Liveaboards: 'cattle boats' or not?

I am considering the liveaboard experience and I would appreciate some honest opinions. Most of my diving has occurred on trips where I'd been staying @ a resort(usually somewhere in Cozumel). Also, most of my dives were from boats w/ only 5 other divers(Blue XT Sea). I'd rather not talk about it, but one dive(a cruise excursion) had @ least 20 divers! :shocked2: What a horrendous experience that was! I will never do THAT again: the cruise OR the cattle boat! The question I pose is: Are liveaboards considered cattle boats? If so, is it 'worth it'? IMO, it seems that liveaboards would attract 'dedicated'(or serious, if you will) divers, unlike the type of people you find on cattle boats, considering that on a liveaboard, diving is pretty much the main drag, as far as activities go.

I've been on one (going on my 2nd liveaboard in June) and we didn't feel like it was a cattle boat. We had a relatively full boat and occasionally it felt slightly crowded on the dive platform but once you hit the water, most people took off in their own directions. There was one night dive we were on though where a lot of people were in the same general area. Someone was messing with a lobster and picked it up. Before I could blink the thing went flying through the water right at me, I think it hit my leg as it shot by. You definitely meet a variety of people on liveaboards. I think they attract a lot of people who want up to 5 dives a day, they are great for single divers and people who just want to dive at their own discretion and relax on a boat.

I think a lot depends on the boat and location you choose. The liveaboards I have been on averaged about 16 divers. Both were to the Similans. Plenty of space and great food. Although a far trip from your present location you may want to consider venturing out to Thailand for a LA. I bet when you factor airfare and the lower cost of liveaboards compared to your region it may work out similar in price.

I prefer LA than daily trips. As mentioned, you can get to further diving sites which can not be reached on a 1 day trip. About the # of divers and crowded areas.. it all depends on the people you have with you on the LA, there are some courtesy code between divers which you find with the more experienced ones which usually tends to be the one on a LA. Of course this is not true all the times, sometimes you find a diver or a group of divers opposite to what you would expect.

aubie85:

Are liveaboards considered cattle boats?

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"Cattleboats" seem to have variable definitions based upon the experience level and expectations (reasonable or not) of the individual.

There are several liveaboards which take quite a few divers along, but as divers begin get past the first day desire of rushing to the dive deck area at the first hint of diving, the feeling of crowdedness subsides.

On that point, you will hear any number of posters here decrying one boat or another in the Caribbean for one or more of various reasons. Having been aboard most all of them, I do have my favorites, but I have yet to find anything truly awful. If they are, they don't last long.

I have been on a very odd liveaboard that catered to Japanese clientele with 75 divers aboard. I know from what I speak.

Your definition of "cattleboat" also seems to have a dash of diver ability added into your perception. You will indeed find a heavier bias to the group in terms of the "gotta be wet" mentality (what else was there to do?), on the other hand (you'll likely find another 5 fingers)....

- You will also likely find divers of greatly varying abilities, some who are engaged in a heavy learning curve (the most easily seen by us Americans is when you go to the Galapagos)

- Depending on the boat, you might be the oldest and only sober person aboard.

- Liveaboards (and resorts) that commonly cater to European or Asian guests? You're in for a real cultural "sea change".

See the :sblogo: thread, http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ge...ns/224209-cattle-boat-what-does-mean-you.html

aubie85:

I am considering the liveaboard experience and I would appreciate some honest opinions. Most of my diving has occurred on trips where I'd been staying @ a resort(usually somewhere in Cozumel). Also, most of my dives were from boats w/ only 5 other divers(Blue XT Sea). I'd rather not talk about it, but one dive(a cruise excursion) had @ least 20 divers! :shocked2: What a horrendous experience that was! I will never do THAT again: the cruise OR the cattle boat! The question I pose is: Are liveaboards considered cattle boats? If so, is it 'worth it'? IMO, it seems that liveaboards would attract 'dedicated'(or serious, if you will) divers, unlike the type of people you find on cattle boats, considering that on a liveaboard, diving is pretty much the main drag, as far as activities go.

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Cattleboats? It completely depends on the liveaboard and where you are going. Most of the boats popular with US divers (Aggressor, Peter Hughes, Explorer Ventures, Aquacat, Nekton, etc.) are smaller boats with private rooms and bathrooms and anywhere from 10-30 divers onboard. They seem like they would be crowded but they aren't and definitely not cattleboats!
Some of the boats in other areas of the world, however, can be. Southern California has liveaboards doing 2-5 days of diving in the Channel Islands that have a single bunkroom and only 2 bathrooms with 25-45 divers to share the space! Those are cattleboats in that respect but dive operations run smoothly so it isn't as ugly as diving on a cattleboat in the Caribbean. In Palau we were on a liveaboard (Eco Explorer) with only 12-14 divers but another boat of Japanese divers had 50+ divers and the boat was the same size as ours! They had bunkbeds stacked 3 high to accomodate everyone! Yuck!

As others have said, MOST liveaboards are awesome experiences and very relaxing. They are less stressful than land-based ops as you do more dives but never leave the boat so no hauling gear, or searching for restaurants, etc. Eat dive eat dive eat dive....repeat. Yes, they cost more but if you figure in the total trip cost PER DIVE, they end up being cheaper in many cases (like our liveaboard trip to Palau).

Have you decided where you want to go on your First Liveaboard??????

robin

Maybe look at a liveaboard as a very small dive resort, rather than a very large dive boat.

People's definition of cattleboat varies but is more than the absolute number of people on a boat or space. I think it's more about the attitudes of the operation and passengers, how divers are treated, and how diving is run relative to the environment you're diving in.

I've mostly been on higher end liveaboards that carried from 12-20 passengers and would in no way consider them cattleboats. I've been on one liveaboard that wasn't quite as nice and carried up to 30. The on board experience (everything non-diving) actually was a bit cattleish on that one, but the diving itself was handled better so I'm not quite sure I'd call it a cattleboat as far as diving.

I have been on 3 live aboards: The Caribbean Explorer I, Blackbeards & the Cat Ppalu. The Caribbean Explorer I was by far the best. It was a a 3 deck 100' boat with a maximum of 18 passengers. I never felt crowded or anything. Plenty of room for all. next in line was the Cat Ppalu. It is a 65' sailing catamaran. It carries a maximum of 18 passengers. It wasn't as roomy as the CEXI, but wasn't too bad. I have been on Blackbeard's Pirate's Lady twice. It is a 65' sailing sloop. It carries a maximum of 22 passengers. One time I went there was only 9 of us, so it wasn't crowded a bit. The second time It was packed full. While it could be a challenge to get around & find some personal space, I still wouldn't call it really bad. When on a live aboard, I am in the water as much as I absolutely can be. In the water, I'm free & have all the room I could ever want. The worst part of these trips is getting caught with the occasional fellow passenger who seems like their only goal in life is to try to ruin the trip for everyone else by making a total horse's rear end of themselves, whether by being whiny the whole trip, or just obnoxiously rude. There's not much way to avoid these characters on these vessels. Overall though, I've had very good experiences with the live aboards, but then I'm the kind of person who just goes with the flow. It's all a part of the adventure to me.

My definition of cattle boat is a boat that drops 20 divers onto a dive site at the same time, turning a peaceful reef into a Thunderball set. On a liveaboard, you will often have the flexibility to determine when you dive, and you can stagger your dives to avoid the other divers. The Belize Aggressor, for example, would be okay with that, because dives are generally done from the main vessel, which is moored. Sometimes boats will divide the divers into two groups and take off in opposite directions on each dive. The Undersea Explorer in Cocos works that way, because currents can be strong at times and diving is done from the pangas. The Spoilsport, in the Coral Sea does it both ways, depending on the dive. I have never felt cramped on a dive or onboard during any of my 10 liveaboard trips. The Palau Aggressor dropped us all (18 of us) in off of one skiff on most dives, but the current there quickly puts some room between divers.

I've done two liveaboards and would not consider them cattleboats. One had 9 divers with 12 crew the other 12 divers with 14 crew. Not crowded & no-way are those types of liveboards cattleboats. I've been on that same type of boat you've been on - when there's 20+ divers and it's a clusterfewdge getting on , off and moving anywhere on the boat...don't do that sort of thing because it'll make you negative on diving or certain divers that are on your boat. It's supposed to be fun not aggravating.