Trip report Sep 2014: Palau Aggressor - VERY BAD EXPERIENCE

[drrich2]

Kristen:

I've had similar thoughts. A few things to think about:

1.) Others have indicated live-aboard diving applies some selective pressure on the customer base. Tend to be seasoned divers with a lot of dives, avid divers, and thus everybody has some things in common. I figure a lot of partier types would prefer land-based action, with bars & such. While I don't expect to bond with everybody I meet when I try it, I suspect we'll at least be civil to each other.

2.) You can do shorter trips. Continental U.S. trips can run like that. Check out the Fling doing Flower Gardens runs out of Freeport, Texas. Truth Aquatics offers short trips to the Channel Islands with offerings for fairly new divers; here's a thread on that. Neither the Fling or most of the California boats put a free guide in the water, but you could probably hire a private dive master. Flower Gardens diving tends to be deep; California diving tends to entail colder water than some of us are used to. Here's an old 2013 thread asking about shorter live-aboard offerings. And here is a thread on Channel Islands live-aboards.

I like warm water and fine viz., so I'd tend toward a Fling summer trip, but get nitrox certified and rent a big tank because it's deep diving.

Some live-aboards have enough decks/space that people can avoid each other reasonably well.

Richard.

 

[kristen8416]

I've never been on a liveaboard with a group of idiots or rude people, you typically get a boat full of nice people you already have something in common with. Occasionally there might be a lone idiot, but that's not really a problem and can even provide comic relief.

There's not a whole lot of liveaboard trips less than a week long, and they tend be ones with less space and amenities. So while shorter might seem to be a lower risk way of trying out a liveaboard to see if you like it, it might not work out that way. Obviously it depends on expectations and what you're looking for. But you could easily wind up roughing it more than you'd like and hating it for 4 nights vs. spending 7 nights in (relative) luxury and really enjoying it.

Agreed! I would much rather have 7 nights luxury than 4-5 camping on a boat. I can deal with 1 idiot, if there isn't one, then you're it. LOL

Damselfish is right...usually divers on liveaboards are fulfilling a dream and are pretty good fellow passengers.

Yes, thanks for some positives about liveaboards. I'm back to considering it.

I find live-aboards are a mixed bag. If you go to complain you probably will not have to complain about the same thing twice. If you go down to have a great vacation/time it will be great. There is not much you can do about other people, but surprising, as small as boats are it is easy to stay away from the bad ones, and they seem to be few. The crew is another matter, they can make or break a trip. One bad crew can make a trip so so. Two would be a trip from hell. So when I am looking for a boat, the reviews better not have any crew/captain problems. I have never been on a trip with bad crew. It would be nice if operator would supply a set of rules that the boat runs by before you sign up. I like live-aboards, you get a max number of dives in a short time.

I'm guessing you have to go in with the right attitude and go with the flow. I'm pretty good at that. My mother raised me that "nobody likes a whiner". Actually, the people that irritate my husband and I are the ones constantly complaining.

Kristen:

I've had similar thoughts. A few things to think about:

1.) Others have indicated live-aboard diving applies some selective pressure on the customer base. Tend to be seasoned divers with a lot of dives, avid divers, and thus everybody has some things in common. I figure a lot of partier types would prefer land-based action, with bars & such. While I don't expect to bond with everybody I meet when I try it, I suspect we'll at least be civil to each other.

I like warm water and fine viz., so I'd tend toward a Fling summer trip, but get nitrox certified and rent a big tank because it's deep diving.

Some live-aboards have enough decks/space that people can avoid each other reasonably well.

Richard.

Thanks Richard! I think I'll axe the shorter trips. We also like warmer water and good viz. We pretty much always dive Nitrox, otherwise we tend to take a nitrogen nap and don't wake up until the next day. We also prefer diving with seasoned divers, or at least conscientious divers. I'm guessing if you're on a liveaboard you're pretty serious about the diving. By the way, thanks for your commentary. I've read many of your posts when I was a lurker and tend to agree with you. We are also avid Rainbow Reef divers. That's why we keep going back to the Keys. We really do need to spread our wings though. I know my husband would LOVE to do a liveaboard. I could save my points for a different trip. Do they have specials very often?

 

[Damselfish]

The crew is probably more important to your satisfaction than the passengers. Of my more recent liveaboard trips 2 stand out in this regard. One had it's share of mechanical glitches and other issues, but a great crew with a great attitude that busted their butts and did their best to keep on top of things. And one without any particular problems, but a jerk of a captain that set the tone for everything. The first trip was way more enjoyable, even though I spent a couple nights sleeping in the lounge.

 

[drrich2]

Seems like special offers come out fairly often. Got an e-mail recently about an Aggressor (they have the Dancer boats, too) fleet-wide $400 off sale, traveling by some time in April. Sometimes the Cayman Aggressor does 10 days for the price of 7 (certain dates).

Seems to me most of the Caribbean live-aboards I've got my eye on run around $2,500, maybe close to $3,000 for some, apiece. Maybe $100 - 150 for nitro? If round-trip airfare isn't bad, and allowing for 15% tip, yes, it's not cheap, but for 20 something dives apiece, could average out nicely vs. a land-based trip. When I go to Bonaire, if not alone, I figure $1,100 airfare (not counting baggage), $950 (roughly) resort/diving/truck, $80 tank of gas, perhaps $200 apiece in groceries, no boat dives, $25 marine park tag, maybe $2,300? Tip the maid & some other incidentals, call is $2,350? But that's eating PB&J sandwiches, driving myself around, hauling gear in & out. I can't drive stick, so factor in another $150 - 200. $2,500. No need to tip for shore diving. But look at all that service you get on a good live-aboard, and lots of good food! Probably a greater variety of sites. Less work.

Key Largo diving with Rainbow Reef's 10-trip package can be really budget by scuba trip standards. Even then, I need a vehicle rental, groceries & eating out, a hotel room...but airfare's pretty cheap for me.

Lord willing and providing, if the Sun Dancer 2 goes well, I hope to someday do the Turks & Caicos Explorer or the AquaCat.

Richard.

 

[dmoore19]

I have been on 2 live aboards in the Caribbean. The Aquacat and the Cayman Aggressor. Both were enjoyable trips. I think the crew on the Aggressor was far better than the Aquacat. The diving from the Aggressor was better. The food on both was very good. I was on a 10 days for the price of 7 on the Aggressor. If you were to do every dive available there was a total of 39 dives. The Aquacat was 7 days and I got in 21. There was 24 or 25 offered.

Yes I met up with one that I had to stay away from on the AquaCat but there was plenty of room. I would be glad to go on a nother trip on either boat. The schedule of eat, dive, 4 or 5 times a day and then sleep and start over again suits me well. I thought it was a tremendous value.

The Cyaman Aggressor is a very well respected boat with a great crew. I had heard bad things about the Aggressor Fleet but the Cayman boat is IMO a great trip.

 

[BDSC]

I hope to someday do the Turks & Caicos Explorer or the AquaCat.

Richard.

I've been on both in the past few years. Overall I loved the Aquacat as a boat. Very large so lots of room. Good food and crew as well. The Turks and Caicos Explorer is not as big but still plenty large. Again it was a really good crew and the food was also great. The real difference is in the diving. Far superior diving in the T&C. And I mean far superior. Very healthy reefs. The area the Aquacat serves not so much. In no way is it the fault of the boat, but the diving in some of the areas visited by the Aquacat was marginal at best and some was actualy bad when compared to other areas of the Caribbean/Bahamas. Some of the reefs are pretty much destroyed by algae. It was really said to see it like that. If the Aquacat were to start doing a different itinerary, I'd book it again. The T&C Explorer I'd do again in a minute.

Also, Explorer Ventures offers some great specials during the year at $400 to $500 of select weeks. A buddy of mine did the Caribbean Explorer II this past December on such a deal and ended up with his own room. I have booked that entire boat for June of 2016. Can't wait.

 

[RJP]

I was just considering liveaboards for my next trip and this gives me pause. Not because I agree or disagree with any of the above, I don't really want to get in the weeds about it. It is just concerning being stuck on a boat for a week and not being happy, whether you are right or wrong.

If you're spending a week diving and you're not happy... that's probably your fault. Here's the entirety of my thinking on liveaboard diving post:

The most important thing to bring on a liveaboard is a sense of humor and a generally good, positive attitude. If you're not familiar with boats - much less living on one - here's a few facts about boats:

• everything on a boat breaks
• everything on a boat leaks
• everything on a boat gets wet
• nothing on a boat every really dries
• everything on a boat smells like a boat; where things break, get wet, and never really dry
• anything that doesn't smell like a boat smells like people who live on a boat
• everything mechanical on a boat is very loud (until it breaks; then it becomes very quiet)
• everything non-mechanical on a boat creaks and/or rattles (until it breaks in; then it gets very quiet; that's usually the day before it breaks)
• everything on a boat is small
• if something is not small, it's not on the boat
• if something is not available on the island/mainland, it's not on the boat
• if something is not on the boat, it's not on the boat
• if you need something specific but didn't bring it, it's not on the boat
• even things that are usually on the boat are often not on the boat
• most things that happen on a boat happen simply "because it's a boat"

A thousand major/minor/uncomfortable/disgusting/annoying/inconvenient things can go wrong on a boat over the course of a year. Statistically, that means that 20 of them will happen the week you're on board. You won't notice 15 of them. Will any of the the other 5 things ruin your trip? Honestly - other than a condition which presents a clear and imminent threat to your health or safety - whether or not something ruins your trip is entirely up to you. I choose to focus on the things like diving that make my trip enjoyable. Folks who choose to focus on things that will ruin their trip can always find something that will. (HINT: If you've ever posted a photo of a scratched piece of furniture or frayed bedspread in a hotel review on TripAdvisor... you probably should never do a liveaboard trip.)

But, as an optimist, keep in mind that you also get to take the good with the bad...

• everything GOOD that happens on a live-aboard happens "because it's a boat"
• you're never more than an hour or so from the next dive, the next meal, the next nap, or your first drink - because it's a boat
• you set your gear up once and don't worry about it again - because it's a boat
• you're right over the dive site - because it's a boat
• two hours later you're right over the next dive site - because it's a boat
• it's a twenty foot walk from your last bite of desert after dinner to your night dive - because it's a boat
• it's a ten foot walk from your night dive to a hot shower - because it's a boat
• it's a twenty foot walk from the hot shower to a cold beer - because it's a boat
• it's a twenty foot walk from the cold beer to your bed - because it's a boat
• when you wake up the next morning to the smell of coffee and waffles...you're right over the next great dive site - because it's a boat

I've been on many liveaboard trips, all over the world, with all kinds of people. I've never had anything less than a phenomenal time.

 

[TSandM]

RJP, that post is priceless!

It's been my experience with travel in general, that you can have it sanitized and run no risk of anything unpleasant, in which case your experience is severely diluted. Or you can go for it, and know that trips to far flung places are sometimes going to be glitchy. My number one criterion for someone joining one of our trips is that they have to be low maintenance, because high maintenance people are impossible in situations where too many variables are beyond your control.

I haven't been that many places on liveaboards, but I have had FABULOUS experiences. No, not everything has gone smoothly (like the time the boat got contaminated water, and everyone on it, including the crew, got horribly sick) but the great experiences have been well worth it.

I read through the description of the OP's trip, and that DM would have annoyed me, and I would either have ignored him or, if the yelling at the passengers really got to me, I would have gone to the captain and said something. Once I got off the boat, the whole thing would have been forgotten. Crew on those types of boats change frequently, and the guy who bothered me may not even be on your trip.

 

[coldwaterlloyd]

RJP pretty well sums it up . The only bad liveaboard is the one I am not on , the only way to go if it fits the budget

 

[RJP]

Some live-aboards have enough decks/space that people can avoid each other reasonably well.

Richard.

Any boat has enough room for that. All you need is a book and a pair of headphones. (Sometime I don't even play anything through the head phones... just read the book. )