looking for a cheap liveaboard? or is a cruise better?

[DennisC]

Hey all,
I'm looking for a cheap liveaboard, which may be an oxymoron, that will take me somewhere like the Caribbean or central America for less than $1000. So far Blackbeards is my only option.

On another note has anyone ever been on a regular cruise and brought their dive gear. There are a ton of inexpensive cruises that go to these places so I was thinking about maybe doing one of these and diving instead of the liveaboard.

Thanks!

 

[drrich2]

I've cruised & taken dive gear. If you get a balcony stateroom, drying your gear isn't such a hassle. If you get an interior stateroom, you'll likely be laying up on an upper deck with it spread on an adjacent pool chair.

Be mindful cruise ship divers get a brief appetizer sampler of the places they go, not an in depth selection. On one cruise, I dove St. Lucia and St. Croix, and just linked you my trip report for each. I started a thread on picking a Caribbean live-aboard, and WizardTrips started this one looking for the least expensive warm water diving for a few weeks.

Something as cheap as you're looking at is going to entail sleeping in a bunk, I think. Be mindful that airfare will play a big role in your options. How married are you to the idea of a week long live-aboard? Is something like the Fling out of Freeport, Texas, for a 3 day trip an option?

Are you looking to 'try something different,' or to cram the largest number of dives into a grand + airfare? Or are you limiting yourself to Florida-based departures, to keep it within driving distance?

Richard.

 

[cfh]

I've done two Caribbean cruises with the specific intent to dive and had great experiences on both! Though to ensure good diving, we:

1. Picked an itinerary that matched what we wanted. Cruise #1 was out of Puerto Rico and the stops were St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St Kitts, St. Maarten. We dove at the first four and relaxed on the beach in St. Maarten. Cruise #2 was out of Miami and the stops were Cozumel, Belize, Roatan & Grand Cayman. We dove all but Belize. (I got incredible deals using vacationstogo.com - highly recommended cruise site)

2. I made private arrangements with local dive ops for every stop, never diving through the cruise ship.

3. We packed very minimal gear (wetsuits, cameras) because the shops rental gear was cheap and easy, always in good repair, and it saved us a lot of room & weight traveling and in our stateroom.

4. Get a balcony as was mentioned above. Not only is it nice to sit out there and read or whatever, drying your gear before the ship sets sail that night is key.

I will say this. After those two cruises we're done. There isn't another itinerary I would want to do and they were our first big cruise ship experiences and the novelty wore off for us. We are booked on a Windstar boat in Tahiti this summer but with 180 passengers onboard it's a much different beast. After that trip it's live aboards or shore based for us I think.

-Craig

 

[ronscuba]

This is a strange comparison. 2 totally different types of vacations.

On a typical Caribbean cruise, you might get 4 quality dives for the week. Western Caribbean cruise like cfh suggested, stopping in Coz, GC, Roatan, Belize, would be best for diving. That gets you 8 quality dives for the week. On a liveaboard, you will get 4 quality dives each day up to 19 dives for the week, but you will be roughing it on Blackbeards. Bunk beds, no privacy, shared bathrooms and showers, basic food.

The Western Caribbean cruises can be a little more expensive. Add in the cost of the diving and it might not be cheaper than $1,000. But you do get good food, entertainment, privacy and a comfortable room. If I was going on a cruise and planned on diving more than 3 days, I'd bring my own gear. At a minimum, my regs and mask. Gear rental also adds to the cost.

 

[RJP]

The only thing a cuise is "better than" is an ice pick in the ear.

:d

 

[KathyV]

I've never taken a cruise so I can't comment on a cruise-based dive vacation but I think if you calculate the cost per dive it will be much more expensive than a liveaboard, especially if you rent gear.

I imagine a cruise-based trip would be a good option if you:
- Want to enjoy a tropical vacation with "a little bit of diving"
- Want to try several places to decide where to return for an extended dive vacation later
- Want to spend time vacationing with non-diving family, but still get in some dive time

I prefer using my own gear and I think that a nice liveaboard provides better, easier diving - and lots of it! I did one Blackbeard's cruise and although they provide a good experience at a very reasonable price, I just like more privacy and comfort so I haven't been back.

But whatever appeals to you, it's your vacation!

---------- Post added May 11th, 2015 at 08:04 PM ----------

Take a look at the Saba/St. Kitt's Cruise on Explorer Ventures; they are offering $300 off per person during several weeks throughout the year. That would bring the base price down to around $1700 per person, if you could afford that then it is a very nice trip with lots of quality diving. Explorer Ventures: Adventures in Liveaboard Diving

 

[diversteve]

Assuming you're not interested in the 3-4 day liveaboard trips some of the FL based operators offer I'm reliably certain you've found the only sub-$1000 option in that region.

The next least expensive option I'm aware of is that Cat Ppalu, Blackbeards "other" boat occasionally offers extra spaces if someone full-charters the boat but doesn't use them all. $1595 + $110 in port fees. Charter Sailboat Rates and Schedules - Sailing Charters - Sailing Catamaran - Cat Ppalu

There's also Lost Island Voyages - another Bahamas based boat. I believe they start at $1795. Depending on the trip either out of Nassau or Freeport. There's that ferry that runs between FLL and Freeport but I think it's still cheaper to fly. Welcome to Lost Island Voyages | Scuba Diving Adventures in the Bahamas | Miami, FL

The Saba/St. Kitts EV trips price out closer to $2K even after the discount when you add in the port taxes/fuel surcharge. $1995 + $115 pt. If they're still adding the fuel surcharge, on the T/C Explorer trip that was $200 more. So your total price is $2010 after the discount. And there's the added expense of flying into St. Maarten and out of St. Kitts or vice/versa. That has to be a more expensive ticket than the hop over to Nassau from Ft. Myers.

One possible Central America option is the Caribbean Pearl II. The full week charter is $2795 but they also offer 1/2 week trips - 5 days/4 nights - embarking on Roatan, disembarking on Utila. In the "smaller deluxe cabin" it's $1380 - 19% Honduran tax included. It's a very nice boat, used to be the Utila Aggressor II till they moved over to DivEncounters booking. RATES & SCHEDULE

It will cost you $55 to get back to Roatan for your flight out via 2 ferries. Or you can try pricing flying in/out thru San Pedro Sula but when you add in the cost of flights to Roatan and back from Utila that's about a wash since each one is over $100. You can also take the Princess Ferry to La Ceiba for about $22 and then fly/bus from there to San Pedro Sula but that will burn a day and require an overnight in La Ceiba - San Pedro Sula isn't a safe alternative - mainland Honduras being the murder capital of the world currently.

I'd consider adding a few land-based days on in Roatan also, stay in the West End where it's very reasonable - rooms well under $50/nt - hostels if you do that at $10. Food is really cheap and dives run about 10/$300. The ride there from the airport is $25 fixed and everything is within walking distance. Coconut Tree Divers has a good generalWest End info page: Roatán, West End | Scuba Diving | Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras | PADI

Or Utila which is almost identically as cheap. Maybe even more so as it's a known backpacking destination. We stayed at an AI there so IDK the "in town" prices. The ferries connect twice/day so there's no immediate need to get back for your flight home. Utila has a small airport and only day flights back to Roatan on a charter basis or to the mainland on a semi-schedule. Utila Official Site - Utila, Bay Islands, Honduras - Tropical Island Paradise for everything.

 

[SIUegyptiandiver]

Lost island voyages is less expensive than cat pplau but a bit more than blackbeards. I think the price referenced above may be for the 10 day trip. I booked a 7 day last fall to depart in a few weeks and payed considerably less than that. Check with Jeanie and Ray for current pricing, but i dont think you will find anything with privacy for less than lost island voyages. You might also look into the juliet as an option. They do trips out of FL and around the bahamas and carribbean.

---------- Post added May 12th, 2015 at 05:58 AM ----------

Never done a cruise but looked into it very briefly when researching options. Did not appeal to me. Looks like what i'd guess it is: crusing with a little diving thrown in as excursions. Not my cuppa tea.

 

[doctormike]

Hey all,
I'm looking for a cheap liveaboard, which may be an oxymoron, that will take me somewhere like the Caribbean or central America for less than $1000. So far Blackbeards is my only option.

On another note has anyone ever been on a regular cruise and brought their dive gear. There are a ton of inexpensive cruises that go to these places so I was thinking about maybe doing one of these and diving instead of the liveaboard.

Thanks!

You don't specify a trip length, so I'm not sure what to make of the $1000 budget, but the Spree is an AWESOME liveaboard. Captain Frank (Wookie here on SB) and his wife Melanie make sure that you have great dives, great meals, and a safe trip. Can't say enough good things about the Spree, they do everything from serious technical charters to shallow reefs (I'm bringing 12 people from my dive club to the Dry Tortugas with them this year).

Some of their trips are less than $1000, remember you are getting room, board and meals for that price.

 

[DennisC]

Thanks for all the info! the length is not a big deal and actually 3-5 days would be ideal because I don't have many PTO days. I'm going to look at all of your links and read up more. Starting in Florida would be helpful but if it starts somewhere where the flight is not crazy expensive its do able. The more dives the merrier too but just seeing new places is our main goal. The reason for the $1000 price limit is that I am trying to save up so I can go to Australia next summer while still having a good vacation this summer too. Privacy is not a major issue either.

Thanks again for all the info everyone!