Caribbean locations are good for new divers (light currents, good visibility, good stuff above 60 feet). For instance, Belize was like a big swimming pool when I was there in Feb and since all the dives are basically along walls, you'd have to try pretty hard to get lost. I'm back there for the first week on Nov with a freshly certified friend with only 10 dives under his belt.

 

[walke121]

I know all commercial boats must have boattracs or a similar system. I would think that livaboards prob. have a similar type of communication system. The boat has an email account set up through this. I spend lots of time on commercial boats and have used boattracs to send out email numerous time. As stated above it is expensive. I dont know if the captain would let your husband use this but it couldn't hurt to ask.

 

[mike_s]

I know all commercial boats must have boattracs or a similar system. I would think that livaboards prob. have a similar type of communication system. The boat has an email account set up through this. I spend lots of time on commercial boats and have used boattracs to send out email numerous time. As stated above it is expensive. I dont know if the captain would let your husband use this but it couldn't hurt to ask.

the problem with it that goes along with the expense is "how to itemize out the expense" to who's using it. For Liveboards, the demand is not there to have some sort of software that tracks it and bills it out to the customers. (not for 15 to 20 passengers).

then some customer runs up a high bill and thinks it's too high, then the boat has to deal with an upset customer over something STUPID.


I'd say that 95% of folks on a Liveaboard trips would love to have an internet connection for OCCASIONAL checking email or emailing some "having a great time" pictures, but they aren't willing to pay extra for it, or aren't willing to pay more than say $10 or $15 bucks for it.

Boat captains just don't want to have to mess with this stuff on a daily basis.


My thoughts are if someone really has to have it that bad, rent a SAT Phone/modem and hook it up. Once you see what it costs, chances are you'll change your mind.

 

[vadiver1]

Thank you all for the advice!

We'll try a land-based holiday this time, especially as there's probably lots to explore on land (if we go to Roatan)
I know it's a little late, so I'm working feverish nthephone: see if there are still any spots at Fantasy Island or Coco View.

FYI- The next time I want to go on a liveaboard, internet or not, I'm jolly well going

Cheers!
Dee

 

[Wookie]

then some customer runs up a high bill and thinks it's too high, then the boat has to deal with an upset customer over something STUPID.


I'd say that 95% of folks on a Liveaboard trips would love to have an internet connection for OCCASIONAL checking email or emailing some "having a great time" pictures, but they aren't willing to pay extra for it, or aren't willing to pay more than say $10 or $15 bucks for it.

Boat captains just don't want to have to mess with this stuff on a daily basis.


My thoughts are if someone really has to have it that bad, rent a SAT Phone/modem and hook it up. Once you see what it costs, chances are you'll change your mind.

You are exactly right, Mike. Any boat with an Inmarsat or Irridium system (by far the most popular) have the option of using chatcards for their crew, and customers if they desire. Chatcards come with a pre-set number of minutes or bytes, depending on the value of the card. The passenger buys the card (usually in denominations of $25, $50, or $100), scratches off their PIN number, and uses their card in the manner they would like. The card is good for 2 years once activated, and it doesn't matter what phone it is used on as long as the service provider doesn't change. That chatcard may be bought and activated prior to departure, saving the passenger a few bucks.

It's kind of funny to see someone who bought a $25 dollar card's face when they run out of time 10 minutes into a conversation. "What do you mean you only get 10 minutes?" "But sir, I told you it was $2.50 per minute". Better yet is the guy who just hits the send/receive button on his computer, and downloads 6 or 7 Mb of spam. "Sir, I told you to log onto webmail."

Frank