liveaboard experience

[snowfish]

Hello out there,
We are a group of 4 French Canadians looking for a liveabord trip somewhere in the caribbean in early january 2005.It would be our first time on a liveaboard; is it a good idea? We just don't appreciate the "all inclusive hotels" We have been to Cozumel, Roatan and would like to discover other areas.

 

[Damselfish]

Sounds like a great idea to me. What's the question? Here's all my bookmarks, covers most of the major liveaboard ops in the Carribean, though there's certainly other boats. All depends on where you want to go and how much you want to spend.

http://www.aggressor.com/
http://www.peterhughes.com/
http://www.bvidiving.com/
http://www.nektoncruises.com/
http://www.explorerventures.com/
http://www.aquacatcruises.com/

 

[MikeC]

A friend was on the Cayman Aggressor in August. She loved it. One of her companions is already scheduling her next liveaboard trip. The only issue I can think of is storm damage. Check before you book the trip. Enjoy.

 

[DandyDon]

I am not very experienced at liveaboards, either; perhaps those members will be along shortly?

Liveaboards are certainly popular with those who have done them. For me, it took a lot of thought to commit to being on one for a week, but I have scheduled a BlackBeards for deadweek after Christmas. These are said to be a little on the stoic side, "camping at sea." http://www.blackbeard-cruises.com/?OVRAW=blackbeards&OVKEY=blackbeards&OVMTC=standard

A nicer one I'd like to do in the near future would be Caribbean Explorer for the Leewards including Saba: http://www.caribexplorer.com/

almtree:​

 

[Knavey]

I did the Nekton Rorqual last summer...was a BLAST. Do a search and you will come up with several well written trip reports from people who have done Nekton's trips, and they have very few negative things to say about them. They aren't the cheapest one out there, but the extra $$$ is well worth it.

 

[saying]

Was on the Nekton Rorqual just a few months ago. Same experience as Knavey: it was awesome.

Typical schedule everyday:
07:00 - wake up call
07:30 - breakfast
08:30 - dive briefing and first dive
10:00 - snacks
11:00 - second dive
12:30 - lunch
13:30 - third dive
15:00 - snacks
16:30 - fourth dive
18:00 - dinner
19:30 - some sort of presentation on turtles or Parrotfish or something
20:30 - night dive
22:00 - rum
23:30 - bed

Yeah, I'd argue at great length that liveaboard diving is the awesomest experience possible.

 

[ClassAction]

Is a liveaboard more like a nice hotel? Or camping?

 

[saying]

Is a liveaboard more like a nice hotel? Or camping?

A little bit of both, at least with Nekton it was.

You're treated like and you eat as though you're at a nice hotel... but you never wear shoes and everything smells slightly dank (you are living at sea for the week, after all).

Inarguably luxurious, though.

 

[Damselfish]

Is a liveaboard more like a nice hotel? Or camping?

Depends on the boat. Something like Blackbeards is like camping at sea. Something like a Peter Hughes boat I wouldn't think of as camping at all.