Maldives liveaboard w/o seasickness

My husband and I are planning to do a one-week liveaboard in the Maldives over Thanksgiving. I've always avoided liveaboards due to my propensity to seasickness. We're looking for a liveaboard that lessens the likelihood of my feeling sick the whole week. Do you have any suggestions? We've heard that the Carpe Vita is a good boat. Anyone have experience with that liveaboard?

The Carpe Vita is certainly a large comfortable boat and our customers have consistently given it a 5 star rating through their feedback and if you can hold of a couple of days they have a discounted trip departing on the 01 December 2013. If it's only small boats you've been on the past then a boat of this size may alleviate the sea sickness effect a little. If you scroll down our facebook page to May 14th, I shared an article regarding sea sickness which may be of some help. Hope this assists you in overcoming your problems, I used to get it when I was child, so I know how you feel if I do start feeling a little nauseous then I stand on the lower deck (away from any fumes), keep my eyes on the horizon and let my knees bend with the motion of the boat so that my head stays as level as possible (probably the only time I'm anywhere near level headed). It works for me.

---------- Post added June 21st, 2013 at 09:24 AM ----------

Plus it is also worth noting that the Maldives is generally a very calm destination. A few of my colleagues at Dive The World were there recently. They all did liveaboards with slightly different routes and reported flat calm seas. Apparently sleeping on board at night was like sleeping in a hotel bed with pretty much zero rocking and rolling at all. Crossing between the atolls is where there is most likely to be a bit of swell (but normally not much) but there are so many sheltered spots to dive in and anchor for the night. So unlike some other liveaboard destinations where the motion of the ocean is a definite factor, you are choosing well if you are going for the Maldives.

I get seasick pretty bad on boats. Scopalomine patches were the solution. They were recommended in a couple DAN articles circa 2003, although when I contacted DAN with a question they told me they did not recommend anything in particular (go figure?). You'll need a prescription for it, the brand name is Transderm Scop. Scopalomine used to come in pills but it's been discontinued (I'm guessing due to abuse). For me, there's no side effects I can detect - unlike dramamine and bonine. My local drug store had the stuff in stock, and so far I haven't had a problem with patches coming off during dives.

DAN article 1: DAN | Medical Articles

DAN article 2: DAN | Medical Articles

Good luck!

If you're sea-sick, you need a fix like suggested above. But try it first to see if it actually works. What works for one person may not work for another.

The most settled weather in the Maldives is Feb-Mar, with generally very light winds. Nov-Dec can be very changeable.

I would not be concerned. Despite being not a good traveller, I have spent about 6 separate weeks on Maldives liveaboards without a hint of sea sickness. What's more, I cannot recall seeing anyone else suffer.

Due to the large numbers of reefs etc, no Maldives liveaboards move at night. All find a quiet, sheltered spot & anchor at around sunset (1800 ish); not moving for around 11 hours. This makes a huge difference.

Treatments like Scopalomine patches are actually quite powerful medicines (only available on prescription over here). Some people do get side affects incompatible with diving. If you are tempted to use them, i suggest trying them out for a few days at home beforehand, to see how you react to them.

You've chosen a great boat in Carpe Vita. I loved my trip with them in Nov 11. It has the biggest cabins/bathrooms ever! Great food. Excellent dive set up. Enjoy.

The Carpe Vita is a great boat. I did a 7-day trip with them last summer and am going back for 10 days this year. The crew are wonderful and very friendly, the food is great, and the dive setup is excellent. You won't be disappointed.

kelemvor:

I get seasick pretty bad on boats. Scopalomine patches were the solution. They were recommended in a couple DAN articles circa 2003, although when I contacted DAN with a question they told me they did not recommend anything in particular (go figure?). You'll need a prescription for it, the brand name is Transderm Scop. Scopalomine used to come in pills but it's been discontinued (I'm guessing due to abuse). For me, there's no side effects I can detect - unlike dramamine and bonine. My local drug store had the stuff in stock, and so far I haven't had a problem with patches coming off during dives.

DAN article 1: DAN | Medical Articles

DAN article 2: DAN | Medical Articles

Good luck!

Click to expand...

I've tried Scopalomine on a past dive trip, and it's not for me. I found that after a few days I had trouble focusing my eyes well enough to read. I know not everyone has this side effect, but it's certainly common enough and somewhat disturbing.