What liveaboard would you recommend in July?

[JDelage]

Title says it all. I'm flexible on destinations but my trip has to be week of Jul 15. My experience of liveaboards is limited to the Red Sea Aggressor 3 years ago. I'm in the US, and I will be on my own. Thank you!

 

[drrich2]

Picking a Caribbean Live-aboard - http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/li...ats/495738-picking-caribbean-live-aboard.html

Cayman Aggressor IV May 2016 - http://www.scubaboard.com/community/threads/cayman-aggressor-iv-trip-may-2016.527640/

Sun Dancer 2 (Belize) May 2015 - http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/li...ving-belize-via-sun-dancer-2-may-2nd-9th.html

If you're open to cold water diving:

My Notes For Researching My California Dive Trip - http://www.scubaboard.com/community/threads/my-notes-for-researching-my-california-dive-trip.532316/

Truth Aquatics Vision August 2016 - http://www.scubaboard.com/community/threads/truth-aquatics-aug-2016-trip-report-california.532435/

A few questions that might help open things up:

1.) Did you look at Aggressor Fleet's website, and Explorer Venture's? Or Liveaboard.com? You may find some boats booked up in your time slot, which could put you off.

2.) If the Cayman Aggressor IV didn't cross to Little Cayman and Cayman Brac, would that be a deal breaker? If so, the question comes up what are their odds in mid. July?

3.) Would the deeper start to the wall dives reported with Turks & Caicos be a problem?

Richard.

 

[KathyV]

Aggressor recently launched a Roatan liveaboard and the introductory price during the summer is very good.

Aggressor Fleet - Official Website

 

[JDelage]

Hi - I've done some research in the past, and I have one (good) experience with Aggressor. My question is more (1) what are good destinations in July and (2) what boats consistently deliver. The Roatan Aggressor is an option.

 

[JDelage]

Oh, and nothing in the recreational limits would be a problem. I've been diving for 30 years and I'm in good shape.

 

[KathyV]

Hi - I've done some research in the past, and I have one (good) experience with Aggressor. My question is more (1) what are good destinations in July and (2) what boats consistently deliver. The Roatan Aggressor is an option.

July would be a good time for a Turks and Caicos liveaboard - either the Aggressor or Explorer. Both boats are used for whale watching cruises during the first few months of the year, but they will be back to dive trips well before July. I had a great experience with the T&C Aggressor but the Explorer also has an excellent reputation. I don't think that you could go wrong with either of them.

Another good reason to take a liveaboard trip in the T&Cs is because the best diving is off of West Caicos and French Caye and those sites are not easily accessible to the day boats. As far as "consistently deliver" you will see beautiful healthy reefs and walls, lots of fish and rays and turtles and sharks on most dives.

 

[drrich2]

Another good reason to take a liveaboard trip in the T&Cs is because the best diving is off of West Caicos and French Caye and those sites are not easily accessible to the day boats.

That's a good point. Seems like with T&C the live-aboard option is viewed as the way to get to the best diving, and a lot of it.

With the Cayman Aggressor IV, it's not that they hit sites shore-based op.s don't, so much as that they may hit all 3 islands, and it's a lot of diving.

The Belize live-aboards get far from the mainland to hit the best diving, but you could go land-based on Turneffe to get close if so inclined.

Reading Roatan trip reports, I get the impression it's got nice reef but not much big stuff. The Cayman and Belize aggressor trips I've been on had substantial numbers of decent-sized grouper and some reef and nurse sharks.

What might lure me to the Roatan Aggressor is the chance to, in one trip, hit both Roatan and Utila, plus that 'sea mount' and Cayos Cochinos. I've read Roatan's northern and southern coastal diving has differences; perhaps this boat hits both. But I'm waiting for trip reports to learn what sites/islands they actually frequent.

The Caribbean live-aboards I've been on did 1 site, 2 dives, in the morning, then another site 2 afternoon & 1 evening/night dive, on 1 day. Move boat during night. Do this Sunday - Thursday, 2 dives at another site Friday morning, head back to port. So, maybe 11 different dive sites.

If it were just about dive count & all-inclusive convenience, you could match the dive count at CocoView supplementing boat with shore diving.

Richard.

 

[Newdiv]

I like this one and it's on 7/17/17

Galapagos - 17-24 July 2017 - Now $3,595 - Saves $1,400!

 

[KathyV]

I just got an email that Explorer Ventures is having a summer sale on their liveaboards, see the link below. I have only done one trip with Explorer (Saba and St. Kitts) but it was great and they run a very good operation.

30th Anniversary Sale! - Explorer Ventures

 

[BDSC]

From the above link, it looks like the Turks & Caicos Explorer has a deal on the week you are wanting. $1746 is an excellent price on that trip. I've been on that boat and the crew, food, diving are all excellent. The only thing is that link above goes out to a lot of people. You will have to act fast to get a spot on that trip.