looking for a liveaboard

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Scubamedicjoe

Contributor
Messages
1,499
Reaction score
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Location
carthage NC
# of dives
1000 - 2499
OK are there any liveaboards that pick someone up from the states or all overseas , with airlines making it tighter for equipment weight , don't seem like we can count on air travel any more.
 
I would use The Ultimate Getaway or the Spree. With The Ultimate Getaway you will be in The Dry Tortugas. Did this trip back in July. The Spree goes to more places. I live in TN. and we drove to Ft. Myers to catch the boat. They don't leave America but neither will I. I had just as a good time in the Tortugas as I would of over seas. The cost was just around a thousand dollars it was well worth the price. Sometimes they do the Vandenburg like when I went.

Spree Expeditions M/V Spree SCUBA Diving Dry Tortugas, Flower Garden Banks, USS Oriskany

www.ultimategetaway.net
 
OK are there any liveaboards that pick someone up from the states or all overseas , with airlines making it tighter for equipment weight , don't seem like we can count on air travel any more.
Why not? The rest of us who fly to dive manage to make it OK and it gives us the freedom to dive the 99.9% of liveaboards that don't travel from the states. Sure, you might be subject to a few hundred in fees for excess baggage if you're bringing camera equipment, but in the old days of "free" luggage, photographers had to spend a fortune on film and getting the film developed.
 
OK are there any liveaboards that pick someone up from the states or all overseas , with airlines making it tighter for equipment weight , don't seem like we can count on air travel any more.

That's the nice thing about liveaboards, you don't have to bring much in the way of clothes at all so you have more room for dive gear and camera equipment.
 
Most good live-aboard companies will help you plan your airfare from your closest airport. As far as bags we travel with 4 bags, two carry-ons total over 200lbs. But agree with someone who posted that all the hand wringing about overweight bags when going on trips "of a lifetime" is getting a little silly.
 
With careful packing I can get my video gear and full dive gear (no wetsuit) in one 50# bag and one (heavy) carryon. Our last LOB to Turks/Caicos that cost me $50 r/t. And I brought too many clothes.

Except for the Florida boats there are no cont. US based liveaboards anymore. And none of them have private cabins that I'm aware of.

Nekton is out of business and Blackbeards relocated to the Bahamas some years ago. I think one of the GWS trips still may shuttle you from San Diego to Ensenada to board the boat. Rocio Del Mar leaves from Puerto Penasco/Rocky Point Mexico at certain times of the year - from Phoenix there's a $100 van shuttle that will drop you at their dock.

One more Florida option is the JASA/Shearwater Bahamas Banks shark trips. IIRC they leave out of Palm Beach. The new Nautilus boat - Swelll - leaves out of Sitka Alaska if you want to dive cold.
 
So, the definition of live aboard can be tortured.

If you like cool water and kelp beds, try the Truth boats out of Santa Barbara. There is no comparison to the Aquacat's atmosphere or sleeping quarters but they are classified as live-aboards and they offer some excellent diving.
 
All but two of my LOB trips have been with Explorer Ventures and I think they are great. I can pack all me gear in one carry on bag and a backpack(personal Item). One does need to get a little imaginative on how to bring aboard ones fins.
 
People just need to learn to pack less and not take a bunch of unnecessary stuff or too many clothes.

I can do a month long trip with <35lbs.....although I don't have my own regulator and my photography equipment all fits in a 1400 Pelican. I always take at least 4 books and binoculars, too.
 

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