What was your favourite liveaboard ever?

[BDSC]

Care to name your least favorite liveaboard where the entire crew was unfriendly and unhelpful? That would be a deal breaker for me.

I can't say that I have ever had a bad crew or even close. There was this one guy on the Caribbean Explorer II that no one really seemed to like all that much. He was very young and not nearly as good of a diver as he thought he was. But the rest of the crew was good.

Liveaboards are a very service oriented type of business. They really can't afford to have a bad or uncaring crew but of course we know it happens. There are just so many choices of boats now that everyone needs to be at the top of their game.

 

[Dogbowl]

I can't say that I have ever had a bad crew or even close. There was this one guy on the Caribbean Explorer II that no one really seemed to like all that much. He was very young and not nearly as good of a diver as he thought he was. But the rest of the crew was good.

Liveaboards are a very service oriented type of business. They really can't afford to have a bad or uncaring crew but of course we know it happens. There are just so many choices of boats now that everyone needs to be at the top of their game.

I suppose you're right...except that I read about the Thorfinn's captain and his off-colour remarks and the way he treats his staff. I think that's an anomaly though. People still book his boat so...who knows.

I've done 1 trip where we experienced generally poor attitude from different vendors (airport, restaurants, dive op). We will not go back to that location again. It's not a liveaboard, but just sayin'. There are too many dive opportunities in this world anyway.

 

[Damselfish]

My impression of the Cayman Aggressor from reading these boards is...meh, crew, boat and diving (since you can do most from shore, especially if you didn't do the crossing).

The boat was typical of that style boat, nothing special but fine. I actually liked it for the diving. People always say that about the CA, that you can do it all land based. While technically true, practically it's not, certainly not in a week. You could dive all those areas in multiple trips, or if you move your land base once or twice, or do an awful lot of commuting (which eats into your dive time.) But you probably wouldn't get as many dives, as doing 5 boat dives a day on Cayman is difficult, not to mention expensive. You could do a bunch of shore dives, but shore access is limited there and there's only so many places you can get to that way. And on the CA you actually have time to relax, not so much if you try and dive like that from land there.

Care to name your least favorite liveaboard where the entire crew was unfriendly and unhelpful? That would be a deal breaker for me.

It was like 10 years ago and possibly been through enough changes that it's not relevant. I think it may actually be in a different country now. I likely complained about it on some thread in the distant past though. Wasn't a Caribbean liveaboard.

 

[Trailboss123]

I just love my So Cal Channel Islands diving and love me a nice 5 day Southern Channel Islands trip to San Clemente, Catalina, Farnsworth Bank and 7 Fathoms on Truth Aquatics largest boat, the Vision:
Truth Aquatics |
This isn't luxury liveaboard, more like dorm room diving at sea-- but the diving and dive freedom are outstanding. The crew and food are excellent. It also doesn't suck that I don't have to book a flight. Just drive 40 minutes with my dive gear, tank and weights and walk on board.

 

[ppatin]

I've enjoyed every liveaboard trip that I've been on, but I think that the T&C Aggressor earns the title of "favorite."

The diving off of that boat is extremely fun and relaxing. The water was warm enough that I didn't bother with a wetsuit except on night dives. It was great being able to just pull on a rash guard, check my fear and hop in the water. The diving conditions themselves were lovely with clear water, no current and lots to see on every dive. I've never had to put so little effort into having so much fun while diving.

Food on the boat was always excellent and the crew was fantastic. The boat itself was fine (perfectly comfortable but nothing special.)

 

[Bert van den Berg]

This one: www.maxvu110.com/Trip.jpg

 

[Dogbowl]

This one: www.maxvu110.com/Trip.jpg

Your private liveaboard?

 

[mdb]

5 days on a Truth Aquatics boat out of Santa Barbara fits me best. Great diving, great food, good crews.

 

[Bert van den Berg]

Yes, the son and I got to dive almost every day for a couple of years in some really nice spots. Favorite was S.and N. Minerva Reef 250 miles south of Tonga.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Glad to see Turks and Caicos Explorer get some love in this thread. I only left her off because of the cabins. I like the rest of the boat and the crew personality is awesome. Food very yummy as well. Sweet diving, very relaxing, pretty, occasional shark swimming by.