MY Aqua Cat; Liveaboard diving in Bahamas; 9.3 out of 10 and is rated 'Superb'; from £191, $233, €218/day. Customer Review:
”Best liveaboard experience so far. I have been on about 4 other liveaboards. Iron diver award for myself and wife. Hawksbill turtle that was like a pet with great photos from Virginia. Virginia was a fantastic photographer. We told her up front that we were buying the photos. This is the first trip I did not bring an underwater camera (900 dives) because I wanted lots of photos of my wife and I. The photos that were extra were just full of great photos of us. A special thanks to her.” Recommended for: Dining/briefing room. Crew. Cabins.
Blackbeards Sea Explorer; Liveaboard diving in Bahamas; 9.3 out of 10 and is rated 'Superb'; from £115, $140, €131/day. Customer Review:
”New friends, New appreciation, New understandings. The wall dives were my biggest highlight on this trip. Being able to swim in the shallows and then just have the ocean show how mysterious it can be by giving you an endless view into the deepest of blues that you will likely experience. Being able to look down and not know what’s there because of the limited but strangely endless view is a rather humbling moment. The crew I had on my trip were just incredible too. Although they act in the most professional manner as required to mitigate the risks associated with this trip, they balance this out perfectly with their friendly demeanour, making you laugh, addressing any concerns you may have and ultimately actually becoming your friend by the end of the trip. It would have been an entirely different trip if the crew had been purely a boat crew only.” Recommended for: The atmosphere on board, the quality of experience provided and the itinerary.
Jardines Avalon Fleet; Liveaboard diving in Cuba; 10 out of 10 and is rated 'Exceptional'; from £314, $383, €358/day. Customer Review:
”Fantastic experience onboard and in the water. Diving in the national park, we were the only liveaboard on the reef. Huge amounts of sea life and sharks at every dive. The staff were continuously attentive and responded to our every need, both with diving and on board. Excellent food and accommodation. Recommended for: Excellent sea life and diving, dedicated service, great food.
MV Belize Aggressor III; Liveaboard diving in Belize; 9.1 out of 10 and is rated 'Superb'; from £246, $300, €280/day. Customer Review:
”Could not have been better. It was my first live aboard and I had an absolutely amazing time. Everything from the above and beyond what I expected. The rooms, the food, the equipment, the fun and relaxing atmosphere and people. The crew became fast friends, the dive masters found so many cool things underwater, the video was well made and a great souvenir. Not to mention the option of 26 dives! A really good value for filling up the logbook. Well done, Aggressor.” Recommended for: The crew, the food, and 5 dives a day!
All Star Cuan Law; Liveaboard diving in Virgin Islands; 10 out of 10 and is rated 'Exceptional'; from £360, $439, €410/day. Customer Review:
”Worth Every Penny. Hangin on the deck, chatting with the other guests. We had a lovely group.” Recommended for: 1. Crew: Outstanding. Personable, informative, attentive and genuine. 2. Food: Ridiculously amazing. Diverse, nuanced tastes, beautifully plated. 3. Dives: While the visibility was iffy, I did see more new creatures than I have on other dives. Credit the Dive Masters.
Caribbean Explorer II; Liveaboard diving in St. Maaten; 9 out of 10 and is rated 'Superb'; from £194, $237, €221/day. Customer Review:
”Good value trips. Very good trip, small boat and not particularly luxurious but everything worked and it was good value for money considering the great food/drink and service provided by the fantastic crew. Ratings for Diving and Dive Guides together doesnt’ make sense as they are completely independant – guides were excellent (5/5) and the diving was good but not outstanding (3/5) hence the 4/5 overall.” Recommended for: value for money, great crew & food.
Turks and Caicos Explorer II; Liveaboard diving in Turks and Caicos; 9.1 out of 10 and is rated 'Superb'; from £250, $305, €285/day. Customer Review:
”GREAT SAFE VERY WELL RUN DIVING OPERATION. In spite of losing 2 days due to stormy weather we had a great trip with 4 days diving. Enjoyed all the dives because its what I love doing, we had very close encounter with very friendly and large eagle ray,saw turtles every day,did 2 night dives and saw many nurse sharks night hunting so in spite of losing bit of time saw plenty!” Recommended for: Diving at night,Sea Life,Great Crew.
Turks and Caicos Aggressor II; Liveaboard diving in Turks and Caicos; 9.2 out of 10 and is rated 'Superb'; from £247, $301, €282/day. Customer Review:
”A great crew who couldn’t do enough to help us enjoy our trip. Excellent team! We were able to enjoy as much or as little diving as we wanted at excellent dive sites with lots of marine life and outstanding support from the crew. Thank you.” Recommended for: Great crew, top notch dive boat, excellent dive sites.
MV Cayman Aggressor IV; Liveaboard diving in Cayman Islands; 9.3 out of 10 and is rated 'Superb'; from £245, $299, €279/day. Customer Review:
”The crew made my first time live aboard experience a great one. It was my first live aboard experience and because of the good time and the great service from the crew it will not be my last.” Recommended for: The service from the crew was first class, the food was excellent and the boat was great to dive from.
MV Sea Hunter; Liveaboard diving in Costa Rica; 9.2 out of 10 and is rated 'Superb'; from £422, $515, €481/day. Customer Review:
”A must-do expedition for experienced divers. Fantastic, the crew really go out of their way to make their guests feel special and appreciated. It is extremely expensive, but considering how remote the location is and how comfortable the boat is, it’s understandable. Only recommended for hard-core experienced divers as the crossing to Cocos is long and bumpy. I loved every minute of it and was especially surprised how beautiful the cabins are (hand-painted individually). The general comfort level was a lot higher than I had expected and if I could afford it I’d definitely go back again.” Recommended for: Diving, cabins, crew.
MV Roatan Aggressor; Liveaboard diving in Honduras; 9.4 out of 10 and is rated 'Superb'; from £259, $316, €295/day. Customer Review:
”Roatan aggressor is a gem. The entire crew was awesome from beginning to end. The days ran seamlessly with help on the dive deck from Jonathan, Gabby and G. Captain Eddy is a master both in and out of the water and kept the boat steady in the face of some challenging winds. Johnny kept all the systems running without a hitch. Jennelle and Milton rocked it in the galley and we all finished the trip a few pounds up. It was a great week. I look forward to another trip to Roatan.!” Recommended for: The crew, the dive sites and the food.
TO SEE ALL CARIBBEAN LIVEABOARDS SCROLL TO THE TABLE BELOW
Note: Liveaboards “Turks and Caicos Aggressor II” and “MV Sea Hunter” above also dive the Dominican Republic. Dominican Republic liveaboard diving is focused on diving with humpback whales in the Caribbean. If you want to liveaboard dive the Dominican Republic, choose either of these highly rated Caribbean liveaboards, and scroll to the appropriate itinerary.
For the “Turks and Caicos Aggressor II” liveaboard, select itinerary headed “Silver Bank – Snorkel with Humpback Whales (Puerto Plata-Puerto Plata)”; For “MV Sea Hunter” liveaboard, select itinerary headed “Silver Bank Trip (Puerto Plata – Puerto Plata)“. The Turks and Caicos Aggressor II liveaboard alternates between diving Turks and Caicos and the Dominican Republic, whereas the MV Sea Hunter alternates between diving Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic.
The best Caribbean liveaboards include MY Aqua Cat and Blackbeards Sea Explorer in the Bahamas, Jardins Avalon Fleet in Cuba, MV Belize Aggressor III in Belize, All Star Cuan Law in the Virgin Islands, Turks and Caicos Explorer II in Turks and Caicos and MV Sea Hunter in the Dominican Republic.
Popular destinations for liveaboard diving in the Caribbean include the Bahamas, Belize, the Cayman Islands, Cuba, Turks and Caicos, the British Virgin Islands, Belize, St. Maarten and Dominican Republic. Most Caribbean dive safaris last between 8-day and 7-nights and include board, meals and diving.
The Caribbean sea covers an area of 2.754 million square kilometres (1.063 square miles) and has more than 700 islands, islets, and cays.
The benefits of diving the vast area of the Caribbean Sea on a Caribbean liveaboard include the following: all diving where you dive more times per day than on a resort holiday, is inclusive of all food and snacks, includes accommodation, most include night dives, some include alcohol, you share the experience with like-minded divers and you will often dive the more remote locations.
Book a Caribbean liveaboard to dive on flourishing coral reefs (including the largest barrier reef in the northern hemisphere in Belize) in warm tropical, gin-clear waters and enjoy white-sand beaches.
Divers who love to dive with sharks will see many sharks in the Caribbean, especially when you dive locations such as the Bahamas, and in particular Tiger Beach dive. The Bahamas Tiger Beach dive site includes the chance to dive with impressive tiger sharks, huge great hammerhead sharks, bull sharks, Caribbean reef sharks, lemon sharks and nurse sharks.
Diving in the Caribbean is suitable for all experience levels, and includes beginner divers, and most Caribbean liveaboards only require Open Water Diver certification, and many have no minimum logged dive requirements.
Table of Caribbean Liveaboards
This list of Caribbean liveaboards is in descending customer rating order, so the liveaboards with the highest customer rating will be at the top of the list. To filter this table for the features that are important for your Caribbean liveaboard trip, select from the list of filters below.
Note: The above “Price Per Day” was correct at the time of producing this article, as was the exchange rate used to convert the GBP cost to US Dollars and Euros. For an up-to-date cost for your chosen liveaboard, please visit the “Book” link above.
Top 7 Best Diving In The Caribbean?
The following seven locations in the Caribbean have some of the best liveaboard diving:
The Bahamas: Known for diving with sharks at Tiger Beach dive and diving with tiger sharks, great hammerheads, bull sharks and reef sharks, plus the Exuma pigs with some of the most turquoise waters in the world. Best Bahamas liveaboard: Bahamas Aqua cat.
Belize: Known for having the biggest barrier reef in the northern hemisphere, and for the Great Blue Hole dive. Best Belize liveaboard: Belize Aggressor III.
Turks and Caicos: Shark diving, spotted eagle rays and and some of the best wall dives in the world. Best Turks & Caicos liveaboard: Turks and Caicos Explorer.
Jardines de la Reina, Cuba: Known for diving with sharks, crocodiles and healthy unspoiled reefs and pristine dive sites in protected marine reserves. Best Cuba liveaboard: Jardines Avalon Fleet.
Silver Banks, Dominican Republic: Known for snorkelling with humpback whales in the Caribbean. Best liveaboard: Sea Hunter.
Cayman Islands: Known for wall diving and wrecks like the USS Kittiwake, stingrays at Stingray City and amazing diversity of marine life. Best Cayman Island liveaboard: Cayman Aggressor IV.
Honduras: Known for inexpensive diving and a laid-back atmosphere with excellent diving that includes wall dives, caves and wreck diving, plus great marine life that includes large groupers, turtles, eagle rays, sharks and dolphins. Best Honduras liveaboard: Roatan Aggressor.
The underwater capital of the Caribbean is arguably the Bahamas Tiger Beach, where you dive cage-free up-close and personal with huge sharks that include 16-foot tiger sharks, great hammerhead sharks and bull sharks. Tiger Beach is for shark lovers and underwater photographers and videographers alike.
Best Time Of Year To Dive in The Caribbean
The best time of year to dive the Caribbean is November to April outside the hurricane season, but this is the most expensive time to visit. Some Caribbean islands are outside of the hurricane belt including the islands off the coast of Venezuela, Barbados, Saint Vincent, the Grenadines and Grenada.
Scuba Diving Caribbean Vacation Packages
Caribbean liveaboards offer some of the best scuba diving Caribbean vacation packages, as the Caribbean liveaboards offer an all inclusive vacation package that includes your cabin, all food and snacks, some include alcoholic drinks and up to 3-4 dives every day, including night dives.
I hope you enjoyed this page about Caribbean liveaboard diving
I’d love to hear from you. Tell us about your adventures of diving and snorkeling, in the comments below. Please also share your photos. Either from your underwater cameras or videos from your waterproof Gopro’s!
If this article hasn’t answered all of your questions. If you have more questions either about snorkeling or scuba diving (or specifically about Caribbean liveaboard diving), please comment below with your questions.
There will also be many more articles about scuba diving (and snorkeling) for you to read and learn about these fabulous sports.
Dominican Republic Liveaboard Diving Dominican Republic liveaboard diving offers divers the chance to visit a special place North of The Dominican Republic, which is the humpback whale breeding grounds of Silver Bank. Choose from…
Caribbean Liveaboard Dive Boats Comparison Chart Caribbean liveaboard dive boat comparison chart with prices and features for each Caribbean liveaboard, plus scuba diving experience by Caribbean Island table
