Why Live A board?

For the maximum number of dives! Live aboard let you make up to five dives per day! They provide access to pristine reefs and rarely dived sites out of range of the hotel boats and crowds. Most live aboard boats include access to full photo processing facilities on board. Most live aboard boats offer Nitrox. The ease of diving and gear handling is always a priority on these boats.

Live aboard diving came out of the belief that the quality of your above the water experience should match the quality of your underwater experience. And since their early days, live aboard boats have steadily increased in quality and comfort. Most offer private baths in spacious cabins. And the chefs on board rival those at the best restaurants! Unlimited diving, always being at the best dive sites, always being there with your gear at the ready, and always having a culinary delight waiting for you after your dive - for divers it doesn’t get much better.

You set up your gear for the first dive after that, it's all taken care of. In most cases, you'll take a giant stride right off the back of the live aboard! You'll have the comfort of knowing that the Dive masters and Instructors are at your beck and call.

It's not all diving.

Not that diving isn't fun, but there's a lot more to enjoy on a live aboard. It's meeting other divers. It's enjoying delicious food served in cruise ship style (while wearing shorts to dinner!). It's taking a nap on the Sun Deck after seeing your first manta ray. It's reading a great book in our air-conditioned salon or spacious stateroom. It's snorkeling with dolphins. It's enjoying a beautiful sunset. It's a lot of things you could never imagine.

Compare the cost.

On the surface, some land-based packages look like a lower price than the cost of a live aboard. Don't be fooled -- do your own math. On a "per dive" basis, the live aboard vacation is a winner!

Why A Live aboard Adventure?

 Some of the many draws to live aboard diving include: cost; only unpacking once (this includes clothes and dive gear); more dives each day, if desired; more diving flexibility; generally smaller dive groups; less explored dive sites; onboard photography and video services; and advanced certification courses and other educational programs.

"Like taking a cruise, the 'all-inclusive' cost of a live aboard trip can generally is more economical than a land-based dive vacation. If you compare costs, the savings can (but won't always) include expenses for diving, food, beverages, and more.

"Many people don't think they'll like cruises, but one of several reasons cruise travel has grown in popularity is because you only have to unpack once, even though you are visiting many places. For live aboard, this means you take your clothes and dive gear out of your bag once and not have to repack until the end of your trip. You also don't have to lug your dive gear around each time you're going diving.

"One of the best reasons to try live aboard is that they offer more diving each day. The average is typically four or five dives per day, but it's really up to the individual diver (given proper surface intervals, of course). If you really want to dive during your vacation, the sheer quantity of live aboard diving is an advantage.

"There's also great flexibility when it comes to live aboard diving. If the conditions aren't good on one site, the ship simply changes locations. If the group tends to like diving on wrecks, and wrecks are available, that's where the live board’s diving can lean.

"The diving off live boards tends to be in smaller groups as well. This can be because the boat doesn't carry as many divers or it can be because they stagger divers, giving everyone a chance to explore the dive sites with just a few others (sometimes just the dive buddy).

Live boards also tend to offer less-explored diving. This is thanks to their ability to go (and stay) where land-based dive boats simply can't reach in reasonable times. And you go where few (if any) divers have ever been.

 "Many divers also seek to learn or expand their photography and video skills. Live boards typically offer full service to shooters, allowing participants to see their work and apply lessons to future dives (sometimes that same afternoon). In addition, on the learning front, advanced certification courses and other educational programs make live boards floating classrooms. It seems like the perfect environment to learn if, like many divers, you're ready to go back to school.

"Of course, there are other reasons for planning your live aboard trip, including more enjoyable surface intervals on your floating resort; lack of tropical insects (they're not nearly as bad out to sea as they might be on land); better reef conditions; the like-minded company of passionate divers; and generally more adventure above and below the surface."