Hi Everybody, welcome to Scuba Diver Magazine, today s liveaboard guide is sponsored by the
Explorer Ventures liveaboard diving fleet I ll talk more about them in a little bit. This
guide is going to breakdown what to expect on a liveaboard, such as what facilities there
are likely to be onboard the vessels. How you should prepare for a liveaboard, what to bring,
what you don t need to bring and some general do s and don ts about liveaboard diving.
Liveaboards are the perfect way to really crank up your dive log numbers and build your scuba
diving experience because you re in and out of the water more frequently and surrounded by a
lot of other divers talking about scuba diving. Whether you re travelling as a family group or
all by yourself, you re going to find a new group of friends to go diving with and socialise.
VESSELS
So, what are you likely to find on or in a liveaboard? A Liveaboard is typically
a large motor yacht with multiple cabins, open air resting and sunbathing decks as
well as a dedicated dive deck. On some of the fancier vessels you may also find hot tubs,
photography studios and more. The exact layout and deck count can vary between vessels but,
the fundamentals are usually the same. From top to bottom, the very top deck is
most often the sun deck. This is where a lot of divers work on their tans between dives,
because wetsuits don t give the best tan lines, and the sun deck is usually a great place to get
a 360 view of where you are as well as some fresh air, some divers even sleep up here
under the stars if the weather is nice enough. Down a staircase or ladder is a more covered,
open-air area at the back of the boat where most divers relax between dives. It s typically covered
to protect you from the sun but, still open to the fresh air. Comfortable seating and tables
let you relax and chat with other divers and it s not unusual to find somebody sleeping here
between dives or reading a good book, editing photos on a laptop, listening to music. You
can also find some cabins on this deck which are nice as they re up high away from engine noise.
Down one deck and you find the main deck which is split in two sections. The central inside space
is an air-conditioned common space where you have dinner, dive briefings, some vessels have
areas with tables for sorting out logbooks and photographs, even TVs for presentations. You can
take part in some scuba cert courses onboard if you like and earn another cert card.
Then outside at the back of the boat is the dive deck. Here is where you ll have your own cylinder
on a bench and your cylinder will be topped up where it is between dives so, you don t need to
swap cylinders over or anything. All you need to do is unscrew your regs after the dive so
the crew knows to top that cylinder up. You also have a crate under your cylinder for the rest of
your dive gear like mask and weights and things to keep the deck tidy. Right at the very back of the
boat close to water level is often a wide and flat deck where you make giant stride entries or board
smaller boats that zip you to harder to reach dive spots where the big liveaboard can t go.
Hinged on the edge will be one or two dive ladders so you can climb out of the water with your fins
on straight back onto the liveaboard. If you head back inside on this
deck you can usually find a staircase down to the lower deck where you find more cabins because
most of these liveaboards can host upwards of 28 guests in twin and double cabins.
Each cabin has some storage space, beds to sleep in from twins and doubles to king sized and many
also have ensuite toilets and showers and the rooms are air conditioned if you want
to cool off and have a snooze. Cabins do have charging points to recharge batteries but,
it s safer to charge your electronics in dedicated charging areas so that they are always supervised.
Boat power supplies are different to a home s and it s important that you never leave
anything charging unattended. So, as I mentioned at the start this
guide is sponsored by the Explorer Ventures liveaboard diving fleet and that s perfect,
because they have a full fleet of liveaboard vessels all over the world in all of the top
diving destinations. The list starts in Saba and St Kitts, which is in the northeastern Caribbean
where their Carribean Explorer II will take you to all of the best diving spots with a good range of
local species. This itinerary has been running for over 35 years and divers return time and
time again for the diversity of diving and land tour options - it has something for everyone.
Over to Turks and Caicos, also in the Caribbean, where the Turks & Caicos Explorer II will show you
around deep wall sites that are popular with local shark species. This liveaboard is well
known for its friendly award-winning crew. Then Explorer Ventures has two vessels that cover the
waters around Indonesia you have the Blue Manta Explorer and the larger White Manta Explorer.
Both have huge rooms to relax between dives and explore Indonesia s Coral Triangle. Good for
rare macro life as well as larger species. In the western pacific, just east of the
Philippines, you ll see the small island nation of Palau where the Black Pearl Explorer sets off
from. The Black Pearl Explorer is a 151ft long vessel that was built to exceed the highest
standards of the scuba diving industry, including a recompression chamber. And the diving includes
countless sharks, wall dives and WWII wrecks. Explorer Ventures has two vessels to explore the
Galapagos Islands either on their Tuburon Explorer or their newly refurbished Humboldt Explorer. I
m actually planning a Galapagos Diving special video coming up so, stay tuned for that. Diving
Galapagos is unique and gets a dedicated video where I can really talk about it s benefits.
The Maldives is another island nation that is well known for it s dive sites and large
underwater species and that s where the Emperor Explorer is the epitome of luxury, with huge
comfortable rooms and this liveaboard has it s own smaller dive boat that travels with it to
visit some of those smaller hard to reach dive sites and give you plenty of space to kit up.
The Grand Sea Explorer will take you to all corners of the Red Sea which is well known for it
s glorious wrecks and reefs like the Thistlegorm as well as Brothers Islands, Daedalus Reef,
and Elphinstone Reef. ITINERARY
Before you arrive if there s anything that you need such as rental equipment or dietary
requirements it s important to let them know as soon as possible because as soon
as you set sail it can be very hard to source replacement equipment or suitable food. If you
have allergies or specific diets talk with the operator when booking. Also check your dive gear
well before your trip. It s good to get things serviced and been on a check dive before a big
trip to ensure that everything is. Check things like your mask and fin straps for wear because
you don t want it to break on the trip. It s better to source a spare before you leave.
Day 1 when you arrive is usually a bit of an admin day. You arrive with your bags and
the crew and dive guides meet and greet you and ask you to fill out some paperwork. It s
the usual paperwork and they ll want to see your cert cards, your highest qualification,
nitrox and any relevant specialties for that itinerary. Before you carry all of your kit
bags to your cabin, leave your dive gear on the dive deck, that s where it s going to end up so,
there s no sense in dragging it back and forth. Once you ve unpacked your clothes and toiletries
in your cabin it s a good idea to set up your BCD and regs on a cylinder and check that they
work. It s better to find out there and then if something is wrong with your dive gear
than out to sea. If you let the dive guides know that something is missing or broken,
they can source one for you. If you have ordered any rental gear now is a good time to try it on
or check that it s working. Depending on the vessel you can store your empty kit bag in
your room or the crew will secret it away for the trip so that it s out of the way.
You ll have a meal and an overall safety briefing about the vessel, where things are, things to
be careful about, how the trip is going to be organized. One of the usual safety points is that
inside areas are dry areas, the floors inside are polished and very slippery when wet. And depending
on the itinerary you may stay in dock for the first night that gives the crew time to restock
and get in anything special before you set sail. Mornings are usually early on board with a knock
on your cabin door around 6am. The first dive of the trip is a check dive. It s normally done
somewhere safe so that you can check your gear and weighting. The dive guides can assess everybody s
skill level and at the end you normally have to show them that you can safely send up a dSMB.
How most days on a liveaboard go; you wake at 6am and head for a dive briefing. You get kitted up,
go for the morning dive. Get back, dry yourself off, sign back in on the log
sheet and head for breakfast. Relax a bit until you hear a bell. The crew ring the
ships bell to signal a dive briefing or a meal and they alternate. Morning Dive, Breakfast,
dive before lunch, lunch, afternoon dive, dinner and sometimes a night or evening dive.
Meals are typically buffet style choices of both local and more familiar dishes but,
some vessels can cater more fancy dishes from time to time. Drinks are available, you usually
have water coolers on most decks so, bring a water bottle to top up. Fridges are also dotted around
each deck to keep your drinks cold and some have fizzy drinks that can be included but, usually
you tally and pay for at the end of the trip. Some boats also have alcohol on board. If that
s your thing, have a drink, just be sensible. Now, you don t need to go on every single dive
if you don t feel up to it, some itineraries can be upwards of five dives a day, so there s
nothing wrong with skipping a dive, just let the dive guides know that you re skipping a dive. As
I mentioned earlier, most vessels have a roster log sheet of each diver and at the beginning of
each dive you write down your Nitrox, sign it and then after the dive you write down your max depth
and dive time. If you skip a dive without telling the crew, they ll look at that sheet and may think
that you re still in the water by yourself. And if you go snorkelling or something off the boat,
let them know so that they can be sure that you come back on board before they leave.
When it comes to the end of your trip. You go on your last dive, when you get back, break down your
gear and give it a good rinse with fresh water, boats will have showers and dunk tanks with fresh
water. Then set it up to drip dry as early as possible so that it s dry and ready to pack away.
The itineraries are usually organised so that you have plenty of time to decompress before you leave
and need to get on an airplane. WHAT TO BRING
What should you bring and what shouldn t you bring? If you have all of your own dive gear that
s great. Bring as much as you can, the only things that you don t need to bring are a cylinder and
lead weights. Your mask, fins, regulators, BCD, dive computer, wetsuit depending on conditions,
weightbelt, all the basics. A dive torch is a good idea, especially if there s a chance you re going
on a night dive, shipwrecks or caverns. A dSMB and spool or reel is required, if you don t have one,
you re going to need one and a reef hook is a good idea, especially in places like the
Maldives where there can be a lot of current and you re going to need to rent one from the
boat. Spare parts for your dive gear can save a dive if something breaks so bring what you can,
don t go nuts but bring any spare parts for any part of your kit that may fail that you can
fix like mask straps and fin straps if you feel like they re likely to break. Liveaboards often
have a basic tool kit that you can borrow tools from and a Nitrox analyser as well. Some vessels
also supply you with a locator beacon to alert the vessel in an emergency on the surface exactly
where you are so they can find you more easily. Pack your normal toiletries but, when it comes to
clothes; liveaboards are quite relaxed. Bring a good pair of shoes for travelling but, on
board you re typically bare foot the whole time. Some trips you do visit islands and you may need
footwear so you can either wear your travelling shoes or dive boots if you need to. You don t need
a wide range of clothes. Nobody is going to think twice if you wear the same T-shirt more than once
and most divers are just in board shorts or beach wear except around the dinner table when they
throw a T-Shirt over the top. A hoody or sweater is good to bring on most trips. As you acclimatise
to the weather, A/C, repetitive dives and late nights it can get cold even in warm climates.
You don t need to bring a towel, boats typically have indoor and outdoor towels for use in the
cabin and use out of the cabin for drying yourself off after a dive and sunbathing.
Remember to bring your cert cards and any medical paperwork that you may need for any
medical conditions as well as insurance details, you usually need these to book a trip but,
it helps if you have all of your information with you. Charging cables and replacement batteries for
anything electrical as well as some cash so that you can tip the crew at the end of the trip.
While onboard you re typically off the grid. You won t get very much phone signal and while boats
can have WiFi it won t be particularly fast and may disappear when you re further out to
sea so, don t expect constant complete coverage while you re out at sea. They
do have sat phones but, it will cost you. For more information about Explorer Ventures,
their liveaboards and their Dive Green Environmental Management Policy that
ensures long-term sustainably of coral reefs, ecosystems where they operate, the recreational
scuba diving industry, and local livelihoods. just click the link in the description below or
the one that s just popped up in the corner here if you re watching this on YouTube. Their website
breaks down each of their diving destinations, the vessels in their fleet as well as frequently
asked questions for all of the information you need about booking on one of their liveaboards.
If you re interested in that Galapagos diving video that s coming up like and subscribe to the
scuba diver magazine channel and if you have any questions about liveaboards then pop them down in
the comment section under this video. Remember to like and subscribe to
the scuba diver magazine channel and head over to our website scubadivermag
dot com for more scuba diving content. Thanks for watching and safe diving.