Live aboards what to expect?

[Doubler]

RJP Great post. Witty and so true. If you like being miserable there is no better place than a liveaboard to stew in the injustices happening to you on a trip "I paid for". On the reverse if you enjoy life and the freedom of diving there is also no place like a liveaboard. I always go for the later. Life is to short to have a week bitching about a slow toilet or lack of hot water ruin a perfectly good time. Make it part of the experience and enjoy every moment away from your work cubicle worrying about making next weeks payroll where you could also have a slow toilet or no hot water. Where would you really rather be?

 

[scubaskipper]

RJP hit the nail on the head. In three years of working on boats like this, I tend to see people bringing more non dive related stuff each week. They get so wrapped up in computers and photo shop that they missed the most perfect sun set of the week. They missed the dolphins playing at the bow or the whale spouts on the horizon. I can always sit at home and go over all the photos and play for hours tweaking them. This will make the trip last that much longer. Remember, these boats were probably built before all these computer gadgets came in fashion. There will be a limited amount of cords, plugs, etc... Some weeks it looks like a safety hazard all the cords going all over the place. It reminded me of a Grizwald's Christmas, all we needed was a cat. The amount and size of the camera gear seems to be increasing every year too. This often leads to a cramped camera table. Some people need to learn to play well with others. Just because you have the biggest camera doesn't mean you get the lion's share of the space. Lastly, most people bring too many cloths. Two swim suits, one pair of shorts, three tees, wind breaker and sweat shirt as well as a shaving kit, hat, sun glasses and sun screen. I live three months at a time on this amount of cloths, I'm sure you'll be fine for the week. Dive bag and carry on will be fine for the week. If you're a photographer, add a med. size pelican case. Too many bring 5 or more bags, there's only so much space on a boat.

 

[scubafanatic]

spare mask, especially if you use prescription lenses (and mask defog)

get NITROX certified, and use it! (and bring your C-cards)/DAN insurance cards.

stay hydrated, I bring a small plastic water squirt bottle and keep it out on deck in the dive bag, it's great for getting a swallow of water whenever I want, also use it to rinse off mask defog as I'd highly recommend you NOT use the communal mask bucket!

buy some dive socks to wear under booties, you will be doing a LOT of finning (25 - 30 hrs underwater over a week @ 4-5 dives daily) and blisters on those feet will really suck!

learn how to use your computer, bring a back up computer (preferably the same/similiar unit...and bring a paper copy of the owner's manual for you to reference...many divers who wait longish periods between dive trips sometimes forget all the details about how their computers work.

(about computers, I hope you're not diving a Sunnto computer, they are ultra conservative and you will get a lot less bottom time than other divers not using a Sunnto computer.)

don't forget the basic emergency signaling devices (decent sized safety sausage/air horn/strobe)

contact the boat and find out what gear they have on board to rent/loan on an emergency basis if your luggage is delayed, which might help you figure out what to bring on your carry on versus checked luggage. Most divers bring at least their reg/computers on their carry on.

make sure you're bring good fins you really like, or it's gonna be a really LONG week!

I keep and update my 'gear weight list' meaning I weigh my major gear items and put that on my inventory list, it helps me plan what gear/how much gear I can bring and how best to distribute it across however many bags and lbs-per-bag I'm allowed.

at least a pair of thin reef gloves is a good idea, for holding onto down lines in a current.

don't underestimate your thermal protection needs....you will be underwater a LOT, which drains heat and will drop your core temp over time, err on the conservative side, if you can't decide to go with 3 mm or 5 mm suit, go with 5 mm suit, for example...and wear a thin hood or beenie at least as something like 40% of heat loss is from the head/neck areas....this is one of the most common newbie diver or liveaboard diver mistakes, and if you calculate how much $ each dive is costing you, do you really want to have to sit out any dives because you're cold ?

 

[stimpy4242]

bring a spare air or small pony bottle, so when the ship sinks, you can get out of your room in the middle of the night....

We have booked the AquaCat for January 29th - February 5th 2011. The AquaCat is probably the premiere live aboard. The rate is $1995 all inclusive, that means taxes, fees, port fees too, they are all included in the $1995 rate. We have 10 spots filled, if you are interested contact our dive shop.

 

[RJP]

(about computers, I hope you're not diving a Sunnto computer, they are ultra conservative and you will get a lot less bottom time than other divers not using a Sunnto computer.)

Allow me to address this "part truth, part myth" issue that comes up often...

I have done ~200 liveaboard or other "4-5 dives a day for a week at a time" type of dives with a Suunto computer over the last few years. I can assure you that, while Suunto computers are somewhat more conservative than some others, the incremental conservativism will not reduce your bottom time in a truly meaningful fashion if you...

1. avoid sawtooth profiles
2. avoid dramatic reverse profiles
3. avoid rapid ascents; during dive and at the end
4. make good safety stops on every dive
5. observe adequate SI times

My buddy and I do every dive, every day, every trip. We are both very good on gas consumption. He uses an Oceanic computer. We have never ended/turned a dive because I was running out of NDL before him. In fact, we've almost never ended a dive for any reason other than gas supply - or attention span - anywhere in the world. I'm talking multiple trips like doing 28 wall dives off the Cayman Aggressor in a week, 57 deep dives in 17 days off the Truk Odyssey, 30 dives in a week on wrecks like the Thistlegorm off the Emperor Infinity in the Red Sea. Even land-based trips doing 32 dives in a week in Bonaire and 4 dives a day for several days in a row in FL, HI, CA, etc.

If Suunto's were SO conservative that they meaningfully curtailed bottom times based on anything other than "bad behavior" I would know it... and my Suunto would have been tossed overboard a L-O-N-G time ago.

:cool2:

 

[RJP]

bring a spare air or small pony bottle, so when the ship sinks, you can get out of your room in the middle of the night....

Or keep all your gear on an AL80 in your cabin, and you can do a nice long dive on "xxxxxx's newest wreck" the very same night it goes down!

:shocked2:

 

[H2O Gal]

RJP-
That is probably the most insightful post I have EVER read here on SB! BRAVO!:luxhello:

I wanna go with you on a liveaboard someday.....

 

[altaskier]

I am going on to the Great Barrier Reef leaving from Cairns and going with Deep Sea Divers Den's Ocean Quest liveaboard. I am going in 2nd week in September.

I went on the earlier version of this boat right after getting certified. I had a great time. However, this boat hangs out at the reefs that are somewhat closer to Cairns; you get there on one of the fast day boats and transfer. That's why you're able to choose just how many days you want to stay; the day boat meets up with it for transfers each day. The Ocean Quest moves around to different spots on the closer reefs, but these reefs see a lot more traffic than the ribbon reefs farther north do.

I've also been on the Mike Ball trip to the northern ribbon reefs, and that was even better!

My trip on the Ocean Quest was very cool, especially since it was my first time on a liveaboard. But if you make it back to Oz another time look at Mike Ball, Spirit of Freedom, or Taka for a trip farther north!

 

[ewaiea]

You all pose excellent points.....

I have to second the wearing of socks for protection...I went on my first liveaboard, the Kona Aggressor II last year and had an absolute blast! Two divers on board were so generous that they gave me their underwater lycra socks with some soft lining - they didn't fit great but were more than adequate because by my third day of Hawaiian diving I had some bad blisters - so I'm bringing those same socks back with me in two weeks when I leave for Papua New Guinea on the Peter Hughes Star Dancer!!!! Though I have some lycra socks that are more comfortable and easy to get on/off - hopefully they'll be adequate but I've got the thicker ones in the dive bag just in case.

Keep in mind that Australia (when you go) will be in their Austral winter, so definitely read up on average water temps. I would expect something in the range of 75-78 deg F. The Kona Aggressor had temps of 78-79 and I wore a 3mm all week and was fine, but win and doubt, bring an extra 3mm shorty and a beanie along just incase you want to add some thermal protection.

 

[James Bond boat entry]

I dived with Deep Sea Divers Den back in February but I was on Taka, overall the experience was good, but the crew stuck to themselves and didn't really interact with the guests, hopefully this doesn't happen on your boat.

Cairns in nothing special, so don't spend too much time hanging around there, make sure you visit The Woolshed for dinner, very cool establishment.