Really? Another "Help Me Pick My Next Liveaboard Thread"?

[Statick]

Hi everyone,

As I'm looking for some fairly directed advice on this oft-discussed topic, I thought I'd start a new thread.

I'm looking to get on a liveaboard for a week or two in late October or through November; I may also be agreeable to something in July or August. Mostly, I want to be sure I'm going to a given location at the right time, such as avoiding the Caribbean during hurricane season, etc. My biggest restriction in narrowing down a great place is that it should be Zika-free as my wife & I are in the midst of trying for our first child. Ideally, I'd also like to go somewhere I've not yet been.

A little bit about me & my diving experience... I have just under 100 logged dives and, for whatever it's worth, have PADI's Rescue Diver certification. I certified in the freshwater lakes of the Canadian Rockies and have done some land-based (shore & day-boat) diving in Roatan, Hawaii, Australia (GBR), California and the Bahamas. I had my first liveaboard experience on the Red Sea Aggressor II last September - besides a few issues, it was solid experience, I would be open to going on an Aggressor again. I'm a 32 year-old based in Western Canada, but I'm open to flying to wherever I need to go for the right trip. I will most likely be travelling solo, but my non-diving wife may join for a few days before or after, depending on the location.

So far as I can tell, my options get to be fairly narrow, but please let me know any that I'm missing...
-Bahamas
-Caymans
-Palau
-Hawaii

Having done lots of diving in Hawaii (around all four major islands, including Cathedrals at Lanai and the backwall of Molokini, the Manta Ray night dive, all of the major wrecks around Oahu), I'm not too excited about the Kona Aggressor. If anyone knows of a liveaboard that goes to Ni'ihau, that would be pretty awesome, but I understand it's just day-boats.

A lot of divers, on this forum and otherwise, say that the diving around the Bahamas just isn't that amazing. I've done a few shark dives there, and I always enjoy being around sharks, but what I've heard is that those dives I've been on are probably as good as the diving gets down there... Can anyone confirm this or recommend otherwise?

Of the list above, this just leaves me with the Caymans and Palau. For either one, I'm thinking sometime between last week of October and first few weeks of November.

I'd love to go to Palau, but I'm wondering if anyone can speak to the experience necessary to enjoy all of the dives on something like the Palau Aggressor II. Doing some fairly superficial reading online, it seems to be rated as a spot for more experienced divers... Any thoughts on this?

The Caymans seems to be the "safe bet", but it just seems that most of the sites can be reached by day-boat, so part of me feels a liveaboard for this area is a bit of overkill... and I am fairly set on booking for a liveaboard. Can anyone share anything when it comes to diving the Caymans?

My apologies for the long post, thanks very much for your input!

 

[runsongas]

out of that list, the palau aggressor would be significantly better diving if you don't mind some of the sites having a bit of current.

 

[Damselfish]

Palau should certainly be the best diving of those.

I'm looking to get on a liveaboard for a week or two in late October or through November; I may also be agreeable to something in July or August. Mostly, I want to be sure I'm going to a given location at the right time, such as avoiding the Caribbean during hurricane season, etc. My biggest restriction in narrowing down a great place is that it should be Zika-free as my wife & I are in the midst of trying for our first child. Ideally, I'd also like to go somewhere I've not yet been.

I had my first liveaboard experience on the Red Sea Aggressor II last September - besides a few issues, it was solid experience, I would be open to going on an Aggressor again.

Just a note on Aggressors - be aware, if you aren't already, that many of the boats are franchised - with Aggressor fleet not seeming to do much more than act as a booking agent. Many are great but some have had a lot of issues, so you should always research the current word on each boat individually, like you should with any company. There are tons of liveaboards out there.

So far as I can tell, my options get to be fairly narrow, but please let me know any that I'm missing...
-Bahamas
-Caymans
-Palau
-Hawaii

So this list is based on places said to be Zika free? (Presumably not based on avoiding hurricane season, as I think all the times you're talking about are technically hurricane season in all those places, though probably unlikely in Palau or Hawaii.) November is probably fairly safe, but with the weather lately who knows anymore.

Having done lots of diving in Hawaii (around all four major islands, including Cathedrals at Lanai and the backwall of Molokini, the Manta Ray night dive, all of the major wrecks around Oahu), I'm not too excited about the Kona Aggressor. If anyone knows of a liveaboard that goes to Ni'ihau, that would be pretty awesome, but I understand it's just day-boats.

I don't know of other liveaboard options. The Kona Aggressor was an enjoyable trip all around and is mostly diving a different area than what you've probably done. And you would likely get in more dives than you would land-based, which is an advantage of liveaboards in some places. I tend to agree about the diving - sounds like you've hit a lot of highlights there. The land based diving we've done in Hawaii all seems much more memorable that most of what we did from the Aggressor.

A lot of divers, on this forum and otherwise, say that the diving around the Bahamas just isn't that amazing. I've done a few shark dives there, and I always enjoy being around sharks, but what I've heard is that those dives I've been on are probably as good as the diving gets down there... Can anyone confirm this or recommend otherwise?

I agree. We did an extended 2 week trip on the Aquacat and while it was a great boat and trip overall, the diving itself was not that good. The sharks are the best attraction, that's nice if it's what you're really into, but I'm more of a reef and critter person. There are some unique dives and shore excursions available that make the trip interesting, and if your wife actually wanted to go on the whole trip it's a pretty good boat for a non-diver, as liveaboards go.

Of the list above, this just leaves me with the Caymans and Palau. For either one, I'm thinking sometime between last week of October and first few weeks of November.

I'd love to go to Palau, but I'm wondering if anyone can speak to the experience necessary to enjoy all of the dives on something like the Palau Aggressor II. Doing some fairly superficial reading online, it seems to be rated as a spot for more experienced divers... Any thoughts on this?

I personally wouldn't try to guess whether it is the right place for anyone I don't know. It sounds like you have a decent amount of experience and people go there with less. A lot there is about comfort with currents and related skills.

The Caymans seems to be the "safe bet", but it just seems that most of the sites can be reached by day-boat, so part of me feels a liveaboard for this area is a bit of overkill... and I am fairly set on booking for a liveaboard. Can anyone share anything when it comes to diving the Caymans?

Some people feel if dives can be done from shore it's not worth taking a liveaboard. Others prefer the convenience and routine of a liveaboard and don't see a problem with that. One advantage of a liveaboard in Cayman is that it's hard and/or expensive to do 4-5 dives a day land-based, unless you are making the effort to do alot of shore diving. And it has the advantage, weather permitting, of diving Grand and the sister islands, weather permitting the crossing (the odds of which are a frequent subject of discussion on this board.) It seems like a relatively easy place for your wife to meet you and have some nice beach time.

 

[Dan]

For Palau, here is my trip report for your review: December 24-31, 2017 Palau Trip Report

For August, i’d recommend Komodo with Mermaid LOB roundtrip Bali-Komodo-Bali & meet your wife in Bali after the trip.

Mermaid II

 

[outofofficebrb]

Palau is supposed to have the best diving of the ones listed, according to someone I know that has dived all those places. I would pass on Hawaii as that is something you could more easily get to even with a young child for land based diving and to be honest, I find the diving a bit underwhelming considering the prices of accom/food/boat dives. I was also underwhelmed with the Bahamas unless you are after pelagics (sharks!). My vote would be for Palau or Cayman. I have friends who have really enjoyed Cayman, though it is not inexpensive either.

Now for the bad news... Zika Travel Information | Travelers' Health | CDC

The only place you listed that actually does not have Zika is Hawaii. @Dan_T Indonesia is said to have Zika. Countries or regions in purple are current or have had Zika cases reported in the past. Yellow and green are the ones the OP should shoot for. Here is the official list:

Areas with Zika outbreaks (red areas): none

Areas with current or past transmission but no Zika outbreak (purple areas): American Samoa, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Bonaire, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Burkina Faso, Burma, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Colombia, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cuba, Curacao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Easter Island, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Gabon, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mexico, Montserrat, New Caledonia, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Saba, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Martin, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Senegal, Singapore, Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten, Solomon Islands, Suriname, Thailand, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos, Uganda, United States (Continental US), United States Virgin Islands, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam

Areas with mosquitoes but no reported Zika cases (yellow areas): Australia, Benin, Bhutan, Botswana, Brunei, Chad, China, Christmas Island, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, East Timor, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Georgia, Ghana, Guam, Guinea, Kenya, Kiribati, Liberia, Madagascar, Madeira Islands, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Niger, Niue, Northern Mariana Islands, Oman, Pakistan, Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Taiwan, Tanzania, The Gambia, Togo, Tokelau, Turkey, Tuvalu, Uruguay, Wallis and Futuna, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Areas with no mosquitoes that spread Zika (green areas): Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Azores, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Bermuda, Bosnia and Herzegovina, British Indian Ocean Territory, Bulgaria, Canada, Canary Islands, Chile, Cocos Islands, Comoros, Corsica, Croatia, Crozet Islands, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Eswatini, Falkland Islands, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Isle of Man, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jersey, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kerguelen Islands, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Macedonia, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mayotte, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norfolk Island, North Korea, Norway, Pitcairn Islands, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Reunion, Romania, Saint Helena, Saint Paul and New Amsterdam Islands, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, San Marino, São Tomé and Principe, Serbia, Seychelles, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uzbekistan, Vatican City, Wake Island, Western Sahara

 

[Redfoot]

I did the Turks & Caicos aggressor, and although I have nothing to gauge it against, absolutely loved it & would recommend.

You would be looking at the end of hurricane season, so keep that in mind, but as far as I know they are Zika free and never had any reported cases on the islands, although I do see them on the list posted above. We were there & stayed a week on Grace Bay Beach in October of 2018 and did not see or hear of a single mosquito.

Good mix of reefs, pelagics, "other" critters and beautiful scenery. From what I have read of some other liveaboards, the T & C boat is very nice & clean and the crew was awesome. Food was great.

Plenty of flights going there daily and travel time should not be too bad. I would guess about 8 hours from western Canada.

Big plus for your land based wife too, Providenciales and Grace Bay Beach are safe & beautiful for relaxing.

Best of luck with your trip and with growing your family!!!!!

 

[Redfoot]

Turks & Caicos Aggressor 4/7 to 4/13

 

[dlofting]

If you're in western Canada you might want to consider Soccorro. Flight to San Jose del Cabo, where you board the boat, is only about 4 hours.

 

[scubadada]

Overall, I was underwhelmed by the Cayman Aggressor, about the same time of year as your trip will be Cayman Aggressor V, November 24-December 1, 2018 Of course, my comparisons for LOBs are the Red Sea, Cocos, and the Galapagos.

I have done Turks and Caicos from land, a liveaboard would be ideal, Aggressor or Explorer.

 

[Dan]

If Zika is your most concern to go on diving & non diving vacation that’s going to be tough choice really. There is none I see to be a good place to go in green area. Australia, particularly in Cairns may be OK in the yellow area. Palau & Indonesia are in the same Purple area.