Grand Turk...10 minute boat rides. No shop needed.
Risk a Liveaboard
- Thread starter Derffie
- Start date
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DukeAMO
Contributor
Yeah, on our last ocean boat trip, two people got very seasick. One lady was able to dive anyway; the other guy and his wife had to skip both dives because he was so sick. You do not want to be on a liveaboard and miserable; better to take a test boat dive (with the seasickness meds you plan to use on a longer trip).
DH and I never had severe seasickness, just some nausea, but we're both OK with over-the-counter Bonine (one tablet the night before, one the morning of the dive). On the other hand, I have another good friend who went on a big cruise ship for a week and was sick the entire time, even with the medications they had on board. She'll never do a cruise again.
DH and I never had severe seasickness, just some nausea, but we're both OK with over-the-counter Bonine (one tablet the night before, one the morning of the dive). On the other hand, I have another good friend who went on a big cruise ship for a week and was sick the entire time, even with the medications they had on board. She'll never do a cruise again.
drrich2
Contributor
As a forum search will show, people vary widely in their responsiveness to various remedies. My wife and my main dive buddy both are prone to sea sickness, and watching them, I'd be loath to risk that 24/7 for day on a live-aboard unless I knew a given remedy worked quite well for me.
Richard.
Richard.
I'm still confused by the OP. Are you saying you decided against doing a liveaboard (whether with your dive shop or otherwise) due to being prone to severe seasickness and are looking for suggestions of non-liveaboard alternatives? Do you get seasick even on short boat rides from a dock out to a dive site, say between 20 mins. and an hour? If so, your diving options are going to be severely limited, since the majority of diving around the world is done that way. The only way to go diving other than to use a boat is to dive from shore: so-called "shore diving." Shore diving in the tropics exists, but good shore diving is uncommon. As someone suggested, why not try shore diving in Bonaire? Bonaire is the undisputed shore diving capital of the Caribbean. And as others have said, if you don't want to book a trip yourself, contact Caradonna.
Thanks for all of your input. We do not tend to get sea sick on short rides. We did our OW referral dives in Key Largo and later spent a week in Bonaire. We like the idea of having a known group and so would like to stay with a dive shop. Plus, we are new divers and it gives us some comfort to dive with a group that knows us and, to some extent, can look out for us.
CajunDiva
Contributor
Derffie - I understand how you feel. We have that same type of personality...love to dive with our other dive buddies! But we tend to have a group of friends and dive buddies that we have met on different dive trips we have taken in different areas of the world. What started out as trips by ourselves ended up as best bud vacations before they were over 
So our group keeps growing and our dive opportunities multiply as well. In January/February, we are re-uniting with two couples we met and dove with in Fiji several years ago. They live in the Seattle area and we are in Louisiana. So we're meeting in Roatan at Media Luna Resort along with six other friends we dive with all the time.
I would recommend that you take this opportunity...especially since your dive shop is doing something you really wouldn't enjoy...to get out there and do something you would really like and meet some new dive buddies in the process. Then your options will continue to grow, and you can always still dive with your dive shop buddies too!
So our group keeps growing and our dive opportunities multiply as well. In January/February, we are re-uniting with two couples we met and dove with in Fiji several years ago. They live in the Seattle area and we are in Louisiana. So we're meeting in Roatan at Media Luna Resort along with six other friends we dive with all the time.
I would recommend that you take this opportunity...especially since your dive shop is doing something you really wouldn't enjoy...to get out there and do something you would really like and meet some new dive buddies in the process. Then your options will continue to grow, and you can always still dive with your dive shop buddies too!
R
redacted
Guest
I have seen divers on a liveaboard who never got in the water. Why take the chance?
Work up to it with longer day trips. Do the liveaboard when you know you will have it under control.
Work up to it with longer day trips. Do the liveaboard when you know you will have it under control.
Alvida
Registered
You might consider Little Cayman. The dive operators are very helpful and because the island is small and most people are there to dive, it's very easy to meet people and make new friends. Some of the dives are deep, but our dive operators knew I was fairly inexperienced and always gave us an option to either follow him/her or follow their bubbles at a shallower depth. We usually followed them to depth because they were doing something cool like going through a tunnel, then my husband and I would swim along at about 60 feet, where we sucked less air, while the more experienced divers stayed deeper for longer, but we could always see where the group was. Our trip there was in February and the weather was perfect.
Necklinsberg
Contributor
Welcome Derffie
Its a great step to go out on your own. Commendations for that.
Consider CoCoView on Roatan Island. We've been down there several times. Good staff, well run operation. You dive with the save dive professionals & boat crew all week. Usually will be with the same group of divers all week. There is an orientation / check-out dive where you demonstrate basic skills and get a tour of the nearby wreck and the walls. Within short boat rides there are many dive sites so that you will experience wrecks, walls, coral, various wild life. Two 2-tank boat dives per day + unlimited day & night shore diving. There are also arrangements for tours off site and to things like shark and dolphin dives. Note that it is a DIVE resort -- not a night spot. There should be one-stop flights from ORD to Houston onto the island.
As to the sea-sickness, talk with your doctor about getting 'sco-patches' (not sure how it is spelled). They are applied behind the ear (and then use tape to make sure that they adhere).
Its a great step to go out on your own. Commendations for that.
Consider CoCoView on Roatan Island. We've been down there several times. Good staff, well run operation. You dive with the save dive professionals & boat crew all week. Usually will be with the same group of divers all week. There is an orientation / check-out dive where you demonstrate basic skills and get a tour of the nearby wreck and the walls. Within short boat rides there are many dive sites so that you will experience wrecks, walls, coral, various wild life. Two 2-tank boat dives per day + unlimited day & night shore diving. There are also arrangements for tours off site and to things like shark and dolphin dives. Note that it is a DIVE resort -- not a night spot. There should be one-stop flights from ORD to Houston onto the island.
As to the sea-sickness, talk with your doctor about getting 'sco-patches' (not sure how it is spelled). They are applied behind the ear (and then use tape to make sure that they adhere).
OP, thanks for the clarification. So if you believe the most important factor in choosing a dive vacation is to dive with people you know, I think CajunDiva's reply is good advice. Even when my wife and I plan a trip ourselves, by the end of most trips, we ARE diving with people we know! I think if you choose only to do dive trips with people you already know you are severely limiting your options. If you plan to dive with any regularity, the likelihood of being able to dive with the same group again and again seems low. I'm not sure what kind of input you're looking for here. It seems to me there are only two options: (a) dive only with people you know (which I suppose means sitting out the upcoming Asia and liveaboard trips with your local dive shop and waiting for their next offerings), or (b) dive with new people and get to know them.
You could try branching out in your dive network. Join a dive club and get to know people. Or plan a trip and then post here on SB that you have open spots on your trip. Obviously, the only way to get to dive with people you know is to get to know more people.
You could try branching out in your dive network. Join a dive club and get to know people. Or plan a trip and then post here on SB that you have open spots on your trip. Obviously, the only way to get to dive with people you know is to get to know more people.
Derffie - I understand how you feel. We have that same type of personality...love to dive with our other dive buddies! But we tend to have a group of friends and dive buddies that we have met on different dive trips we have taken in different areas of the world. What started out as trips by ourselves ended up as best bud vacations before they were over
So our group keeps growing and our dive opportunities multiply as well. In January/February, we are re-uniting with two couples we met and dove with in Fiji several years ago. They live in the Seattle area and we are in Louisiana. So we're meeting in Roatan at Media Luna Resort along with six other friends we dive with all the time.
I would recommend that you take this opportunity...especially since your dive shop is doing something you really wouldn't enjoy...to get out there and do something you would really like and meet some new dive buddies in the process. Then your options will continue to grow, and you can always still dive with your dive shop buddies too!
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