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What Are Liveaboards?

Liveaboards are the dream.

You may have seen a bumper sticker once that said, “Eat. Sleep. Dive.” And thought, “How cute, that person must like scuba diving.” But for many of us, “Eat. Sleep. Dive.” is not just a cute saying ─ it’s the way we’d live our lives if we could.

Liveaboards offer divers the opportunity to live their dream; if only for a little while. For a few short days, diving becomes your life. It’s beautiful.

Liveaboards are the ultimate in dive vacationing but it’s not for the faint of heart. If your idea of a dive vacation is staying at a mega resort in the Bahamas and squeezing in a two-tank dive between shopping and the casinos, then a liveaboard isn’t for you.

Liveaboard Dive Vessels

On these vessels, diving is your main focus.

You’ll go to dive sites that few people get to see because they’re too far from land for day boats to make the trip. You’ll dive, eat, dive, swim, dive, eat, island hop, dive, eat, sleep, then dive some more! Diving isn’t part of your vacation, diving is your vacation. Of course, you sometimes get to dock somewhere to shop, but only if you want to squeeze it in between dives.

What exactly are liveaboards?

In short, it’s a really big boat. A liveaboard is like a floating hotel. You have your own room (sometimes) and bathroom (sometimes). There’s a dining room and place to store your equipment.

The luxury of a liveaboard varies as widely as hotels themselves with some ships being floating palaces and others floating hovels. In addition, there’s a trade off between price and luxury.

There are, however, a few things that almost all liveaboards offer such as free meals, free air (nitrox usually excluded), free drinks (alcoholic drinks sometimes included) and the use of tanks and weights.

Basically, liveaboards offer everything you need in order to eat, sleep, and dive. They are floating wonderlands for the hardcore diver.

How else can you make close to 35 dives in an 8 day period? So when are you going on your liveaboard dive trip?

Liveaboard Diving Precautions

Since you’re diving more in 8 days than most people do in an entire year, there are some precautions you may want to take in order to dive safely.

First, I suggest you get a dive computer with nitrox capabilities. Dive computers will track your nitrogen level more accurately than using tables. Thirty-five dives means thirty-five opportunities to make a mistake in dive planning. Dive computers are much safer in this situation.

In addition, you should pay the extra money to have nitrox for the whole trip. It’s difficult to make that many dives safely on air. Nitrox is the better choice when you’re planning multiple dives over the span of several days.

Finally, make sure you schedule one extra day to explore the islands before you fly home. You need to give your body at least 24 hours to blow off some nitrogen before you get on a plane.

Liveaboards are the ultimate dive vacations. If you’re looking to explore the ocean rather than the islands, consider checking into a liveaboard instead of a hotel. It’s a truly unforgettable experience.

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