who should I book a liveaboard through

[scubadivingtom]

Who should I use to book a liveaboard?
I have only been on one liveaboard, and that was in Thailand booked through a dive shop there. I am close to retirement, and I would like to go on a lot of these trips. Around 6 per year.
I would be able to go on a moments notice if I knew where to find the last minute deals. I am single so I am not sure if that causes a problem diving liveaboards.
Thanks
Tom

 

[KeithG]

Last minute single on a LOB is your best bet to get a full cabin with no room mate. Being a single diver on a LOB is only a problem if your cabin mate snores louder than you do.

We book direct with the LOB company. We are signed up for their email newsletters so we get a continual stream of emails advertising last minute deals.

Use your Google-Fu and sign up fro as many email newsletters as you can...

 

[Wookie]

Look at Diviac and Liveaboards.com. Specials, discounts, and no wandering through a hundred liveaboard websites.

 

[Pillpusher]

Diviac

 

[runsongas]

diviac worked for me

 

[dberry]

I just noticed this article:

The Best Liveaboards for Single Travellers

 

[Wookie]

Undercurrent is doing an article on this very subject next month.

 

[scubadivingtom]

Great info!
Thanks everyone

 

[NYCNaiad]

I often travel alone & fairly often like to take off at the last minute. While I haven't yet taken a trip through Diviac, I think they seem like a good option & they are on my radar.

What has worked for me so far with last minute trips:

• Find liveaboards in general that look delightful & sign up for their newsletters. Sometimes, I see things there I don't see on other sites and/or sometimes I see things there in advance of other sites so it means I get first dibs. The newsletters also sometimes make me decide to take a trip when I hadn't been planning on one...which some people think is bad, but I suspect both you & I think this is a good thing.
• Check a variety of forums for special trips. I personally like to check ScubaBoard & dive groups on Facebook--just do a search for the word scuba/dive/etc. & join the group in advance. I also like to do a last minute search Facebook for the word "liveaboard", change "Date Posted" on the lower left side to 2017 & then scroll down looking at all the posts. It'll show posts from friends as well as public posts across Facebook.
• Check with my local dive shop. They do advance planning for liveaboard trips so generally this isn't a last minute thing, but sometimes it can be because they had a last minute cancellation. +The trips can be fantastic & you can make friends/buddies for life. My local dive shop also tries to buddy me up with someone they think would be a good match for me since they know me.
• Check with dive clubs & dive travel groups whether anything is already posted & also post that I'm looking for a liveaboard trip. I do this not only for my local dive clubs/travel groups, but for a number of them all over the US & world that seem cool. For example: I live in nyc, but there's a travel group just for women in North Carolina which I follow. And a group of divers who are mainly based in Europe, but adore worldwide dive travel.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Is there a company that specializes in last-minute liveaboards? My problem has been that many liveaboards book up farther in advance--a year or more--than I am able to foresee whether I will have free time.