Lost Island Voyages (Bahamas) - Liveaboard Experience

[fb4817]

Hello everyone!

So, I just completed my first liveaboard (Lost Island Voyages in the Bahamas) and I wanted to share this experience that Jesus blessed me with on the board here.

First, I was looking for somewhere cheap to fly to and an inexpensive liveaboard trip that was really top quality and after reading some of the posings on the scuba board here on different types of liveaboards, I was recommended to "Lost Island Voyages - in the Bahama's." I had read on the board about many people who do this trip with Lost Island Voyages and the many who end up coming back over and over again and I saw why . Still, I was a little bit skeptical at first b/c it seemed like the Bahama's was very commercialized to the point I thought the water was just over-saturated with people that maybe the water was not as clear as before (maybe) - crazy thought I guess; so I was WRONG.

I had "Many" first time experiences such as night diving, spending more than 1 day / night on a sailboat, getting caught in a 50 knot storm (lots of fun believe it or not), and spear fishing for lion fish.

Ray (the owner of the Liveaboard) and his entire crew were just amazing! The cost was VERY affordable and the sail boat was perfect! The staff were professional, the cook even catered to specific request that I had for every meal without complaining (Thanks Jess!) There was PLENTY of Great Food to eat and drinks of all sorts to have - we even ate some of the fish caught for dinner one night! haha - I enjoyed that These guys have really no set itinerary but go where the sea's take them and do island hunting if others are interested (as we would take the dingy to an island sometimes and explore other dive spots too that were uncharted!) which makes for a more realistic experience in my opinion. Heck, one island we went to - the crew had never been before and there was a crashed boat run up-a-ground and we were asked if we should go explore and we all did! haha - we were looking for ways to get on the boat and went to town on looking inside (Thank you Jesus for keeping us) The waters were extremely Clear! The staff is family oriented and are "Not" commercialized thus making you feel right at home literally. We would do about 3-5 dives a day with given the "Option" to dive or not too, completely up to us. Our dives consisted of Wreck dives, Incredible Coral Reefs, plenty of fish, sharks, etc. as well as some wall-dives Also, when I had to change my flight at my last day, Ray was kind enough to allow me to use his personal cell phone which I appreciated much so. We all had a great time! Once we came back to the docks, all of us pretty much got together and hung out at a great local spot - just an amazing experience. Lord Willing, I'll be heading back in October for a 10 day trip this time instead of the 6 day from this round.
In closing, I would HIGHLY recommend "Lost Island Voyages" to anyone looking for a affordable experience in which you get MORE than what you paid for hands down! I mean this literally - Realistic experience, Family orientated, New Explorations, and Distance from land to Sea's all the way!

5-Star Ratings without question!

www.lostislandvoyages.com/

 

[Scuba_Noob]

How affordable was it? What was the concentration of marine life? - sounds like there were a lot. How's the equipment rinsing, e.g., dunk tanks for camera? Was there a lot of space per room? Did you go alone or with someone - if alone, how were the buddy groups formed?

Sorry for the amount of questions - maybe I'd want to do an affordable liveaboard soon.

 

[fb4817]

No worries bossman, the cost was about $1200 which included all your dives, boat trip, room, food and drinks, etc. The Marine life was very plentiful and full! The crew has a few tubs on board to rinse your gear as needed as well as a HUGE tub back at the docks once you get back should you want to do some cleaning with dive soap gear cleaners, etc. or what-have-you. As far as the spacing in the room goes, yes sir, you do have space but it's not the largest space in the world as the yacht is a 65 footer. You have in the room 1 Large Bottom bed and then a top bunk which is not that big. It really depends on the person though, if you're a smaller person, you won't have any issues, if you're a larger person, the crew does accomodate you in setting you up with the best scenario to fit your request I went solo and had a great time (With my Jesus ) The buddy groups are not an issue - heck, when you're on that sailboat, everyone is so dag gone friendly, it is not hard to just jump with a group / person if you want as the folks on board really don't mind. As stated, this is a very family down-to-earth type Liveaboard Charter. Even when running these things, I think Ray is always looking for new findings and places to explore - LITERALLY! haha

 

[Scuba_Noob]

Might choose this one if I ever decide to do a liveaboard. Your experience was overwhelmingly positive and it is quite affordable!

 

[BAMA6977]

I had same experience in June. A fantastic operation and run by great people. Can't say enough positive things about Lost Island Voyages and the Avalon. I'm going back next year.

 

[LSE64]

Thanks for your trip report! I'm going on August 4 and cant wait! Anything that you didnt bring that you wish you had?

 

[farsidefan1]

Another question might be, "what did you bring that you didn't need" Most people ridiculously over pack for liveaboards. There is an excellent post about what to bring and what to leave, I believe it was by RTB.

I want to hear more about the 50 knot wind and how the captn handled it. How rough was the water? Did you travel at night or anchor in calm waters? For all the action the Bahamas have I still find the diving there to be excellent. Ive been twice. Both times in Sept. First time it was glorious and there was hardly a ripple on the water. The second trip I went to Grand Bahama and we got washed out of a couple days diving by the first of a band of 4 hurricanes. Fortunately it was the last few days of the trip.

 

[divengolf]

Tried to bring up their web page 3-4 times and a couple different ways. Nothing. No response.

Hope that their webmaster isn't their DM.

Edit: It finally came up after a couple minutes. Was not able to navigate to another page.

 

[fb4817]

As far as what to bring and not to bring, for a commercialized organization, I'd assume towels would be plenty, but in this case of a private run family organization, I would recommend you bring at least 5-6 towels, although; LIV (Lost Island Voyages) gave me towles when I needed it After use, we would simply hang up our towels outside on the line to dry and all is well Depending on how long your trip is, don't over pack on clothes! lol, you may need like 2 pair of shorts, 2 pair of socks, 2-3 shirts, and soap and toothpaste (deoderant if you want, but I brought mine and didn't even pay mind to use it until the night we went out, I smelt like the ocean I wreckon cuz I didn't stink ) for a 6 day trip. The only thing you'll need plenty of (unless you're going commando) is Unerwear! Then again, everything depends on the person. I enjoyed having a nice clean day and night time shirt (wife beater / t-shirt) versus putting the same shirt on over and over again. Of course, you can always not wear a shirt for the males. All personal preference. If you dive with LIV, you'll probably hang out the night after your trip so you'll want 1 set of nice clothes and some sandals / shoes (whichever you feel comfortable with).

As far as the 50 knot wind experience goes. lol, well...it was clear and a nice sunny day and then bam in a very short time span, a storm in the distance appeared and I mean in a matter of seconds, you could hear the wind and rain coming up fast and then, bam!, we were in the middle of that particular area. The captain ordered the others to get down below while the remaining stayed up top to help with the necessaries. Some folks downstairs came up to help out and everyone was really excited about that too believe it or not. It lasted for about 30 min or so. The captain was aware of the storm(s) and vered around them in other directions and in a case, we went into a sheltered island cove type place where the waters were calm, greenish/bluish, and took our dingie to this little island called "Iguana Island" and fed the iguana's slices of apples, etc. - another boat was there too. The captain made sure not to stick us in anything crazy hence one of the reasons why we did not travel to certain areas b/c of the storm activity. Still though, 1 night and 1 evening we had some nice wave rocking but nothing outrageous by any means (Jesus Grace, Mercies, and Favor keeping us)

If you are funny about the sea, you might want to pack some sea sick pills just to be on the safe side in case the waves are not always calm.

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Anything that I did not bring? Nah, I actually felt like I may had brought some stuff I did not need such as my laptop, it proved useful after the trip but still, it was not necessary and only became a room taker of space in my luggage to an extent

 

[farsidefan1]

Thanks for the report. My wife does not usually want to accompany me on liveaboards because of an experience we had on the GBR where conditions were very rough. Sounds like the Bahamas liveaboards are doable. I have been thinking about the aquacat. Now I'll look into this operation.