Of all the liveaboards out there, is there a particular fleet or op that has larger vessels, newer with good amenities besides the great diving?
Liveaboard Size, Amenities
- Thread starter jar546
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
slingshot
Contributor
Okay, I'll have a go at this as the question has gone unanswered for a while. My understanding, incorrect as it may be, is that many boats affiliated with the larger "name brands" are franchises, and there can be great variability in size, age and amenities within a given fleet and between operators and locations. I think that you would therefore be best served by thinking about what sort of amenities you may be most interested in, and what sort of boat features you desire. You can get massages on trimarans, soak in hot tubs on catamarans, sip good wine on monohulls, and lots of variation in between. And for my two cents worth, I've been on some very well maintained older vessels like the Cuan Law and Caribbean Explorer II in which vessel age was not a factor for me at all. If it's an older vessel still in service in the competitive liveaboard industry, there may be something solid about its design or layout that keeps it in business. Have fun making your choice.
Darnold9999
Contributor
What slingshot said.
If you are looking for luxury try Damai or Paradise Dancer in Indonesia. Both quite new boats and very nice facilities. Damai has cabins that are twice or more the size of any other liveaboard I have been on, except Paradise Dancer where the cabins are just larger and nicer than any other boat but the Damai. Damai II has just been built and is supposed to be even better. Given the choice and with $ as no object I would choose one of the Damai boats.
If you are looking for size the Paradise Dancer is very large and stable. However size comes with divers. PD when full has 18 divers, Damai which is smaller takes 8. Most boats the size of Damai take 16 divers. Damai has an extremely flexible dive schedule. You can dive whenever you want - only one other boat I have been on had a similar policy and that boat is no longer in service.
Having said all of that, and as $ is a concern most of the time I have just booked 12 days on the Ondina about $200 per day less than Damai. All I really need is a place to sleep, good food and gas. A flexible dive schedule is a plus.
If you are looking for luxury try Damai or Paradise Dancer in Indonesia. Both quite new boats and very nice facilities. Damai has cabins that are twice or more the size of any other liveaboard I have been on, except Paradise Dancer where the cabins are just larger and nicer than any other boat but the Damai. Damai II has just been built and is supposed to be even better. Given the choice and with $ as no object I would choose one of the Damai boats.
If you are looking for size the Paradise Dancer is very large and stable. However size comes with divers. PD when full has 18 divers, Damai which is smaller takes 8. Most boats the size of Damai take 16 divers. Damai has an extremely flexible dive schedule. You can dive whenever you want - only one other boat I have been on had a similar policy and that boat is no longer in service.
Having said all of that, and as $ is a concern most of the time I have just booked 12 days on the Ondina about $200 per day less than Damai. All I really need is a place to sleep, good food and gas. A flexible dive schedule is a plus.
Similar threads
