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A word to those concerned about live-aboard diving. We avoided these floating dive hotels like the plague for over a decade. We stayed on land and, even with sore backs, carried our gear back and forth.
We worked to get 3 or 4 dives a day. We used to get severe cases of the "rocks." In the evening, especially while showering, after diving on a day boat, we would start to sway. We never got sea legs and
our land legs were marginal for the duration of an extensive dive week.
We had all of the excuses:
- 15 or 20 divers and another 5 or so crew on a 110 foot long boat for a whole week! UGH!
- What if we need something which is on land?
- What if we don't get along well with some one (or lots of someones)?
Then, in 1996, we spent a week in the Caymans on the Cayman Aggressor II. That trip changed our lives! What we found was better than we could possibly have
expected. Well laid out live-aboards seem much larger than their length and beam would indicate. The rooms are small, but about the only thing you use in them is the bed. There is limited storage space for clothes,
but you spend almost all of the time on the boat in a swimsuit and tee shirt (take about 4 of each, so you'll always have a dry one!). In many of the locales, the live-aboard moors directly to the dive site, so you
have everything you need just a few feet above you the whole time you are diving. In Truk Lagoon, the Truk Aggressor II is the ONLY live-aboard which stays at the wrecks. When you are deep, or it is dark, or the visibility is low, it is comforting to know that a hang line, safety regulator, medical oxygen, snack, something to drink and your bed are just a few feet above you, not at the end of a bouncing boat ride! In Palau, due to the nature of drift diving, the Palau Aggressor II anchors near the site and you are shuttled to the dive and back on a high speed (almost 40 MPH) skiff which is as large as most "day boats" and nests on the rear of the mother ship. Nothing could be easier!
So, if you want to really dive yourself crazy, consider a live-aborad for your next trip. Now many of the live-aboard operators are offering Enhanced Air fills (NITROX), which are frequently not
available from the day boats. NITROX, when used with an air computer, allows you to easily make five dives a day and have a nice safety margin. A live-aboard allows you to make those dives with a minimum of grief
and hassle.
Try it once! you might just get hooked like we did.
Oh, yes, one more point - cost. Remember to compare apples with apples! When comparing a resort against a live-aboard, make sure that both account for food, lodging, dive fees, gear rental, etc. On our
1998 trip to Micronesia, our days of shore diving on Yap were just about as expensive (in total) as the days on the live-aboards, and we only got two or three dives, not four to six. The total cost per dive was
higher at Yap.
Before all of the shore based dive operators send me poison penned email, let me say - there are many places (like Yap and Bonaire) where the diving is so localized that it doesn't make sense to have a
live-aboard. Also, those people who only want to do a dive or two per day would save money by staying at a resort! Some folks are sensitive enough to motion or nervous enough in small cabins to be uncomfortable on a
live-aboard. So, there are lots of reasons for different choices.
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