Which liveaboard would you do??

I am looking into a liveaboard experience next year and have narrowed down the choices as follows:

1. Aggressor (Caymans)
2. Nekton
3. Aquacat
4. SeaFever

Anyone had any experience with any of these?? I am not interested in Blackbeard's....need more luxury than that!!

Thanks!!!!!

Here's a chart I came up with last year (so the prices are not accurate and it doesn't have the Aggressor on it). My baseline per-dive cost is what it costs for the wife and me to drive down the road, spend the night in a hotel, eat our meals, and pay for the charter.

When comparing live aboards, I trade off cost (which may or may not indicate comfort and luxury), Itinerary, number of divers in relation to the accommodations, and the number of dives I get.

My wife requires an ensuite head and shower, so some operators fall off the list immediately.

I'm leaning toward the Nekton because I can drive to Ft Lauderdale and save the cost of flying to an island departure.

If I had to fly to Florida anyway (and the ticket to Nassau is about the same as the ticket to Miami), then the Aquacat might be a good choice.

yep i agree. if i am going to fly...it would def be the caymans. but since i am here in NC, i can drive to Ft lauderdale easily.

ill check out your attachment...thanks

The food is AWESOME!
The crew is FANTASTIC!
The diving is SPECTACULAR!

Even with a full load of divers the boat doesn't feel crowded. You can do as many as 5 dives a day. Each room has a shower and a head. Hot tub on the top deck!

Even though the boat is billed as a "no seasick" boat you'd do well to take Dramamine, etc. if you're prone to getting sick; the boat does waddle enough to make you walk like a drunk until you get your sea legs. Our friend didn't take his Dramamine and got so sick he had to be airlifted off the boat by the Coast Guard. My husband isn't prone to getting sick on boats and he was fine without Dramamine.

I'd go back again! It's worth EVERY PENNY including 10% of the trip cost for a tip for the crew! (that was the suggested amount on our paperwork from Nekton)

We even took a tour of the engine room down in the pontoon! That was cool! Just ask your Chief Engineer, maybe you can get one too.
Ber

Thanks rabbit....

one more question if you dont mind....

i will be going alone ...so i will probably have to share a cabin (right?) ...

and more importantly......since i know they are probably paranoid about dive buddies....is it hard to find one if you come alone???

oh and yes....love the heels...you could start a whole new trend!!!

You're welcome! I can't seem to get my feet into my fins with the heels on, there's too much slope in the arch!:hehe:

I'm not sure what their policy is with solo guests, we had one on our boat and I think he had his own room but I don't know if he paid the double occupancy price. Call Nekton and ask and while you're at it ask if they have any specials, maybe you can get a better deal.

Shouldn't be too hard to find a buddy. Everyone didn't do every dive when we went so there was always someone for lone divers to buddy up with. You could probably even get one of the crew to dive with you, they're REALLY accommodating.

If you do go here's a tip. The divemasters are very professional but one day I noticed they were acting like complete morons (pretending to throw divers off the boat as they did their giant stride, smacking them on the head with rubber lobsters, etc.)! Turns out that was the day they were videotaping divers getting into the water! They hooked a buoy to one guy's first stage then threw it in the water after he went in. Poor guy couldn't figure out why he couldn't get down! When he came up to see what was wrong he couldn't figure out how he'd gotten the buoy hooked to his first stage. Thursday night they showed the movie and he got his answer! The video is pricey but they do a really good job. Ham it up whenever you see a camera and you can get quite a bit of time on film!

Any other questions, shoot me a PM!
Ber

1. How did you decide on the Cayman Aggressor as opposed to the Belize Aggressor or arguably the best in region, the Turks & Caicos Aggressor?

2. You ask about the "Nekton." Do you mean the Belize Nekton Pilot or Bahamas Nekton Rorqual?

3. You ask about the SeaFever. Does this help?----> http://www.undercurrent.org/UCnow/articles/Bahamas200202.shtml

Best regards.

DocVikingo

Not having a corporation or any other funding than my own, I am looking at ....what I can afford....where I would like to go....descriptions I find on the internet...and the like.

Regarding the Nekton...it would be the Bahamas

And, the write up on the SeaFever confirmed my thoughts.
Thanks!

Hi Rich,

For the most part, people seem to greatly enjoy the Nekton Rorqual provided that it's not maxed out. If it's important to you, no nitrox. Issue is, much of Bahamas diving is not that special.

As regards the Aggressors, I wouldn't think that the Cayman boat would be substantially cheaper than the TCI after all costs are factored in, but I haven't checked. In any event, I think that you'd enjoy either of these a great deal, and a great deal more than the Bahamas.

On a liveaboard, finding a buddy is no problem. If you don't hook up with your cabinmate, the boat will make sure you're covered.

Happy shopping.

DocVikingo