I completed by OW cert last month in Isla Mujeres. I'm now back home in the snow in Montana and looking for a good liveaboard trip to increase my skills and also to have a great time. Do any of you have suggestions of a company that could provide a good way for me to learn, practice and dive a lot.
I'd look for a trip with one of the "premier" operators. Some options would be one of the Aggressor or Explorer Ventures trip or Cuan Law. Maybe Aquacat in the Bahamas. Since you're only talking about a week, that precludes most of the Thailand/Indonesia boats as they're typically 10-14 days plus travel time.
You also shouldn't do any of the more exotic trips - Socorros, Cocos Island, Galapagos etc. as they're longer trips and also tender based - you have to transfer to a tender to dive and be able to pull yourself back onto the tender - usually it's a zodiac. And conditions will be rougher during your timeframe as well. They're really
advanced dives anyway so not for you yet.
I'd look at Belize, Turks/Caicos (can be a little deeper) or maybe Aquacat in the Bahamas. Another option is Cuan Law in the BVI's. Or the Kona Aggressor - which has been called the cellphone liveaboard - it never gets much off the Big Island. There's also the Saba/St. Kitts Explorer trips but the logistics can be a little challenging - you fly into St. Maarten and out of St. Kitts. (or vice-versa) I've never been able to make that work in less than 2 days from Phoenix. They seem to have availability for most of the time you can go.
I've detailed a few pluses/minuses for each. Here's some quick links since I have them all bookmarked.
Aggressor and Dancer Fleet
Scuba Diving Live-aboard in the British Virgin Islands
Explorer Ventures: Adventures in Liveaboard Diving
Liveaboard scuba diving in the Bahamas on the Aqua Cat
I have a lower back problem so I need to find someone who doesn't mind me handing up my kit as I get out of the water. I seem to be able to do everything but climb the d..n ladder.
They all do that if you ask them to - usually only once is required. There's generally a crew member checking divers in/out that also works the dive deck the entire time someone is diving.
I'd stay away from the smaller dive sailboats/catamarans as they're typically higher and require more of a ladder. Some of the smaller, less expensive options like the sailing cats aren't as easy to re-board - typically it's a ladder steps up one of the hulls - the big cats you transfer from a tender.
The powered live aboard yachts typically have a dive deck in or very near the water requiring a short ladder up then a few steps to the main deck of the ship. With a bad back that's what I'd look for - I have a bad knee and do.
Here's a couple of examples. Click the links for pictures of the dive docks, I didn't want to clutter up the thread with pictures.
Turks/Caicos Aggressor
http://www.originaldiving.com/sites/default/files/TCAggressor_0222_1.jpg
Belize Aggressor
http://www.usdivetravel.com/BelizeAggressor-SternView.jpg
Belize Sun Dancer
http://www.pointsandtravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/CIMG3971.jpg
All are easy boarding and good diving. T/C tends to be a little deeper from the moorings. They go Whale watching in the Silver Banks on Jan 24th (no diving) so you'd have to book it before then. It's really excellent diving, really clear water. Lots of sharks and other interesting stuff. Also you can float over the deep walls without dropping down them - it's still pretty impressive.
Aggressor owns both Belize boats and they run the same itinerary. Sun DancerII is slightly older and bigger, Aggressor III is slightly nicer in amenities and newer. They dive all year except Sundancer II is also going to move over to see Whales in January. I've never been there but there's good diving off the barrier reef and they go to the best of it. I suggest you stay on top of the Blue Hole though, it's a 130' drop.
Cayman Aggressor is another option but in the winter months the weather off Grand Cayman often means they can't run over to the Sister Islands (Little Cayman and Brac) which is where the best diving is. So if they have to stay around Grand Cayman, a lot of what they dive you can do from day boats instead. Many Grand Cayman dive sites are visible from shore. Different time of year, probably an excellent option. Maybe you could do it right before you go back to work?
Cuan Law is a really big tri-maran in the BVI's. The diving there is very good to excellent but not as good as the others I've mentioned. One advantage it would have is it's shallower - there's not much below about 70-80' except for some purposely sunk wrecks. The signature BVI wreck is the Rhone - it's at 70' in front, closer to 50' for the back. Easy beginner wreck - one of my group did it on her 12th dive. I did about 25 dives there and none of them exceeded 80'. Some a lot shallower. You fly into St. Thomas and fast ferry over to Roadtown, Tortola where the Cuan Law ports. Takes an hour.
Since it's a big cat, they have boarding steps that lead down to a platform. From there you can either dive directly or board a tender to the dive site. They're hard hulled zodiacs so have short ladders.
http://www.bnycharters.com/images/boats/222/06_cuan_law_main.jpg
hth,
P.S. there's more gray hair on a liveaboard than anything else typically....except for the crew.
