I remember the phone call I had with the owner of my dive shop a month before embarking on my first liveaboard adventure with them in the Red Sea. I had been preparing for this trip like I would for a cruise, mentally picking out nice outfits for dinner each night. Oh, how I was wrong! In October 2018, I boarded a long flight to Hurghada with my amazing scuba diving group, Blue Planet Scuba. I spent 7 wild days on the Blue Melody, exploring some of the most remote dive sites in the Red Sea and would gladly do it again. Liveaboards provide a great opportunity to explore dive sites that can’t be reached by a day boat, so if you love scuba diving, I encourage you to give a liveaboard a try! Here is a list of things you can expect on your first liveaboard based on my personal experience.

Never Been on a Liveaboard?  Here’s What to Expect.

Experience and Certifications

When I went to Egypt, there was a 30-dive minimum to enter the marine park and most of the dives were around 80 ft. (24 m.) on average.  Brian and I became Advanced Open Water and Nitrox certified before the trip and it really made all the difference in the world.  Every diving location is unique and not all liveaboards will have the same requirements, so it’s important to check with the company to see what certifications are needed.

If you are just starting out, I recommended a shorter liveaboard trip to make sure it’s for you, as well as a location that is within your comfort zone and diving experience.  Fortunately, there are liveaboards for all certifications!

Tip: If you are a new to liveaboards and are interested in trying one out, check out this PADI Travel article for destination ideas!

Diving Insurance

One of the biggest reasons to go diving on a liveaboard is to experience a lot of remote dive sites, which can’t be reached by day boat.  For peace of mind, I think it’s really important to have dive insurance before you go.  As of now, I am using Divers Alert Network (DAN), but another great place to get insurance is World Nomads.  World Nomads offers an “Explorer Plan,” which covers scuba diving up to 160 ft. (50 m).

Of course, all insurance companies will require that you dive with a licensed company with experienced staff onboard.  Diving with a reputable company is always a good idea anyway!

Pack Light

It’s very likely that your cabin will be pretty small, and you will be sharing the room with someone else.  For this reason, you want to pack lightly and be well-organized (consider packing cubes).  Aside from your dive equipment, you really don’t need much besides swimsuits and comfortable clothes to eat and sleep in.  Don’t even bother packing multiple pairs of shoes because most liveaboards make you take your shoes off when you get on and give them back to you when you get off!  You will essentially be diving, eating and sleeping so keep that in mind when you pack and enjoy being at sea!

Pack Extras

Although you should pack light, there are a few items that I would recommend you bring extra, just in case something happens.  Most divers on liveaboards will bring an underwater camera of some sort and if you don’t want to risk something happening to your camera or photos, having extra batteries, SD cards, and O-rings can make a big difference.  Back-up batteries are actually a great item to have extras of not only for your camera but for your dive torches!  Get in the habit of taking out the battery after a dive and putting it on the charger and replacing it with a fresh battery and basically rotating them after each dive.  This may seem excessive, but I learned this lesson the hard way!  On my second night dive during the Red Sea trip, BOTH mine and my husband’s dive torches died, and it was one of the scariest things I’ve had happen on a dive.  We were lucky enough to have a well-prepared dive guide with a few extra to get us back to the boat! 

Pack a Health-Kit

I really encourage you to pack a mini health kit for your liveaboard trip! Yes, the ship will most likely have some medication, bandages, etc. but it is always reassuring to know that you have your own.  Remember, there is no pharmacy at sea, and it could be days before you are near land again!  Here are a few items we think are important for your liveaboard health-kit:

• Dramamine (motion sickness medication)
• Pepto-Bismol (treats upset stomach, nausea, heartburn)
• Ear Drops (When you are in the water every day, these really come in handy)
• Hydration Tablets – Nuun is the brand we use!

Equipment on a Liveaboard

All of the Liveaboards I have seen have offered rental gear, so don’t worry if you don’t have gear of your own!  Unfortunately, renting everything adds up quickly so I think it’s worth it to at least bring your own mask, fins, dive computer, wetsuit, and neoprene socks or booties.  Of course, if you are going on dive trips frequently, you may want to look into buying more of your own gear!

Dive Schedule

The majority of Liveaboards will offer about 3-to-5 dives a day, the last one usually being a night dive.  The dive schedule is highly dependent on the location and when the ship has to leave to get to the next dive site.  It can also depend on the marine park rules.  For example, while in the marine park in Egypt, we were not allowed to do any night dives because of shark activity, limiting us to 3 dives per day until we were out of the park. 

In between dives, you can expect food and some down time!  The down time is really nice and gives you a chance to fill out your dive logs and make detailed notes about interesting critters you saw on your dive! After a few days, all of the dives will start to blend together so make sure to document memorable moments!

Read more: 6 Reasons to Dive the Red Sea

Sample Schedule

If you are curious about what an average day on a liveaboard looks like, I put together a little sample schedule from my experience.  All schedules will vary depending on the liveaboard, but this will hopefully give you a better idea of what to expect!

7am: Wake up! (light breakfast) 8am: Dive 1 10am: Breakfast 11am: Dive 2  1pm: Lunch  2pm: Dive 3  4pm: Snack Time  5pm: Night Dive 7pm: Dinner

You will all meet together for your dive briefing before every dive, where your crew will update you on the dive site and diving conditions so you can know exactly what to expect.  There is usually an option to follow a dive guide if you want and in some locations like Socorro, a dive guide is mandatory.

Don’t feel obligated to participate on every dive!  There’s nothing wrong with sitting a few dives out!  This is your vacation and scuba diving should be enjoyable. 

Food on a Liveaboard

Dining options will vary depending on the liveaboard and where you are going.  In many cases, food will be included in your package, but alcohol will be purchased separately (however there are some liveaboards that have an all-inclusive alcohol package). 

On the Blue Melody, we were given three buffet-style meals per day as well as snacks in between dives!  A lot of the food was Egyptian inspired, but there were always a few options to pick from and it was pretty easy to find something I liked.   We were also offered fresh squeezed juice after every dive and hot chocolate after our night dives!  It was pretty much amazing.  You will not go hungry on a liveaboard!

If you have specific dietary needs, be sure to ask before booking if your needs can be accommodated. 

Using RIBS (Zodiacs)

Not all dive sites will be available by your liveaboard, so you can expect to use RIBS (rigid inflatable boat) or “Zodiacs” to get to and from the reef.  The Zodiac will pick you up in full gear from the liveaboard and take you to the decent spot, where you will roll off backwards and sometimes make a negative decent.  Once you decide to end your dive (if you cannot get back to the liveaboard), you will inflate your DSMB, and a Zodiac will come pick you up.  The Zodiac does not have a ladder, so you will have to remove your BCD at the surface and hand it up to the crew member before pulling yourself up into the raft.  After that, everything is smooth sailing and the Zodiac will return you to the liveaboard!

Tipping

I found that tipping about 10% of the total cost is average.  Sometimes your liveaboard will give a tipping guideline online, so that would be a good place to check before you go.

On our ship, they asked us to tip the crew members and dive guides separately.  They take the lump sum and divide it among everyone, but if you really enjoyed one of the dive guides in particular, then you can tip them individually.