Anxious Wife/Mother

[Basheirt]

Traveling aboard Cat Ppalu next month in Bahamas with my teenage son. Wife/mother VERY anxious about being out of touch with us (okay... with the boy!) for a week. Anyone know if the Cat has wifi at any point during the week?

For anyone who has done a liveaboard, have you managed any communication with folks back home? How?

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[diversteve]

WiFi only has an outdoor range of about 300' So that's how close you'll need to be to an access point. I assume that would be any harbors you dock at but I don't think the Cat does except in Nassau. You will go by multiple islands with cellular service though - so your fallback is your cellphone. Here's some recent info about options in that area: Cell Phone Communication in the Abacos AND Exumas | Bahamas Chatter

I have a quad-band GSM phone. And AT&T and now T-Mobile. It's worked all thru the Caribbean/Central America except I sometimes need to buy a local sim card for access. Worked both near Nassau and near Freeport IIRC.

If you absolutely want to maintain contact rent a Satellite Phone. They're well under $100 ($30-90) a week plus airtime at around $4-7 per minute and work as long as you can see the sky. SatellitePhoneStore.com They also sell internet connectivity thru the phone but that can be really pricey and I'd guess really slow.

There's (at least) two satellite systems but in the Bahamas I'm fairly certain you want Iridium-based.

 

[scuberd]

I dove off the Cat Ppalu about 10 years ago and had a great time. The crew (at the time) were professional and the boat (at the time) was very safe and enjoyable. I'm sure there will be times when your son can check in with you when they get close to shore, but otherwise, try not not worry. Dive operations are so afraid of litigation that they are overly safe and conscientious of their guests. He will have a safe and fun time with lots of stories when he gets back.

 

[Imla]

Tell her no news is good news...

 

[jimbeeler]

While I haven't been on a live aboard I do travel where there's no cell/internet coverage (motorcycle adventure riding).

You could rent a satellite phone. Pretty expensive... or... I've got a SPOT device. It uses satellites to communicate "OK" or "Help" messages. I hit the "OK" button periodically to let my wife know where I am and I'm OK. I think they also have one that you can interface with your phone via bluetooth to send texts via satellite.

Or you could enjoy being "off the grid" and off the leash...

Jim

 

[boulderjohn]

I suggest you ask. I was on a Liveaboard on the Great barrier Reef a couple of weeks ago, and we had very good wifi almost the entire time.

 

[diversteve]

Wifi or cellular?

Most likely it was because the ship - or one of the pax - had a MiFi hotspot and a wireless router. I suppose if they were Aussie it wouldn't cost any more than their standard monthly data charge. I thought about doing something similar on Kona Aggressor since it's known as the cellular liveaboard. WiFi has a 300' range if it's not boosted. Which at least here in the U.S. is illegal afaik.

 

[boulderjohn]

Wifi or cellular?

Most likely it was because the ship - or one of the pax - had a MiFi hotspot and a wireless router. I suppose if they were Aussie it wouldn't cost any more than their standard monthly data charge. I thought about doing something similar on Kona Aggressor since it's known as the cellular liveaboard. WiFi has a 300' range if it's not boosted. Which at least here in the U.S. is illegal afaik.

Wi-Fi. I just used a tablet that had the ability to connect via wi-fi and no other way. Our cellular phones did not work at all.