Liveaboards for non divers

[scarke]

We are looking for some advice on a live aboard. We went on Sea Serpent last October , it was our first liveaboard and we liked it very much.

My husband is currently on Cyclone in the Red Sea.

We found Sea Serpent cabins to be small and bathrooms also. But the deck out front was terrific for sunbathing for me as I don't dive.

Hubby says the cabins on Cylone are much better and bigger as are the bathrooms but the sunbathing areas are not as good.

So anyone got any suggestions ? We want to do the Southern Red Sea maybe in May and I need to know that there would be plenty of sunbathing areas for me. Sometimes when you look at the photos on the web its very hard to judge.

Thanks !

 

[Solly]

The only suggestion is to get info from someone that has been on the boat before but take care that small and big are relative from one person to another, for example I am 192 cm tall, I can hardly say that I ever found a boat with big rooms... while for someone who is shorter for example he can find the same boat spacious...

 

[scarke]

Thanks Solly.

Will have to do some more research...I love swimming and snorkeling but am not so sure about how safe it will be in the Southern Red Sea..hubby wants to see some big fish !....Brothers etc...is it very rough for me to swim there tho ? Lots to find out.

 

[Solly]

as far as I know, it is not safe to swim or snorkel in the brothers (at least the boat we are used to go with does not permit it)... even no night dive
well, my advise is that you should determine the operator you want to go with, then start asking for more details about everything, to the extent to give you approximate measures of the sundeck and rooms for example.. then ask about your non-diving activities...

Our SB mate samaka has a lot of info as he himself works for one of the big operators and has lots of info that I personally benefit from, check his website www.aziab.com

and from another point of view... start diving

 

[Nitro91]

I stopped reading when I read "I don't dive".

 

[scarke]

Nitro91, I love the water...am very happy snorkeling and swimming altho when I first looked down at a reef last October the sheer scale of it made me gasp as I don't like heights !...I loved being on the boat for the week and didn't mind that I was nt diving, I have watched him put his gear on and my daughter also and watch them double check everything and it just scares the living daylights out of me to be honest ! Don't know why but it does...I faced one of my other fears this winter and did some ski lessons and hated it so still went on the ski trip but went off on treks in snowshoes with my camera.

I am a chicken

 

[Shasta_man]

Knowing your limitations is the best thing to do, Scarke. Good job. My trip on the Bilikiki in the Solomon Islands had a non-diver swimmer who swam around the boat every day and just kicked back. The location was ideal because we were always amongst small islands and channels. That's a pretty good adventure there with plenty of good stuff and genuine natives in dugout canoes.

 

[scarke]

Shasta_man,

Kicking back is exactly what I did on the Sea Serpent..to me it was perfect....no tv, no phone signal except for emergencies...and opening that door from our cabin every morning to see the vast sea was just fantastic....who says non divers can't have fun !!!!

I did think however that there would be slightly more fun at night ? most nights, the others all went to bed at 9.30 ...so we were always the last to go to bed at 11...why would you go to bed when you can enjoy the night sky ??

 

[Red Sea Leonfish]

why would you go to bed when you can enjoy the night sky ??

So you can get up early and go diving?

 

[scarke]

We both got up very early for the first dives....we just don't need as much sleep I guess....never missed a dive in the whole week...I watched the sun coming up and took photos....magical