Liveaboard vs. cruise vs. Cozumel?

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

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

csky217

Contributor
Messages
81
Reaction score
10
Location
Baahston
# of dives
500 - 999
Never been on a liveaboard and would appreciate some input if anyone is so kind as to weigh in.

I've got a little vacation coming up at the end of January and was trying to decide between some last minute specials/options:

1. A week on a liveaboard, maybe the Nekton Pilot - Central Belize
2. A week on one of the NCL Hawaii cruises, with some diving in Maui and maybe Kona if the timing works out
3. A week or so in Cozumel
4. A non diving or minimal diving vacation (shocker!)

My travel buddy bailed, so it's just me. I've done about 75 dives and and AOW course. I've traveled solo before but never gone on dive trip by myself. I loved Cozumel pre-Wilma though part of that was probably the company on that trip. Oh, all right, the diving was pretty impressive too. :D Never been to Belize and always wanted to do a liveaboard, but the thought of 5 dives a day (and the premonition I'll catch a cold right before I go) is a little daunting when I've never done it before. And I've never been to Hawaii so it'd be new and exciting, though maybe not quite as good on the diving front.

If anyone has any experiences anything to add to the pros and cons, I'd really appreciate your thoughts. It's been a busy few months for me (am now 1/6 of the way through residency), and I can't decide if I should weigh things on the "relax" or "adventure" side of the equation.

Thanks for any input!
 
I've done both a liveaboard & the large ship cruise (of the Caribbean). It's really no big deal. On the cruise, on 1 dive I buddied up with another guy from my ship (we met at the gathering point for the diving trip). We were of similar experience & worked well together. The second dive of that trip, I was the only diver to show up for our time slot & I just went out with the dive master guides & had a great time. On the liveaboard (Blackbeard's) there were only 9 passengers (including myself) & of the 9, only 8 of us were divers. Of the 8 of us that were divers, only two came as a buddy pair. The rest of us had to develop our own buddy teams. I buddied up, for the most part of the week, with an instructor from Idaho & we had some really great dives (by that trip I was experienced & skilled enough (about 50 dives) that he said he didn't feel like he had to "baby sit" me & was relieved). If there was anyone who didn't have a buddy for a dive, we just shifted a little & had a team of 3 somewhere in the mix. No big deal. It is a bit of luck, but that's part of the adventure. I've been blessed by diving with those that can take in a single diver in & make a buddy team or a team of 3 or more. I can't say anything about staying at a diving resort as I've never done it. Don't let your status as being a single diver ruin your trip. It's a great way to meet new people & even make new friends. You get out of it what you put in. Hope this helps.
 
With just over a year and about to clear 40 dives, Cozumel and Blackbeard's have been my dive history to date. 19 in 1/06 for the OWC with my LDS on Blackbeard's and 12 more in Coz 3/06 and 10 more planned in a couple of weeks in Cozumel - I can totally recommend both!

Cozumel is drift diving at your convenience and the liveaboard experience was awsome. Mucho variety to the dives, Drift, Wreck, Night, Shark, Reef, Deep, what a way to go! Comeradere is paramount on a liveaboard. Ya gotta get along to get along. Pricewise both seem economical to me. Airfare is cheap to both Cozumel and Freeport. Dive operators charge a fair price but 19 dives to 10 over a 7 day period is the point of deference to me. Going alone? Plenty of buddies on a liveaboard, and I am sure any DM in Coz will oblige. Advance Communication to your Dive Operator will convince you of that. Plus on a liveaboard you can always off gas in a beautiful cay while you snorkel!
Have a great trip wherever you go!
TCD
 
csky217,
welcome to this board.
when i travel solo i go on a liveaboard.
you get a big bang out of your dive dollar.
good food.
nice folks.
good diving.
 
Have you actually checked with Nekton? They might be full already. I'd do Coz before I'd do a cruise. But that's just me.
 
After getting certified, my husband and I took a Celebrity cruise vacation. We immediately realized that for us diving and cruising do NOT mix. Diving was basically a hassle...or to put it more correctly, the cruise interferred with our diving. :wink: I immediately looked into liveaboards and we did our first on the Nekton Pilot to Belize in December, 2005. It was the most relaxing, fun dive vacation we've ever taken. Diving multiple times a day isn't hard when you literally gear up and fall off the boat.

I think the most exhausting part of diving is packing, carrying, setting up, breaking down, repacking, and the final lugging of (wet) gear that you have to do if you're shore or boat diving. On a liveaboard, your gear is always ready to go and you only set up and break down once....at the beginning and end of the week.

I also have to agree that being a single on a liveaboard is no big deal at all. There's almost always another single to dive with, and if there isn't, you can always dive with the crew.
 
Come and join us on the Nekton Pilot - Belize Feb. 10, 2007. Currently, 15 divers booked and lots of room for you. I am a single diver but have a buddy from my Cayman Islands Nekton trip going. You will not have any problem finding a dive buddy.

You will LOVE the Live-aboards and Nekton is one of the BEST!

PM me with any questions....

Tim
Fort Myers Beach, FL :14:
 
csky217:
1. A week on a liveaboard, maybe the Nekton Pilot - Central Belize

The best there is inthe Caribbean, IMnsHO

2. A week on one of the NCL Hawaii cruises, with some diving in Maui and maybe Kona if the timing works out

as was said before, cruising aint conducive to diving. Hawaiian diving, I'll pass, but not a lot of people travel there for diving- you do the math.

3. A week or so in Cozumel

That would be nice. A little diving, drinks with little umbrellas, etc.

4. A non diving or minimal diving vacation (shocker!)

That would be any and all of the above except for #1.

.....and I can't decide if I should weigh things on the "relax" or "adventure" side of the equation.

...and that's the crux of the biscuit. Before you ask folks for their opinions, you have to decide what you want opinions upon.

Are you a beach bunny or are you a soggy stinky SCUBA diver :confused:
 
Liveaboard diving is all about the diving. Pretty much nothing else to do as you are on a boat in the ocean - your entertainment outside of diving is limited to what you can do on a boat. Read, watch some video, talk to other divers, sunbath on the deck.

If that is your idea of a perfect vacation then go with the liveaboard. I have been on Nekton boats three times as a single diver this past year. No problems finding a buddy, had a great time on all three trips and recommend it highly. 5 dives a day on a liveaboard is not difficult. No humping gear, the hardest part of the diving is climbing up the ladder at the end of the dive. i.e. not hard at all, very relaxing. A number of people have said that it was the most relaxing vacation that they have ever had.

No worrying about what to do next - the answer is always "lets go diving", meals are right there, people to talk to are sitting beside you and always willing to talk about something.

If Nekton is offering last minute deals - the boat is probably nowhere near full.

You won't see much of Belize, and the part that you will see (Belize City) is (in my opinion) the least attractive part of it, so not much of an adventure from that perspective. Belize has alot to offer so you might want to stay a few days after or before to sample the country.
 
In the end, it depends on what you really want to do.
If you want a dedicated dive trip, just great diving and lots of it, do the liveaboard.
If you want great diving but also some topside fun, beaches and drinks with umbrellas, Cozumel is great.
If you really want just a relaxing trip with a little diving too, the cruise would be good. BTW, as others have noted, diving off a cruise ship is hard work, at least if you take your own gear. You will schlep it a long way every day that you dive. Or you might just rent if you will only be doing a couple of dives.
You're asking about apples, oranges, and grapes here; only you can decide what you want to do, but have a great time whatever you decide!
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

Back
Top Bottom