Liveaboard opinion

[jhopmed]

I was wondering if people have recommendations on which liveaboard to do. It'll be our first time in Indonesia and doing a live aboard. Just wanted peoples opinion on which would be the best experience for our first time diving in Indonesia.

We're looking at the Dewi Nusantara which is focused around Raja Ampat.

Dewi Nusantara

Dewi Nusantara is a 57mt/180ft three-masted wooden schooner taking 18 passengers through premium liveaboard experiences in the Indonesian archipelago.

www.liveaboard.com

Or, were looking at the Seahorse which would go from the forgotten Islands to the ring of fire. Seahorse

 

[tursiops]

Aggressor, No.
Dewi Nusantara, Yes.
Mermaid Fleet, Yes.

 

[also_anon_dc]

Liveaboards vary greatly- primarily based on budget. You should mention your max budget and other things that are important (or not important) to you on a liveaboard.

 

[Darnold9999]

Between those two I would choose Dewi because it is Raja, but both would be excellent.

There are a large number of choices out there. Budget and itinerary is really the major difference, and budget typically gets you more amenities but mostly the diving is the same on the same itinerary. The difference (in the diving) between a lower cost boat and a more upscale boat is the number and sometimes quality of the guides. More $ is fewer guests per guide. A lower cost boat may not travel as far as a more expensive trip as distance = fuel = $.

On the amenities more $ = better food, and larger accommodation as well as "luxury" touches.

 

[jhopmed]

Max budget is 8k pp.

Haven't done a liveavoard before so I'm not sure what to expect. I'm looking at the longer trips between the Seahorse and Dewi above since they have space, for my schedule, and are on the longer side and (figure I might as well since it's not close). From a liveavoard, my priorities would be safety, dive master knowledge, and a smaller ratio to guide to guests diving.

Diving wise we want to get the best opportunity to see the wildlife and corals. With that, would it be better to do the Dewi's itinerary where it stays in Raja Ampat or the Seahorse's itinerary that goes from the Forgotten Islands to the Ring of Fire to get the best exposure in Indonesia?

 

[Darnold9999]

Definitely longer is better. You are travelling a long way, make the best of it. You might want to spend a few days diving in Bali or the like before the liveaboard. The trip from Denver to Indonesia is long and you will be jetlagged. If you go directly to the liveaboard I find I spend the first couple of days recovering from jet lag and barely remember the diving, that is an expensive couple of days at liveaboard prices. Whereas Bali is cheap in comparison. Depends if you can easily add the time to the trip or you are vacation limited.

My marginal preference would be to dive RA - you will see the best of Indonesia. Forgotten Islands and Ring of Fire while great would not be my first choice, but is definitely a good choice. Also a slightly greater risk of adverse weather on that trip. The Ring of Fire arc of islands is very exposed if weather comes in. Low risk typically if liveaboards are scheduled, but weather is not always cooperative. If you do that trip and you are leaving from Ambon do a couple of dive days in Ambon Bay before the liveaboard if possible. A plus on the Ring of Fire cruise is that you will likely not see another liveaboard on the trip, while you will likely see several on the RA trip.

I would doubt there is much difference between the two boats you are looking at in terms of safety, Dive Master knowledge and guide to diver ratio. I have been on the Dewi and it is a very large comfortable boat with a few more divers than Seahorse but when I was on it they split the divers into two groups and you rarely saw the other group in the water. Have not been on Seahorse but have been on another Wallacea boat and was no difference between that and Dewi.

 

[Shasta_man]

I have been on the Dewi in RA for 12 nights and would highly recommend. It is a very large boat vs most liveaboards. At times, it was tough to tell we were on a boat but never felt like it was cumbersome. That said, we never had a problem getting into dive sites because they use skiffs and we went many places. It never felt crowded and we had great guides. The only real downside is you're starting at the top in terms of boat quality and location so your future trips will be measured against that.

I'd echo most of what Darnold9999 says in that you want to arrive a couple days in advance of the boat departure to both sleep and acclimitize.

I like to do all dives including night dives. Being at 80 feet every morning at 7:30 AM is surreal and nothing beats floating on the surface in bathtub warm water looking at every star in the sky after an amazing dive where you saw most of the critter id book. However, only tip not typically mentioned is these long trips can be marathon sessions where you have to pace yourself. While I typically equalize with no effort, halfway through my trip, I started getting something making it hard to equalize. Just in my ears, no other symptoms, but fatal to an expensive dive trip. Luckily the Dewi had medicine that resolved it from one day to the next. So have fun on day one but you still want to be diving on day nine because the dives just keep getting better.