Liveaboards - Some Stories I've heard...are they true?

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JumpinJess:
I am looking for a liveaborad where diving isn't ALL you do, and the experience is fun and relaxed, and I have the chance to spend time on land or do other things. Anyone heard of such a thing? Or am I wishin' for too much?

NCL is excellent.
 
If you are interested in the area they go (which I admit I'm not that familiar with), the TuiTai has lots of other activities as well as diving. And I hear it just got a refit.
Taxgeek
 
Whenever I go diving, I try to get on a liveaboard because that's the most efficient way to dive your brains out. Depending on your perspective, it's either a great vacation or a diving boot camp. But I love the eat, dive, eat, dive, sleep, dive, dive, eat, .... sleep and start all over again routine.
 
Compared to my husband, I am still a fairly new diver and was hesitant about my first liveaboard last summer. As I tended to feed more fish than I saw on the day boat previously, I thought a liveaboard would be 7 days of torture for me.

How wrong I was! The Nekton was fabulous and not once did I feel even the slightest bit queasy.

As far as a vacation, its the first one I have had in years that upon my return home, I was RELAXED!

During non-diving times, many would chat or watch videos; research coral and fish, na, etc. Me? Being a voracious reader, I was able to just curl up with a book each day while I waiting for the next dive.
 
We enjoyed our liveboard trips alot. We have only gone on two so far. We don't plan on a liveaboard for every dive trip. One thing I really enjoyed on a liveaboard was being around people who thought diving was as great as I do. Also, our gear was set up, all we did was a predive check and nirtox sensor check - step off the back of the boat get handed my camera and go diving. A Liveaboard is the easiest. Back onboard after the dive it was treats and meals pretty much all the time. We read abit on the sundeck, took naps and talked to the other divers about other trips or what they saw. We also had the option of watching a movie which we never did (we didn't have time)because we chose to do something else like....dive. There was one couple on board who never did the first dive of the day together, he always slept in. Some did miss a couple of dives because they were diving on air vs. nitrox. Once one of the guys thought he'd skip a night dive.....big mistake..... two cuttle fish, two octopus, more eels than you could count, pipe fish, plus a silver tip that became aggitated when we were waiting to exit....he never missed another night dive. Oh and on the last dive of the trip there were some that were flying out the next day so they missed the last dive and it was an awesome dive.
Don't be afraid of taking a liveaboard, we were hesitant. Our first one was off the GBR for five days and we really enjoyed it then wondered why we waited, I'm sure you will enjoy a liveaboard as well.
 
I didn't try a liveaboard for awhile as I didn't think I would like being cooped up on a boat. (And I don't even get seasick.) Once I tried one I was sorry I waited so long. I still like land based trips too. My favorite way is to do a liveaboard then stay on land for a few days at least.
 
Blackbeards trip report posted. Did 20 dives on this trip...definately sleep, eat, dive, dive, eat, dive, dive, sleep...repeat. Loved every single minute of it...but I'm worn out!
 
I get terrible motion sickness and I just did the Aggressor to Cocos Island - 10 days aboard a boat and I used the scop patches. It was my first liveaboard and it was spectacular, even dealing with motion sickness meds. We got off the boat once in 10 days and I thought I'd be dying to get ashore, but actually was dying to get back so we could go on our next dive :)

Make sure, if you're really prone to motion sickness, that you bring more than enough patches- way more than enough :) I put mine behind the ear with no extra sticking help and didn't lose any in 4 dives a day, but I'm sure that it could have happened. I checked often to make sure they were there. We moored in bays and dove from pangas - very mild motion in the bays- I could have gotten away with 1/2 a patch if I was just staying on the main boat. I cut some patches in half (I only need 1/2 to fly) and added halves if we were diving sites with a lot of surge as I tended to get sick just on the panga ride and gearing up time on a bouncy site and the safety stop and boat entry was an eternity once with only one patch. On the way home - 2 1/2 patches and a dramamine once in a while to start and then smooth sailing (at least while I was awake).

I noticed that just not spending much time in enclosed areas (like the lounge or the cabin) made a big difference - which wasn't difficult since the island is spectacular and I was always on dolphin/turtle/jumping ray lookout.

I've also heard that scopolamine is in pill form too - faster effectiveness but lasts for 8 hours vs. 3 days. I'm thinking of trying that too on Galapagos next year!
 
It's true, you will dive, dive, and dive some more on a liveaboard. However, like many others who have posted here, I felt far more relaxed upon my return that I did from traditional dive vacations. While you may do as many as 6 dives a day, you're only setting up your gear once, at the beginning of the trip. You wake up in the morning and you are in the water 15 minutes later. No hauling gear, setting it up, and breaking it down.

During intervals, and at night, we all hung out on deck and enjoyed a nice dinner and lots of conversation. The boat I was on also had a nice galley, where we were able to sit and play board games and watch videos.

There are boats out there that will pack 30 people on a trip. But if you look for a boat with a small crew, and one that limits itself to 10 or less passengers, you will have an excellent time, I assure you!
 
If you've heard that you can dive often, then I'd say it's true. If you've heard they feed you quite well, then I'd say it's true. If you heard some rooms are different than others, I'd say it's true ... pick one you'll be happy with such as bathroom in your suite or if you like to share then no big deal. If you've heard you may meet some hard core divers that like to dive 6 times a day, that's true.
I've never heard of or been on a liveaboard that was a boot camp atmosphere.
If there is a land area that you want to see such as in Australia/Papua New Guinea/Belieze/Africa/Galapagos/Caymans or just some local flavored land sites, just add a day or two on the front or back end of your trip.
If you've heard that you eat sleep and dive, that's true. What do you normally do even on a land based dive vacation....eat sleep and dive and maybe go to different restaurants.
Try it, you'll like it!
 

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