Liveaboard in July...

I have a few weeks off in July (the 3d to 26th), and I'd like to spend a week or so on a liveaboard. If anyone knows of good trips with spots available, please PM me. Thanks.

djcheburashka:

I have a few weeks off in July (the 3d to 26th), and I'd like to spend a week or so on a liveaboard. If anyone knows of good trips with spots available, please PM me. Thanks.

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your profile doesn't say where you live or are flying out from so it is hard to make too many recommendations. Are you in US? Asia? Australia? Europe?

Also, have you checked any of the liveaboard websites? Anything sound appealing as far as where they go? Or do you not really care as long as it is underwater?

The Aggressor website: Aggressor Fleet | The ultimate in live-aboards since 1984 has a trip availability search so you can see if any boats have openings for your dates.
Aggressor Fleet Reservations and Contact information

Other liveaboards you will probably need to e-mail to check for openings. Since your dates are such short notice, you might be able to get a good deal in order to fill a boat.

Some dive travel agencies, like Caradonna Dive Adventures - Dive Travel and Vacations can do the searching for you. You might want to give them a call or e-mail them.

robin

Thanks; I'm leaving from New York. I've already dove Turks & Caicos, Bermuda, Caymen, etc. What I'm looking for, really, is something interesting and unusual.

so now you need to define "interesting and unusual." Do you want to stick to the Caribbean, or head someplace farther (more likely to get something you'll consider unusual that way.)

The suggestion to talke to a dive travel agent might be a good one if you really have no idea and don't want to do the legwork.

I was hoping folks from the Northeast who've dove the Carribean would share my experience - I mean, if you go to dive the nearby Islands, and you've done that a few times, you've pretty much seen all the same things again and again. "Interesting" and "unusual" is anything outside that category...

djcheburashka:

Thanks; I'm leaving from New York. I've already dove Turks & Caicos, Bermuda, Caymen, etc. What I'm looking for, really, is something interesting and unusual.

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I would look at the Kona Aggressor. I just checked and it says they have available space for you in July. Something different than Caribbean, absolutely!!! mantas, white tip sharks, maybe even whales, dolphins, tons of turtles, butterflyfish in huge schools, hammerheads, dozens of eels on every dive, very colorful fish although the reefs are rugged lava rock and not as lush as Caribbean.
Aggressor: Diving Hawaii, Mantas, Turtles, Kailua Kona Scuba Charters
Flights from NYC to Kailua-Kona should be easy, too. Just be sure to stay over an extra day or two and visit the volcano national park. It is freakin' awesome! The lush jungles on the east side of Kona are pretty amazing too, filled with waterfalls and amazing views.


If you have more $$, then check out the Aggressor to Fiji or Palau. Travel would be longer but the diving would be worth it.

robin

It sounds like you are looking for something fairly close (meaning not the far east or Australia, etc. You will definitely find things 'different' over there, but the travel...), which usually means the Caribbean. A lot of the close stuff is picked over, I agree, but I must recommend an area which is fairly close, but has almost nobody visiting it. I refer to the Cay Sal banks, in the far southwestern Bahamas. Incredible place, but very few boats go there, as it is off the beaten track. Nekton pretty much has the area to themselves, and even they don't go there all that often. I managed to weasel aboard their August 22nd sailing to this area, and that is probably the last of it for this year, if I read their web site correctly. Hurricane season, I know- but, we will see, won't we. Anyway, that's my 2 cents worth. Woody

I was going to suggest the Nekton Cay Sal Banks trip, too, but figured I would get attacked for promoting the Nekton again. So now that someone else has said it, I think that trip would be perfect for a Caribbean liveaboard.
My only other Caribbean suggestion would be land-based, either Bonaire or CoCoView Resort, Roatan.

I still say, if you want a liveaboard and different than Caribbean diving you have done, go for the Kona Aggressor.

robin

With over three weeks, you should head to the Pacific.

If you have three weeks, no question in my mind, go to the South Pacific. July is prime time in Fiji, Borneo and Indonesia. Fiji has wonderful soft corals but lacks in bio diversity compared to Indonesia but is only a 10 hour night flight out of LAX. Indonesia and Borneo are much longer flights but Bali is a bargain once you’re out of the major resorts and the topside activities and diving are very good.
If you are looking for weird and bizarre, Lembeh is great but you need to know it’s almost all muck and you will learn that a good dive guide is key. No reason for a liveaboard in Lembeh unless it is also going to take you out of the straits and up into the Sangihe Archipelago.
If you’re looking at a liveaboard, there are many to choose from in the Komodo area and the diving is a good blend of large and small but be prepared for varied condition in both water temp’s and currents. Once you’ve gone to the South Pacific, it will be hard to go back to the Caribbean but it’s also a very long to get to there but well worth it.