5 Advantages of Diving from a Liveaboard
Have you ever been to a place so far away that you were the only human being around? Probably not, as it might be scary for most people. Now, what about being alone with a small group of friendly divers? How about add a comfortable liveaboard to the mix? How does it sound now? Exciting, right? Well, get ready to cruise away from land and head out on a diving journey!
Wake Up, Gear Up, Thumbs Up!
When choosing a liveaboard option for your dive trip, you are heading out to the ocean with amazing dive spots on your doorstep. It’s not a figure of speech! The best advantage of liveaboard diving is living right next door to the best dive sites.
Wake up early, enjoy a coffee, and off you go for the first dive of the day! It’s up to every diver to set the pace of their dive trip, but surely, your morning should start with a dive. It also works the other way around. You have the possibility to enjoy a night dive, take your gear off, shower, and hit the sack with fresh underwater dreams.
Reach Exclusive Dive Spots
Certain places in the world are great for diving, but are too far away from land to dive from a resort. Destinations such as Wolf and Darwin in Ecuador, the Banda Sea in Indonesia, Cocos Island in Costa Rica are just a few examples of destinations only available by liveaboard.
A liveaboard takes you on a journey to discover new places away from the mainstream dive sites. As a result, there will be less divers than anywhere else. The sense of wilderness one will experience in reaching these remote locations is unmatched. Additionally, the marine life is often unique and will rank high in your best diving memories.
Get the Best Dive Quality
In places that are frequented by day boats, you can beat the crowd in the morning. Spots like the Komodo National Park (Indonesia) or Sharm El Sheikh (Egypt) have many day boat operators as well as liveaboard divers. The advantage of a liveaboard is that by the time the day boats arrive you have already done your morning dives and can enjoy breakfast aboard.
While being on land offers other activities to enjoy, being on a liveaboard allows you to focus on your diving experience. Although a lack of night time entertainment can be a downside for some, most serious divers enjoy clocking off early so that they are ready to get in the water early. Liveaboards are often the choice of experienced divers who want to “dive dive dive”. Those booking a liveaboard trip know they will most likely be among like minded divers.
Follow Natures Pace
We have all experienced waking up early with the excitement of the day ahead only to wait on the dock for late divers. They might have had one too many drinks the night before and couldn’t make it to the dive shop on time. This is a very frustrating experience as it can affect dive site selection and even weather conditions.
On a liveaboard, there is no such hassle! When you arrive at the dive site, everyone kits up and enters the water as soon as possible. Generally, you will have a set dive time and its simply jumping off the boat or into the skiff for a short ride. There are no long boat rides and the crew can see the conditions before setting off. Anticipating or postponing according to the best water conditions is a great advantage, a luxury not always available from land-based diving.
Maximize Your Diving
We all know how time consuming getting to the dive site can be. Far too often, it limits the number of daily dives on a day boat. They typically offer from 2 to a maximum of 3 per day. Because there is a lot of time spent getting to and from the dive center from the hotel plus the boat travel, diving more than 3 times a day is difficult. Diving from a liveaboard is more more efficient. You might be surprised that even if you make 4 or 5 dives in a day you won’t feel as tired as you do doing 2 or 3 on a day boat.
In other words, liveaboard diving is the best option for hardcore divers who want to spend as much time underwater as possible. Less travel, shorter speed boat rides, and having everything ready at your “fintips” means maximizing the time you spend diving.
Have you embraced liveaboard diving? What are your favourite advantages of diving from a liveaboard vs diving from a land based resort? Or do you prefer resort diving over a liveaboard? Let us know about your experiences in the comment section below.