Diving Utila

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netwayne

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Messages
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Location
North Carolina
# of dives
25 - 49
I know this subject has been talked about before from the searches I have done. I am just hoping to get more current feedback. Considering diving the Utila Aggressor in September. It will be our first liveaboard. Wanting to hear about experiences and accommodations on the Utila Aggressor and if that time of year should be fairly calm. I've had an issue with seasickness at times.

Thanks!
 
if you have issues with seasickness, I think your first liveaboard shouldn't be on a mono-hull boat. There are quite a few other boats out there that might be a better "first" experience for you. You might want to look into Bahamas Liveboard Aqua Cat and Nekton Diving Cruises which are both more stable platforms.

The month of Sept is in the middle of hurricane season so you may run into some wet or stormy weather anywhere in Caribbean. Not necessarily a bad time to travel but just something to be aware of.

As far as the Utila Aggressor, I have heard good and bad things about it and the trip. It is one of the older boats in the Aggressor fleet so the negatives I have read about are from those type of issues. I have also heard that the diving was mixed from great to just okay due to currents at some sights. I don't know from personal experience, just from reading other's trip reports.

Oh, and be prepared............... Liveaboards are very additive! Just like potato chips, you can't stop at one.
Hi, my name is Robin and I am a liveaboard addict.....

robin:D
RnR Scuba
6 weeks until my next liveaboard trip!
 
Hi Robin....
 
Wayne,

I have not been on the Utila Aggressor so cannot offer any specific opinions about the op. I always find Utila a curious place for a liveaboard though. The furthest north side dive sites are 40 minutes away and that depends on who you are staying with. Granted, its almost impossible to get 5 boat dives a day in from a shore op, but you can if you shoredive (and there is actually some real nice shore diving on Utila). Now, there is some advantage that the Aggressor is going to give you some Roatan and Cochinos diving too, so if that's important, the Aggressor makes more sense, but you also have the option of Captain Rusty on Utila if you want a couple of days on a sailboat to yourself in the Cochinos. Utila is a nifty place and worth spending some time ashore. All of this said, my only experience with the Aggressor fleet (Galapagos Aggressor) was truly amazing and if they are any indication, I think you'll be fine regardless of your choice.

Not sure that helps, but those are my thoughts.
 
Thanks RobinT and Itsjustme0770. I appreciate you taking the time to give me some feedback. I'm not sure how much seasickness will come in to play but has affected me on my last 2 boat trips (not liveaboard). I had heard about the Nekton boats being more stable. And yeah, living in South Florida for the last 18 years, I am all too familiar with hurricane season. Seems like there are a lot of locations down there to choose from. We are still trying to figure out if we really want to commit to the full week on a boat versus doing land based diving which will offer some other things to do besides diving. Since we haven't tried one yet, we make just have to take the plunge.

Thanks again,

Wayne
 
Wayne - don't let us discourage you from a liveaboard. My only concern is that you are a newer diver and you said you had some seasickness worries. For that reason I was suggesting a more stable liveaboard. Lots of people choose the Nekton as their first liveaboard for just that reason (that's why we picked it). We both weren't sure we would even like being on a boat for a week, or how it would feel, or if we would get sick of the people onboard with us for a week! We were very pleasantly surprised - we loved everything about it.
I just posted a slideshow of our first liveaboard experience here on the board - check it out. It is funny looking back at it now, 2 years later after doing several more liveaboards! It really shows our enthusiasm and how much we loved the trip. We didn't know any of the other 24 divers onboard but after a day we were all like best friends. It is very different than day-boats for that reason.
Underwater we would occasionally see another pair of divers, but most of the dives we didn't and we really enjoyed that! We were able to dive our own profile, hang out in an area the whole dive if we found something interesting without a DM clanging on his tank for us to catch up! (god, I hate that) Trust me, liveaboard diving adds a whole new level to diving for you. And getting to dive 4-5 times per day for 5-6 days ain't bad either.

robin:D
 
Has anybody tried Bonine for sea sickness. It seems to work well and It doesnt make you drowsy like Dramamine, but I'm not sure how it would mix with diving.

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I am not a big fan of medications for seasickness. I think they may affect your reasoning faculties and reaction times may be affected, like alcohol, etc. I have seen people with patches on doing liveaboards, don't know if they worked or not.
I am a fan of ginger tablets. They are natural and settle a stomach for most people.
My feeling is that people who are prone to seasickness need to:
*Stay up in the fresh air, don't ever go below or indoors if you get that funny feeling
*Focus on the horizon if you get a little woozy
*Stay busy, talk to other people, fix your gear, etc. (it takes your mind off of it and works most of the time)
*Get it in your head that you don't have to be seasick. If you are sure you are going to get sick, then you will.
*If you do get sick, do it over the side, not in the head.

Some people on liveaboards feel sick the first day or two but their bodies adjust and they are fine the rest of the week. I don't have any problems with it but I gradually worked my way into it. Sitting on a little rocking boat for an hour surface interval just about killed me more that once. I found liveaboards to be waaaaay better. My first liveaboard was the Nekton because I didn't know how my body would react. I took a box of ginger tablets with me and only used them the first two days (I doubt I even needed them). Since then I have had lots of trips on rocking boats, some where several people were hanging over the rails, and I never felt queasy. I really think my body learned to adapt over time to the motion - plus I now expect NOT to get sick.

Just my 2 cents.
robin:D
 
The scop patches, at least for me, work really well. I don't get sick on large liveaboards anyway and for most people once you are on for a full day it goes away. Aside from the Scopalamine Patches which are prescription, again this is for me only, I have found that sea bands work well.
You need to remember that there is a huge difference between a 25 foot boat and 100 foot ship. Unless the weather is horrible you probably won't even get sick. Now, once you get off the ship after a week, be careful you might get really land sick.
 

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