ArizonaSusana
Registered
Gaia Love Liveaboard. March-April 2019. Raja Ampat (Sorong-Sorong).
We spent 26 days (including travel) scuba diving in Indonesia and The Philippines. The trip was arranged by Ultimate Dive Travel (UDT), who once again did a fantastic job. We’ve been using UDT for dive travel arrangements since 2005 and can highly recommend them.
We are older divers (ages 72 and 82) with nearly 20 years of diving and about 1500 dives each (all in tropical locales). We have traveled to the tropical Asian Pacific once or twice a year since 2011.
This was our first trip on the Gaia Love Liveaboard. The Gaia is AMAZING! Since it’s not a traditional wooden “phinisi-style” boat it’s wider, roomier, more stable, and has more shade than other dive boats and it doesn’t creak – I like the creaking sounds wooden boats make, but some people do not.
The dive deck is on two levels – an area for suiting up and a platform for boarding the skiffs. The dive deck is roomy and shaded with many features that make it special. There are individual dive stations, each with a personal rinse tank for cameras; an under-seat basket for personal items; and a dry compartment for towel, coverup, etc. each diver is assigned a towel (monogramed with character traits e.g., joy, wisdom, charity) for the trip. Towels are dried and return to the dry compartment before each dive. Wetsuits are rinsed and hung to dry by the crew and then folded and returned to a shelf above the dry compartment prior to the dive. The laundry room is next to the dive deck and the warm sir from the dryer vents blows out onto the wetsuit rack. While wetsuits aren’t completely dry for the next dive, skins and rash guards dry fast. Clamps are provided to hang smaller items (swim suits, socks, hoods) on drying racks on the upper deck or on the rails on the dive deck. Since this area is shaded, gearing up for a dive is not done in the hot sun and BCs do not sit in the sun all day.
Divers are assigned to groups of 4 per guide and are transported to the dive site via skiff as a group. When a group is called, they walk down the stairs on either side of the stern to the boat platform. Skiffs are not towed behind when the Gaia is moving – two are stored on the boat platform and the third is hoisted by crane to the upper deck. At dive time, skiffs are moved into the water and easily boarded. Four showers (with hot water) are also available on the lower deck. After the dive, just get out of the skiff, rinse off, walk up the stairs, and take off wetsuit. The crew moves BCs, tanks, fins, and cameras from dive stations to skiffs and back.
Water entry is an easy back roll from the skiffs. There is a mid-section ladder for boarding skiffs after the dive – most divers take off BCs and fins and climb the ladder. While divers are in the water one skiff is always positioned at the dive site – current assessment is made by the dive guides prior to each dive so skiff captains know where to be looking for divers. Skiff captains carry radios and are in contact with the Gaia and the other skiffs, so they always know how many divers are still in the water.
There are 11 guest cabins. They are small but laid out in such a way that they don’t feel crowded. Hairdryer, robes, shampoo and conditioner are provided. The upper deck cabins each have a large window and a small balcony (with sliding glass door). Each cabin also has a TV that is part of the ship’s entertainment system (movies are available for those who so desire).
The top deck has a drying rack and a sunny lounging area as is typical. Not so typical, is a comfortable shady seating area under a roof and enclosed on 3 sides.
The main deck has the dining area, a lounge area, and camera room (again roomy with enough space for everyone). The dining area has tables that can be configured in various ways. The lounge area next to the ding area comfortably seats 12-14 people at a time. There’s a large TV for sharing photos and watching movies. This area also has several fish/creature identification books and a small library of books that other passengers have left.
The food was excellent and plentiful. Each morning started with cold breakfast (fruit, yogurt, croissants, cereal) before the first dive. Then hot breakfast prepared to order. Lunch, again prepared to order, followed the second dive. Third dive after lunch followed by snacks. Dinner (again to order) was served about 7 pm with a fourth dive about 5:30 for those who still had the energy to get in the water. That describes the daily plan on most liveaboards; but the Gaia offered a couple of things I have not seen elsewhere: 1) professional grade coffee makers and two trained baristas. There was a specialty coffee of the day and lattes, etc. were available all day, every day; 2) a good selection of wines with a wine refrigerator to assure that they were stored at the proper temperature.
Our trip was Raja Ampat (Sorong-Sorong). This is perhaps the best diving in the world and conditions in late March were excellent. Water temperature ranged from 82° F to 84° F. we saw mantas at several sites; beautiful schools of sweetlips, jacks, and snappers; lovely nudibranchs; woebegone sharks; and black tip reef sharks. Soft and hard corals were colorful and healthy. We didn’t see many other divers or dive boats. It was a great trip and we plan to be back on the Gaia in the fall for another itinerary.
We spent 26 days (including travel) scuba diving in Indonesia and The Philippines. The trip was arranged by Ultimate Dive Travel (UDT), who once again did a fantastic job. We’ve been using UDT for dive travel arrangements since 2005 and can highly recommend them.
We are older divers (ages 72 and 82) with nearly 20 years of diving and about 1500 dives each (all in tropical locales). We have traveled to the tropical Asian Pacific once or twice a year since 2011.
This was our first trip on the Gaia Love Liveaboard. The Gaia is AMAZING! Since it’s not a traditional wooden “phinisi-style” boat it’s wider, roomier, more stable, and has more shade than other dive boats and it doesn’t creak – I like the creaking sounds wooden boats make, but some people do not.
The dive deck is on two levels – an area for suiting up and a platform for boarding the skiffs. The dive deck is roomy and shaded with many features that make it special. There are individual dive stations, each with a personal rinse tank for cameras; an under-seat basket for personal items; and a dry compartment for towel, coverup, etc. each diver is assigned a towel (monogramed with character traits e.g., joy, wisdom, charity) for the trip. Towels are dried and return to the dry compartment before each dive. Wetsuits are rinsed and hung to dry by the crew and then folded and returned to a shelf above the dry compartment prior to the dive. The laundry room is next to the dive deck and the warm sir from the dryer vents blows out onto the wetsuit rack. While wetsuits aren’t completely dry for the next dive, skins and rash guards dry fast. Clamps are provided to hang smaller items (swim suits, socks, hoods) on drying racks on the upper deck or on the rails on the dive deck. Since this area is shaded, gearing up for a dive is not done in the hot sun and BCs do not sit in the sun all day.
Divers are assigned to groups of 4 per guide and are transported to the dive site via skiff as a group. When a group is called, they walk down the stairs on either side of the stern to the boat platform. Skiffs are not towed behind when the Gaia is moving – two are stored on the boat platform and the third is hoisted by crane to the upper deck. At dive time, skiffs are moved into the water and easily boarded. Four showers (with hot water) are also available on the lower deck. After the dive, just get out of the skiff, rinse off, walk up the stairs, and take off wetsuit. The crew moves BCs, tanks, fins, and cameras from dive stations to skiffs and back.
Water entry is an easy back roll from the skiffs. There is a mid-section ladder for boarding skiffs after the dive – most divers take off BCs and fins and climb the ladder. While divers are in the water one skiff is always positioned at the dive site – current assessment is made by the dive guides prior to each dive so skiff captains know where to be looking for divers. Skiff captains carry radios and are in contact with the Gaia and the other skiffs, so they always know how many divers are still in the water.
There are 11 guest cabins. They are small but laid out in such a way that they don’t feel crowded. Hairdryer, robes, shampoo and conditioner are provided. The upper deck cabins each have a large window and a small balcony (with sliding glass door). Each cabin also has a TV that is part of the ship’s entertainment system (movies are available for those who so desire).
The top deck has a drying rack and a sunny lounging area as is typical. Not so typical, is a comfortable shady seating area under a roof and enclosed on 3 sides.
The main deck has the dining area, a lounge area, and camera room (again roomy with enough space for everyone). The dining area has tables that can be configured in various ways. The lounge area next to the ding area comfortably seats 12-14 people at a time. There’s a large TV for sharing photos and watching movies. This area also has several fish/creature identification books and a small library of books that other passengers have left.
The food was excellent and plentiful. Each morning started with cold breakfast (fruit, yogurt, croissants, cereal) before the first dive. Then hot breakfast prepared to order. Lunch, again prepared to order, followed the second dive. Third dive after lunch followed by snacks. Dinner (again to order) was served about 7 pm with a fourth dive about 5:30 for those who still had the energy to get in the water. That describes the daily plan on most liveaboards; but the Gaia offered a couple of things I have not seen elsewhere: 1) professional grade coffee makers and two trained baristas. There was a specialty coffee of the day and lattes, etc. were available all day, every day; 2) a good selection of wines with a wine refrigerator to assure that they were stored at the proper temperature.
Our trip was Raja Ampat (Sorong-Sorong). This is perhaps the best diving in the world and conditions in late March were excellent. Water temperature ranged from 82° F to 84° F. we saw mantas at several sites; beautiful schools of sweetlips, jacks, and snappers; lovely nudibranchs; woebegone sharks; and black tip reef sharks. Soft and hard corals were colorful and healthy. We didn’t see many other divers or dive boats. It was a great trip and we plan to be back on the Gaia in the fall for another itinerary.
