Liveaboards on a Budget- a Possibility?

[Firebird2XC]

Hey all. I'm a relatively new diver looking to better grasp my range of destinations. I've generally found that for around $1300 to $2000 you can spend a solid week falling off the back of the boat along with a hotel and 3 squares in a variety of places (not including air fare, at least).

Are there decent liveaboard ops for around that price? I'd love to spend a solid week or two out at sea sometime, but my budget won't support my other diving ventures if I soak it all up with one liveaboard trip at sea.

Also- thoughts and suggestions? I'm looking to see bigger fish, as well. I'm a shark nut, so anybody with an inside scoop on hammerheads, tigers, and white shark oriented liveaboards, please do share.

Thoughts?

 

[ocdiver1]

The cheapest destination for liveaboard diving is the Egyptian Red Sea. Especially if you are able to book a last minute departure, I've paid less than $1000 for a week itinerary on a perfectly nice boat. The Maldives can also be in the price range you mention, as well as Thailand. The Maldives is a difficult and expensive flight for those in the US, but you mention wanting to see sharks and it is a prime destination for that. Far closer to home, a fantastic destination for big pelagics is the Socorros, accessed by liveaboard from Cabo San Lucas. You're looking at $2500 plus for that, but it's a great trip and you'll save big compared to going elsewhere from what would be a cheap flight from Dallas. Liveaboards offer a much different experience that land based diving...you get to more remote areas that you can't otherwise get to on day boats, and they will always work out to be a better value and the ability to get in the most amount of diving.

 

[mikecotrone]

Hey all. I'm a relatively new diver looking to better grasp my range of destinations. I've generally found that for around $1300 to $2000 you can spend a solid week falling off the back of the boat along with a hotel and 3 squares in a variety of places (not including air fare, at least).

Are there decent liveaboard ops for around that price? I'd love to spend a solid week or two out at sea sometime, but my budget won't support my other diving ventures if I soak it all up with one liveaboard trip at sea.

Also- thoughts and suggestions? I'm looking to see bigger fish, as well. I'm a shark nut, so anybody with an inside scoop on hammerheads, tigers, and white shark oriented liveaboards, please do share.

Thoughts?

I have read many great things about Spree Expeditions here on SB. Have you looked into their packages yet?

http://www.spreeexpeditions.com/contactus.aspx


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[diversteve]

The cheapest week long liveaboard is likely Blackbeards at $939 + $100 in port fees/taxes etc. They leave out of Nassau. Blackbeard's Cruises Liveaboards, Bahamas scuba diving

Sometimes their affiliated catamaran - Cat Ppalu sells unused charter spaces for $1545 + $100 f/t. The advantage would be a semi-private cabin instead of what's been called camping at sea on BB...

The Cat Ppalu is normally charter only, but a few of the groups sometimes have space that we can fill. If you have a interest in a particular date, please contact us and we will check with the group that has that date booked.

Lost Island Voyages is Cat PPalu's competition. They also leave out of either Nassau or Freeport, Grand Bahama. I'm fairly sure they're similarly priced, at least they were the last time I checked. They also sell extra spots on their charters - I think they have some open boat weeks also.

Carib Dancer is $1795 in the Quad bunk cabin - there's only one. They've had some problems lately including cancelling this weeks trip so do a search here about them. You'll probably see reef sharks and maybe hammerheads - my buddy did. They also leave from Nassau.

For Tigers - and Lemon Sharks - it's JASA - Jim Abernethy's Scuba Adventures Tiger Beach trips. Bahamas & Palm Beach, Florida Scuba Diving :: Jim Abernethy's Scuba Adventures IIRC it's over $2K. It's shallow water diving but you get up close and personal. An advantage from Dallas is a Florida departure. Search Tiger Beach on Youtube for examples.

Or Dolphin Dream - they also go out to Tiger Beach. They have some interesting shark trips this spring: Book a Trip on board the DOLPHIN DREAM. Cruise the Bahamas for a week. Some (all?) of their trips leave from West Palm Beach, FL.

You can also get out to Tiger Beach on a day trip basis from Grand Bahama - Stuart Cove's has a facility there doing that now. Long boat ride from there though. You might look at staying somewhere reasonable part of the week (Bell Channel Inn is one option) doing some local diving - UNEXSO has both shark and dolphin dives then going out with Cove's.

Another option from Dallas might be Sun Dancer II in Belize. It's $2195 + fees but they have two trips in August where you get 10 days for the price of 7. The other advantage it has for you is that you can be there by 2PM on AA and the return is a direct flight. They'll pick you up so your only expenses would be the crew tip and dinner Friday night.

Aggressor and Dancer fleets post trip reports in their forum so you can get an idea of what they're seeing. Aggressor Fleet and Dancer Fleet
Spree also has a forum here. [user]Wookie[/user] owns it.

Any of the Bahamas trips you might see Hammerheads - Reef sharks are common - they have been every time for us.

Also get in touch with Explorer Ventures (call Mary...) They used to offer discounts of up to $500 on some of their trips during the year - usually they sent out an e-mail - and they book up fast - usually within a day or two. We did a week on the Turks/Caicos Explorer that way - a $2295 upper deck stateroom cost us $1795 plus $200 fees/fuel surcharge. Lots of reef sharks, rays etc. What to expect - thanks to Mike Southard: Saudio's Trip Reports

They also have lower deck cabins at $2095 so with the discount that gets close to the Bahamas trips pricing. They also have availability this month and next on their NE Caribbean trips at $1395 but they go to Saba/St. Kitts which is more smaller stuff from what I've been told. It's also less diving intense - they do optional island tours etc.

Unless ocdiver knows something I don't you're also looking at a lot more for Socorros trips. Rocio Del Mar is $3195 and sold out in 2013. Solmar V is $3295. Nautilus Explorer is $3150. If you can go 1/17/2013 they have one space available at $2495. That would hit all your shark species at once - including Whale Sharks and about a dozen others you didn't mention - not sure about Tigers but huge schools of Hammerheads are common there.

White Sharks would be on Solmar V out to Guadalupe Island. They're cage dives and surface supplied air only. Also expensive. One of the San Diego boats also goes out there on a charter basis thru one of the White Shark dive outfits.

 

[BDSC]

Also get in touch with Explorer Ventures (call Mary...) They used to offer discounts of up to $500 on some of their trips during the year - usually they sent out an e-mail - and they book up fast - usually within a day or two. We did a week on the Turks/Caicos Explorer that way - a $2295 upper deck stateroom cost us $1795 plus $200 fees/fuel surcharge. Lots of reef sharks, rays etc. What to expect - thanks to Mike Southard: Saudio's Trip Reports

I second this. Here is a link to their website: Explorer Ventures: Adventures in Liveaboard Diving!

Right now they have some nice specials posted for January and February but eventually they will post specials for the year. Just check their website often and when they post something you may be interested in book it! We have a group of 20 going on their Turks & Caicos trip in April. If you take advantage of their specials you should be able to do the T&C trip for $2000 or less.

 

[Quero]

Yes, it's possible. Just keep in mind that the major trip cost of a liveaboard operator, is fuel, and it's one price. So in order to reduce the price of a trip, costs in other areas have to be cut. You won't get what you don't pay for. In terms of what I see here in SE Asia which seems to be reflected everywhere, the practical effect of this is:
• Less passenger comfort--Blackbeards, for example, doesn't have actual cabins but just bunks with privacy curtains. Here we have cabins, but no private bathrooms on the budget boats.
• Larger dive groups--operators may want to effect savings by cutting down the number of paid dive staff available to dive with customers. Here all boats put dive staff in the water with customers, but budget boats may form groups up to eight or so while mid-priced boats tend to have groups of four.
• Food selection and quantities--in the Philippines, for example, the budget boats (really, really uncomfortable with no showers and one hole in the deck to serve as a toilet) are known to limit the amount of food a customer can have; one pancake in the morning, one slice of fruit for dessert, one bit of fish, etc.
• Availability of nitrox--many of our budget boats here in Thailand now offer nitrox, but in most places this isn't the case. I personally think nitrox on a liveabaord or in fact on any trip with an aggressive diving schedule is a no-brainer.

 

[Centrals]

Food selection and quantities--in the Philippines, for example, the budget boats (really, really uncomfortable with no showers and one hole in the deck to serve as a toilet) are known to limit the amount of food a customer can have; one pancake in the morning, one slice of fruit for dessert, one bit of fish, etc.

This probably apply to Thailand as well.
BTW, I have been to several liveaboards in Philippines and none of them offered such a exotic menu! You must be very lucky. What are those boats?

 

[Quero]

There are indeed a few boats in Thailand that are pretty similar to this except for the food (mainly aimed at the Thai diver market rather than divers from outsider Thailand--the DMs don't speak English, etc.), and there are also nice boats in the PI. It's just that in Thailand, for the price the OP is looking at, the boats are not terribly basic. The boats in the PI in the budget price range are somewhat more basic. The PI boats in this price category (I will not name names) are typically liveaboard bangka boats rather than the sort of liveaboard that is common elsewhere. For example, I know of a boat doing the route from Coron to El Nido that is "renowned" for its meager food offerings. If my customers select that operator, I advise them to take along some dried fruit and other snacks as well as lots of water, since bottled water may also be in short supply. Now, for certain divers, this is fine, and even a fun adventure! But it's important to have correct expectations so that one is not taken by surprise. There's a budget boat here, in Thailand, that doesn't offer towels, which is quite unusual, so I always make sure to tell my divers to take a towel along or they won't have any way to dry off after their shower. Again, it's simply a question of making everything transparent so that the divers know what they're getting for their money.

 

[Damselfish]

sign up for the mailing lists of the various liveaboards mentioned that run sometimes specials in your price range, that way you may hear about good deals as soon as possible before they get snapped up. Note that sometimes deals will be at less desirable times of year weather-wise, not necessarily a problem but do your research so you're not surprised or disappointed.

 

[nolatom]

You're in Dallas, so Freeport isn't that far away. If you want to start closer to home and cheaper but with good coral, try the FLING for a 3 or 4-day trip:

Fling Charters

The SPREE is good too, they used to frequent FGB, but now our of Key West. Their stuff may be a little more challenging than the FGB/Stetson Bank, which is itself an intermediate dive that newbies can do if the current is light and the vis good, which is often.