Live aboard for nondiving spouse?

[Saboteur]

My spouse is a beach person and likes to walk them...and walk... and walk. She enjoys snorkelling but is not "into it". Once every couple of days is fine. She does like kayaking, so that would be great if available. Thanks for the suggestions, I'm going to check out these particular boats.

 

[Pillpusher]

IMO, doing a liveaboard destination is a great excuse to take a solo trip and save a ton of money while you're at it...lol.

 

[diversteve]

My spouse is a beach person and likes to walk them...and walk... and walk

This is Long Bay - on Virgin Gorda. Near where they dropped the Kodiak Queen in April - the "new" BVI wreck.
http://bvivillarental.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Long-Bay-Beach-2.jpg
And this is Cow Wreck Beach off Anegada. http://www.rumtherapy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Cow-Wreck-8-O.jpg

I'm pretty sure the beach extends all the way around the island if you get out there - it's a little north of the other islands so I've only seen it from a distance https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe...tEndAerial.jpg/563px-AnegadaWestEndAerial.jpg

It's not walking a very long distance but there's also a bunch of small islets where often anyone dropped off has the whole island to themselves. This is Sandy Spit near Green Cat(diving nearby) http://www.bvivacation.com/images/sandy-spit-british-virgin-islands.jpg
Probably all of 10minutes to circumnavigate but it could be fun. There was another we rode by often - had two palm trees on the whole island plus what looked like a nice sandy entrance. Once there was one couple there - rental boat beached nearby, the other times it was deserted.

Some of the Gorda beaches have no road access so the only way there is via boat drop-off.

My point is I don't think she'll have much difficulty finding nearby beaches. At least on Gorda, there was no obvious crime - I rented a big villa (12 of us) and when asked about door keys, the mgr. said they didn't have/need them - nothing would be touched. He was right and I left laptop, cameras, even a lot of cash in my room all week.

 

[drrich2]

On the subject of too much dive talk, there's plenty because it's a shared passion of most customers and often crew, but on the 3 live-aboards (2 Caribbean) I've been on there was plenty of talk about other things. The customer base will hail from a range of areas and nations (my room mate on my 1st was from Austria), and people often like to discuss work and other roles. There will be 'people people' in the mix to keep the conversation moving. Since most aren't watching much t.v. or Internet-surfing, they turn to conversation to fill the surface interval time. Plus I've found most are friendly, likeable people.

You need not fear that it'll be non-stop dive logging & trip reports.

Richard.

 

[Cali_diver]

My spouse is a beach person and likes to walk them...and walk... and walk. She enjoys snorkelling but is not "into it". Once every couple of days is fine. She does like kayaking, so that would be great if available. Thanks for the suggestions, I'm going to check out these particular boats.

So many boats have kayaks and SUPs so I think you should just decide what you want to see under the water and then figure out weather or not they have the toys. You might consider Palau as well beautiful topside and excursions. Unfortunately, I don't think Jellyfish lake is open yet but maybe it will recover enough. She would be able to snorkel with mantas....

As for dive talk... it sure beats politics!! The farther you get away from the caribbean the more international travelers you will have and the majority of them speak English so there is always great conversations to be had.

 

[BDSC]

Just a word on the Aqua Cat. Great boat, food, and crew. However, the diving was OK at best and poor a lot of places. Not their fault but much of the reefs in that area are covered with a green crusty like algae with very little fish life. If they would change locations I'd book them again but not currently where they take you.

 

[Hoag]

Just a word on the Aqua Cat. Great boat, food, and crew. However, the diving was OK at best and poor a lot of places. Not their fault but much of the reefs in that area are covered with a green crusty like algae with very little fish life. If they would change locations I'd book them again but not currently where they take you.

How long ago was this trip? (I am booked on it for a trip in October.)

 

[BDSC]

Just looked back at my notes and we went in 2012 so some time has passed. Hopefully it has improved.

 

[Damselfish]

We did the Aqua Cat for 2 weeks late Sept/early Oct 2013. I don't recall algae like that (maybe it's seasonal, seems it even happens on Little Cayman sometimes.) But I don't recall the reefs being all that great either. I did think the Aqua Cat was a great experience all around and made the most of the diving available. There's definitely more space and more opportunities for other activities than on many boats, making it a better possibility for some non-divers. The trip overall was good enough that I might consider doing it again for an easy to get to (for us) pleasant week. But yeah, I'd be there in a second if they dove someplace better. And if it wasn't such a great boat/crew/food etc, there's no way I'd do it just for the diving.

The 2 week charter we were on went further south, and the diving wasn't particularly better. This could be partly because it was a bit exploratory and they didn't know the sites as well if at all. The diving was actually better when we did their regular sites that they knew.

 

[BDSC]

I will have more to say about the Sea of Cortez possibility after August 19th!