Liveaboard vs. Bonaire

[jpassov]

We went to Bonaire last May, and just loved it! We are considering a liveaboard for our next trip and wanted some feedback on costs, and comparisons.

A week in Bonaire ran us about $1000 ea. for unlimited shore diving and rental truck for 6 days (NOT including airfare, and food, drink, etc.)

Are there any liveaboards that compare to that price?

When you break it down as a per dive cost, Bonaire is really hard to beat and we really loved the freedom to be able to dive whenever and wherever we wanted.

This is why we think we would love to try a liveaboard.

Any feedback would be welcome!

Thanks.

 

[drrich2]

I've been to Bonaire 4 times; haven't done a live-aboard (my wife & buddy are sea sickness prone & nixed the idea fast). I find airfare to Bonaire pretty expensive. And the live-aboard would include food & (depending on what you imbibe) drink.

Blackbeard's in the Bahamas is often called 'camping at sea' and seems to be a budget live-aboard operation that many people enjoy. AquaCat is the more 'upscale' version from what I've read (& what I'd pick, if money weren't tight).

Just to get a rough idea, take your airfare + other Bonaire trip costs, and then find out what airfare & Blackbeard's would cost. Then do the AquaCat. If you want to hit the Bahamas, such as maybe for a shark dive. Otherwise maybe consider a live-aboard off Belize?

Richard.

 

[Wookie]

When you say unlimited shore diving, did you actually do 5 per day? That's what you'll get on a liveaboard. Did you eat 5 meals a day? You will (and you'll need it) on a liveaboard. Did you enjoy a different restaurant every night? You won't have that opportunity on a liveaboard. Would you like a little privacy? You won't find that on a $1,000 liveaboard. What you'll get is awesome diving, you'll dive your butt off, you'll do nothing but eat, sleep, and dive. That's what you'll get on a liveaboard.

 

[diversteve]

I've been to many of the really good Caribbean locations (Bonaire, Grand Cayman, Curacao, Roatan, Utila, etc.) and find that I prefer liveaboard diving. For one thing, it's basically effortless - just gear up and go 4-5 times per day. No lugging gear around and stumbling over the ironshore or whatever. Also the diving I've done has been more varied - after about the 3rd day, everything on Bonaire started to look similar. Also I like larger stuff like sharks, turtles, rays etc. as well as small stuff.

Unless you want to do Blackbeards, I doubt you'll find a week for around $1000. Sometimes Cat Ppalu - the 3rd Blackbeards boat - sells unfilled charter space for around $1500 - they're also out of Nassau.

Another option is to get on Explorer Ventures mailing list - for their specials they often advertise $500 off per person. Their lower cabins on T/C Explorer are $1895 so at $500 off that's $1395 plus port fees of IIRC $115. Provo is about $6-700 R/T from here depending on time of year. They pick you up at the airport for $40 r/t so that plus dinner in town Friday night and crew tip are your only other expenses. The price includes all meals and their alcohol. Nice thing about the Explorer is it has 3 decks and real cabins, not shared bunks like Blackbeards. Also even the lower cabins are en-suite and there's no water restrictions. It's also twice as long as the Blackbeards boat and much more roomier obviously.

They also offer the same deal on their NE Caribbean trips - Saba/St Kitts. but from here we couldn't make the flights work economically or w/o long travel times or a layover.

We did Turks/Caicos last spring, saw lots of sharks, so many rays it was boring, turtles, barracuda, big lionfish and lots of reef fish. Also lots of tiny fish colonies surround many of the coral heads, I shot some macro one day within sight of the boat. At French Cay and West Caicos the wall is really healthy since it's just off a deep trench so there's lots of nutrient upwellings. We didn't see any but there's supposed to be some big grouper there also. And an occasional dolphin.

Another option from here (Phx) is the Sun Dancer out of Belize. It's $1895, flights are $4-600 and they pick you up at the airport. There's 2 non-stop flights daily. Beats the red-eye to Bonaire...

A last option might be the Midriff Island (Sea of Cortez) trips on Rocio Del Mar. While more $$, ($2295) the boat is almost new and leaves out of Puerto Penasco (Rocky Point) There's a shuttle from Sky Harbor that's $100 r/t. Afaik, the only other expenses would be the $25 park fee and crew tip.

hth,

 

[ElChe]

In the Egyptian Red Sea it's easy to find an all inclusive liveaboard for 1000 USD but certainly the airfare would be expensive. Every destination is different, I don't think it's easy to compare a shore based trip to a liveaboard, After several great Red Sea liveaboard trips nowadays I think about traveling to a destination like Bonaire...

 

[Mossman]

We went to Bonaire last May, and just loved it! We are considering a liveaboard for our next trip and wanted some feedback on costs, and comparisons.

A week in Bonaire ran us about $1000 ea. for unlimited shore diving and rental truck for 6 days (NOT including airfare, and food, drink, etc.)

Are there any liveaboards that compare to that price?

When you break it down as a per dive cost, Bonaire is really hard to beat and we really loved the freedom to be able to dive whenever and wherever we wanted.

This is why we think we would love to try a liveaboard.

Any feedback would be welcome!

Thanks.

Others have pointed out that you can get a liveaboard that will include food and drink for only $1,000 each, but that means very little privacy. On the other hand, when you figure that a liveaboard will include the cost of food, often booze or at least beer/wine too, boat diving, and the services of trained guides that are handy for spotting or for leading dives in unfamiliar areas, they can still be a good deal at $2,000 each or more. The fact is, Bonaire's shore diving sets it apart from other destinations. If you want to experience other places, you're not comparing Bonaire prices, but land-based prices in the other areas vs. the dive quality. If you want to experience the sharks of Turks & Caicos, for instance, it doesn't matter that you can do Bonaire for $1,000 a week. The real question is, can you dive with sharks in T&C from land-based operations at decent sites and get in as many dives in as you would on a liveaboard for the same price? Since the best sites that we did from the T&C Aggressor were at French Cay, which is too far for a land-based operation, there was no real land-based comparison at any price.

Decide first what other areas have diving that's different than what Bonaire offers, then research liveaboard vs. land-based in those areas. Bonaire is great, TBS, but it's a big world out there.

 

[vladimir]

We went to Bonaire last May, and just loved it! We are considering a liveaboard for our next trip and wanted some feedback on costs, and comparisons.

A week in Bonaire ran us about $1000 ea. for unlimited shore diving and rental truck for 6 days (NOT including airfare, and food, drink, etc.)

Are there any liveaboards that compare to that price?

When you break it down as a per dive cost, Bonaire is really hard to beat and we really loved the freedom to be able to dive whenever and wherever we wanted.

This is why we think we would love to try a liveaboard.

Any feedback would be welcome!

Thanks.

I have done 10 liveaboards to 8 destinations, and they all had better diving than Bonaire (including the Belize Aggressor), in my opinion. What sets Bonaire apart, as you say, is "the freedom to be able to dive whenever and wherever we wanted." Liveaboards offer varying degrees of freedom, depending mostly on the diving conditions. Some offer whenever. The Belize Aggressor, for example, anchors and opens the dive deck; dive at your leisure. The Telita, in PNG, not only opened the dive deck but put the dinghy at our disposal, so we had the whenever and a little of the wherever too. But you'll always be constrained by where the boat is moored, at least. On a lot of boats you'll be on a tight schedule of divemaster-led dives that can feel pretty regimented at times--quite the opposite of what Bonaire offers.

Decide what you want out of your vacation. Factor in the quality of dives when you compute your per-dive cost (I find Bonaire diving gets a little repetitious after a while). The ideal arrangement, which I managed for a few years, would be doing liveaboards with a laid-back week in Bonaire thrown in every now and then.

 

[Mossman]

I have done 10 liveaboards to 8 destinations, and they all had better diving than Bonaire (including the Belize Aggressor), in my opinion. What sets Bonaire apart, as you say, is "the freedom to be able to dive whenever and wherever we wanted."

With the exception of T&C and Belize, which I found to be different than Bonaire in lots of ways but not necessarily better or worse, and maybe the San Benitos Islands, I'd agree that all the rest of my liveaboard diving (11 liveaboards to 10 destinations) has been better than Bonaire. However, that's because I've sought out some of the best liveaboard dive experiences in the world regardless of cost or travel hassle. I could also name some areas plied by liveaboards where the diving won't be as good as in Bonaire.

I complete agree that some liveaboards have demanding dive schedules, almost the opposite of dive freedom. However, most liveaboards make it so easy to gear up and get in the water that you don't mind the lack of freedom as much. In fact, I find it the lack of freedom quite relaxing as you can have a vacation without any decisions to make: you eat what they serve, you dive when and where they tell you to dive, nothing to worry about but the big decisions like macro vs. wide angle, beer or wine with dinner, stay up and watch a movie or crash early. Bonaire is dive integrated, but a liveaboard is total dive immersion.

 

[Queequeg]

Comparing a live aboard to Bonaire really is two different animals. I LOVE Bonaire and wouldn't trade my annual week there for anything. However...we love other diving as well, including live aboards. We strive to do both. So we never forgo our week in Bonaire..which to us is the most relaxing carefree and independent dive vacation a couple in love could do. yes..I'm married..for 21 years now. Bonaire is like our annual honeymoon.

Liveaboards are fun, enjoyeable but I've been on a couple where a few people have left me with the feeling of wanting to jump overboard..they were that annoying. And some I left with life long friends. The weather is always a factor too. While I could rough it out and my dive buddies would consider it adventurous...My wife doesnt consider it so much fun.

Anyway...I cant ever feel I can pass over Bonaire for anything. However..a week on a good live aboard is a vacation you'll always remember and some of my most memorable weeks of diving have been on a live aboard. If its at all possible..separate the two as different adventures and do both or decide what it is you really want out of a dive vacation. Is it to just spend a relaxing ..possibly romantic week diving..as in Bonaire..or do you want to experience new diving in remote locations.

To Date..the best diving I have done has been the Caymans...and believe it or not..the Bahamas. However..I've done many other places...But these two dives have stuck with me..they were both Live aboards.....not the only ones we've done...but the most memorable and enjoyable trips I can recall. Ahh..But Bonaire..has a special place in our hearts and if were up to my wife...we'd do no other diving than there. Yeah..its not the best diving in the world..but its very nice easy, relaxing diving...with lots of critters to see...and I love the independence and restaurants and feeling of the island....

Yeah..this didnt help you at all..I know.

For Live aboards...dont do Blackbeards...its camping at sea at best. If you want an unbelievable, unforgettable live aboard experience..think about AquaCat, Aggressor Fleet/Dancer fleet ann hope for good weather and great company.

 

[farsidefan1]

I agree it is not a fair comparison at all. I would take the live aboard 10 out of 10 times. Of course I'm having a total knee replacement in 2 weeks. I found the shore diving to be very difficult to negotiate with my knee. I enjoyed the diving at Bonaire but was certainly not overwhelmed by it. Glad you enjoyed it though, it is very nice diving.