Liveaboard!

When Mike was taking his tank inspection course, he met a woman who had a truly dream job.  She was the dive shop manager, repair technician, medical officer, divemaster and instructor on a 220 ft. private luxury yacht. As he was relating her story, I was thinking about how cool it would be to just tour around in a boat, diving all day long and being rocked gently to sleep nightly by the waves. In April, 2015, will be doing exactly that!  We are planning a shop trip to the northern Caribbean, spending a week aboard the Caribbean Explorer II.

We will either fly into St. Kitts or St. Maarten, depending on the liveaboard’s schedule at the time we arrange our air flights.  We will set sail the afternoon that we arrive, making our way to the first island. We will enjoy up to 5 dives per day, truly living the diving lifestyle.  We need only don our gear, which will remain assembled in our spots the whole week, and stride into the ocean.  The crew will refill our tanks with air or nitrox right in place between dives, so no lugging gear to a locker, no assembly and disassembly. Meals and snacks are prepared and ready for us each day by the crew, so no debating where to go for meals, or hassle of cooking something.  In other words, just the fun stuff of diving with none of the work! 

The cabins, air conditioned and clean, are compact but there is no need for many outfits on this trip because we will mainly be on the boat, barefooted in our shorts or swim cover-ups. I have 4 cabins on the main deck and 2 below reserved for all those who sign up before August 1.  After that, choice of cabin will depend on what has not been sold by the Caribbean Explorer themselves. There is a deck for sunning and relaxing between dives and star gazing at night.  Best of all, there are no bugs! (At last, I will not have to douse myself with bug repellent between dives!

Named the Unspoiled Queen of the Caribbean, Saba, is breath taking; a volcanic island rising steeply out of the ocean to touch the wispy clouds. Saba’s volcanic history is evidenced by underwater lava flows and hot springs. Reefs are home to schools of tropical fish and deep water sea mounts attract pelagic creatures that are not often seen by divers. They have year round diving on Saba, with water temperatures varying between 77F-84F.  Visibility, which of course can be influenced by weather and rainfall, but it typically clears quickly.  The typical vis ranges from 60ft to 100ft.

Due to its steep topography, Saba has resisted development, so liveaboard divers willing to give up a dive, would do well to explore this spot on land. Exploring either on foot or in a car, you will be treated to spectacular views from the peaks of the island and get a glimpse of what life was like in the very early history of the Caribbean islands. 

Our other destination is St. Kitts. With a quarter of its land set aside as a national forest, and a rainforest that is actually EXPANDING, this island is also worth missing a dive to check out.  (Again, with 5 dives per day, there will be plenty of underwater time.) The diving here is spectacular as well, and somewhat shallower on average than the Saba sites.  The volcanic formations here make fun swim-throughs and underwater mazes with something to discover at every turn.  There are several wrecks, such as M.V. Talata, which was sunk 15 yrs. ago and St. Kitt’s signature dive, the River Taw, sunk by Hurricane Hugo in 1989.   

I am always looking forward to my next dive, wherever that may be, but I must confess that I am particularly excited about this trip.