drrich2
Contributor
Recently had some decisions to make planning my 1st (Lord willing and providing) live-aboard trip this coming year in May. I fly out of Nashville, TN, prefer warm water, high viz., aquarium-like conditions with beautiful reefs, tropical fish & pelagics would be nice though one can seldom have it all, aiming for a reasonably 'budget' trip with the plane trip under a day & no single flight over 4 hours at a stretch. While Blackbeards is much loved for very economical diving, it's called 'camping at sea' for a reason, and while I hear they do it very well, to be stuck on a boat for a week with strangers, I wanted more space/comfort.
Reading reviews & discussions on ScubaBoard and on UnderCurrent.org and elsewhere has been helpful. I thought it might be interesting to lay out my decision-making process, and see how some of the rest of you pick a live-aboard operator and location.
My plan was diving the AquaCat hitting the southern Exhuma islands. My thinking - reef diving the Bahamas is said to be much better by live-aboard locations than near the mainland, while not considered the best in Caribbean diving I hear it's quite good, the Bahamas seems to be the go-to place for sharks, and of course the Bahamas have so much name recognition it seems worth sticking on the bucket list. AquaCat has a strong reputation on the forum & elsewhere, is probably about as nice a boat as I'm likely to pay for, reputedly has good food, and it's a good, 'safe' conservative choice for a 1st live-aboard.
But they book up in advance, and in the past week or so, the one week they had a space for in May would tie me up the weekend my wife is scheduled to graduate from college (she's been doing online coursework to move from an Associate's to a Bachelor's Degree, and it's been a long time coming). I'd like to make it a big deal as an example to our pre-toddler daughter (who will see this from photos & such).
I looked at Explorer Ventures Turks & Caicos offering. E.V. will let solo-certified divers solo and rent you the equipment for it if you wish (from what I understand the AquaCat doesn't rent pony bottles). Suh-weet!!! It's geographically fairly close to the Bahamas, I believe. Reading online, it's my understanding that whereas in the Bahamas you've got deep and shallow diving, and can often spend the latter part of your dive working your way up reef, that in Turks & Caicos the topography is deeper, so once you go shallow, you're off the reef. But reputably good diving with a number of shark sightings.
Problem is, if I can't do the AquaCat this year, I might next year, and T. & C. is close enough I might prefer to do something else if I'm going to do AquaCat anyway. Maybe next time, E.V.
St. Martin/St. Kits/Saba - Of the 3, only Saba seems to get consistently strong reviews, although some people speak well of the other 2 sites. But if Saba is only a piece of the action, why pick this as a 1st Caribbean live-aboard? Unless I'm missing something, I don't see it.
Cayman Aggressor - well-liked by reviewers. Sounds good. But a minority of times it doesn't make it to Little Cayman (where the best diving is) due to weather, which would be a let down though Grand Cayman also has good diving. But if I want to diving Grand Cayman, why not Cobalt Coast or Sunset House? If I want to dive Little Cayman, why not Little Cayman Beach Resort so I make sure I dive it? More dives via live-aboard, I suppose. A strong contender.
Belize - I hear good things. Some resorts on islands, rather than the mainland, can get you to the good diving, but live-aboards are popular here. The Aggressor Boat didn't have a good opening for me, but the Sun Dancer 2 did.
Turns out the Sun Dancer 2 live-aboard diving Belize is very well reviewed. People love the boat, captain & usually the crew, and the diving. They don't allow solo diving, but put a dive master in the water so I assume I can follow along with the guide? Seemed to me a combo. of Sun Dancer 2 in 2015 & maybe AquaCat later would give me a more diverse experience vs. Turks & Caicos Explorer in 2015 & maybe AquaCat later.
So I booked with Sun Dancer 2.
Anybody see any misconceptions in my understanding of all this?
I assume that a lot of people face the same perplexing decision about which Caribbean live-aboard destination & provider to use so I thought it might be interesting to see how the rest of you go about it.
Richard.
P.S.: For a working family man who finds getting a week off often challenging, a 7 day solo trip in my region is the goal.
Reading reviews & discussions on ScubaBoard and on UnderCurrent.org and elsewhere has been helpful. I thought it might be interesting to lay out my decision-making process, and see how some of the rest of you pick a live-aboard operator and location.
My plan was diving the AquaCat hitting the southern Exhuma islands. My thinking - reef diving the Bahamas is said to be much better by live-aboard locations than near the mainland, while not considered the best in Caribbean diving I hear it's quite good, the Bahamas seems to be the go-to place for sharks, and of course the Bahamas have so much name recognition it seems worth sticking on the bucket list. AquaCat has a strong reputation on the forum & elsewhere, is probably about as nice a boat as I'm likely to pay for, reputedly has good food, and it's a good, 'safe' conservative choice for a 1st live-aboard.
But they book up in advance, and in the past week or so, the one week they had a space for in May would tie me up the weekend my wife is scheduled to graduate from college (she's been doing online coursework to move from an Associate's to a Bachelor's Degree, and it's been a long time coming). I'd like to make it a big deal as an example to our pre-toddler daughter (who will see this from photos & such).
I looked at Explorer Ventures Turks & Caicos offering. E.V. will let solo-certified divers solo and rent you the equipment for it if you wish (from what I understand the AquaCat doesn't rent pony bottles). Suh-weet!!! It's geographically fairly close to the Bahamas, I believe. Reading online, it's my understanding that whereas in the Bahamas you've got deep and shallow diving, and can often spend the latter part of your dive working your way up reef, that in Turks & Caicos the topography is deeper, so once you go shallow, you're off the reef. But reputably good diving with a number of shark sightings.
Problem is, if I can't do the AquaCat this year, I might next year, and T. & C. is close enough I might prefer to do something else if I'm going to do AquaCat anyway. Maybe next time, E.V.
St. Martin/St. Kits/Saba - Of the 3, only Saba seems to get consistently strong reviews, although some people speak well of the other 2 sites. But if Saba is only a piece of the action, why pick this as a 1st Caribbean live-aboard? Unless I'm missing something, I don't see it.
Cayman Aggressor - well-liked by reviewers. Sounds good. But a minority of times it doesn't make it to Little Cayman (where the best diving is) due to weather, which would be a let down though Grand Cayman also has good diving. But if I want to diving Grand Cayman, why not Cobalt Coast or Sunset House? If I want to dive Little Cayman, why not Little Cayman Beach Resort so I make sure I dive it? More dives via live-aboard, I suppose. A strong contender.
Belize - I hear good things. Some resorts on islands, rather than the mainland, can get you to the good diving, but live-aboards are popular here. The Aggressor Boat didn't have a good opening for me, but the Sun Dancer 2 did.
Turns out the Sun Dancer 2 live-aboard diving Belize is very well reviewed. People love the boat, captain & usually the crew, and the diving. They don't allow solo diving, but put a dive master in the water so I assume I can follow along with the guide? Seemed to me a combo. of Sun Dancer 2 in 2015 & maybe AquaCat later would give me a more diverse experience vs. Turks & Caicos Explorer in 2015 & maybe AquaCat later.
So I booked with Sun Dancer 2.
Anybody see any misconceptions in my understanding of all this?
I assume that a lot of people face the same perplexing decision about which Caribbean live-aboard destination & provider to use so I thought it might be interesting to see how the rest of you go about it.
Richard.
P.S.: For a working family man who finds getting a week off often challenging, a 7 day solo trip in my region is the goal.