Best Liveaboard Boats For The Money

If you are looking for the best liveaboards for the money, it does depend on how you define “the best” and how you define “for the money“. So as this is a difficult question to interpret and will be different for each person, I have included a number of “best liveaboard for the money” table scenarios.

For the “best liveaboard” I have used customer reviews to define “the best” and given two options of review scores of “9 and above” and review scores of “8 and above“.

To define “for the money” I have included $100, $150, $200 and $250 per day, as it depends on your budget and your affordability as to whether the liveaboard is the best for the money. Each table also includes the cost per day for each liveaboard boat in GBP and Euro too.

The best way to dive anywhere in the world is by a scuba diving liveaboard. You can check the latest and best deals on liveaboards using the following window:

The best liveaboard boats for the money tables are as follows:

1. Best liveaboard boats for the money – Customer reviewed >= 9 for less than $100 per day.
2. Best liveaboard boats for the money – Customer reviewed >= 9 for less than $150 per day.
3. Best liveaboard boats for the money – Customer reviewed >= 9 for less than $200 per day.
4. Best liveaboard boats for the money – Customer reviewed >= 9 for less than $250 per day.
5. Best liveaboard boats for the money – Customer reviewed >= 8 for less than $100 per day.
6. Best liveaboard boats for the money – Customer reviewed >= 8 for less than $150 per day.
7. Best liveaboard boats for the money – Customer reviewed >= 8 for less than $200 per day.
8. Best liveaboard boats for the money – Customer reviewed >= 8 for less than $250 per day.

Best liveaboard boats for the money – Customer reviewed >= 9 for less than $100 per day

The following table of the best liveaboard boats for the money for under $100 per day is in descending customer rating order (minimum customer review of 9), followed by Scuba Diving Luxury Rating (SDE Lux Rating, see below), so the liveaboards with the highest customer rating and the best SDE lux rating will be at the top of the list. If you want to change the list order, use the “Sort by” dropdown below.

Best liveaboard boats for the money – Customer reviewed >= 9 for less than $150 per day

The following table of the best liveaboard boats for the money for under $150 per day is in descending customer rating order (minimum customer review of 9), followed by Scuba Diving Luxury Rating (SDE Lux Rating, see below), so the liveaboards with the highest customer rating and the best SDE lux rating will be at the top of the list. If you want to change the list order, use the “Sort by” dropdown below.

Best liveaboard boats for the money – Customer reviewed >= 9 for less than $200 per day

The following table of the best liveaboard boats for the money for under $200 per day is in descending customer rating order (minimum customer review of 9), followed by Scuba Diving Luxury Rating (SDE Lux Rating, see below), so the liveaboards with the highest customer rating and the best SDE lux rating will be at the top of the list. If you want to change the list order, use the “Sort by” dropdown below.

Best liveaboard boats for the money – Customer reviewed >= 9 for less than $250 per day

The following table of the best liveaboard boats for the money for under $250 per day is in descending customer rating order (minimum customer review of 9), followed by Scuba Diving Luxury Rating (SDE Lux Rating, see below), so the liveaboards with the highest customer rating and the best SDE lux rating will be at the top of the list. If you want to change the list order, use the “Sort by” dropdown below.

Best liveaboard boats for the money – Customer reviewed >= 8 for less than $100 per day

The following table of the best liveaboard boats for the money for under $100 per day is in descending customer rating order (minimum customer review of 8), followed by Scuba Diving Luxury Rating (SDE Lux Rating, see below), so the liveaboards with the highest customer rating and the best SDE lux rating will be at the top of the list. If you want to change the list order, use the “Sort by” dropdown below.

Best liveaboard boats for the money – Customer reviewed >= 8 for less than $150 per day

The following table of the best liveaboard boats for the money for under $150 per day is in descending customer rating order (minimum customer review of 8), followed by Scuba Diving Luxury Rating (SDE Lux Rating, see below), so the liveaboards with the highest customer rating and the best SDE lux rating will be at the top of the list. If you want to change the list order, use the “Sort by” dropdown below.

Best liveaboard boats for the money – Customer reviewed >= 8 for less than $200 per day

The following table of the best liveaboard boats for the money for under $200 per day is in descending customer rating order (minimum customer review of 8), followed by Scuba Diving Luxury Rating (SDE Lux Rating, see below), so the liveaboards with the highest customer rating and the best SDE lux rating will be at the top of the list. If you want to change the list order, use the “Sort by” dropdown below.

Best liveaboard boats for the money – Customer reviewed >= 8 for less than $250 per day

The following table of the best liveaboard boats for the money for under $250 per day is in descending customer rating order (minimum customer review of 8), followed by Scuba Diving Luxury Rating (SDE Lux Rating, see below), so the liveaboards with the highest customer rating and the best SDE lux rating will be at the top of the list. If you want to change the list order, use the “Sort by” dropdown below.

What is SDE Lux Rating %

The column headed “SDE Lux Rating %” is my own Liveaboard Luxury Rating which I’ve assigned to all liveaboards. To discover how the rating is calculated for your chosen liveaboard dive boat, click the liveaboard name link in the “Discover Liveaboard” column above (also this is explained in more detail below).

To help you to choose the right diving liveaboard for you, the “Scuba Diving Earth Liveaboard Luxury Rating” (SDE Lux Rating) means you can compare each liveaboard with other liveaboards on a like-for-like basis. This makes choosing the right liveaboard much easier.

The maximum rating for any liveaboard is 100%, and this rating is split between the 6 features listed below:

1. Diver benefits: A higher ‘diver benefits‘ score means there are more features specifically for scuba divers. These include onboard nitrox, dive courses, gear rental etc.
2. Liveaboard design features: The higher the ‘liveaboard design features‘ score, the more the dive boat has been designed with scuba divers in mind. This includes whether the dive boat was custom built for divers, if it has charging stations, outside showers etc.
3. Cabin luxury: A high score in ‘cabin luxury‘ means the cabins on the liveaboard offer better features. These might include ensuite cabins, air-conditioning, daily housekeeping, seaviews, TVs etc.
4. Onboard comfort: A high score in ‘onboard comfort‘ means there are more onboard features to make your dive trip feel more luxurious. These include what towels are provided on the liveaboard (always important for travelling light), complimentary toiletries, crew ratios etc.
5. Food luxury: If you are a foodie then ‘food luxury‘ will be important to you, as a high score on this rating will mean there’s more on offer. These might include the type of food served onboard, the dietary requirements catered for, vegan food, vegetarian food, buffet style, fine dining etc.
6. Drink luxury: If you like a drink in the evenings you may look for a higher score in ‘drink luxury‘ score, but this score also includes drinking water and soft drinks too.

The “SDE Luxury Rating Total” is calculated by adding the totals from each of the above features and benefits. The higher the SDE Luxury Rating, the more features and benefits the liveaboard has, which leads on nicely to how to use the SDE Luxury Rating.

How to use the SDE Luxury Rating score

When choosing the liveaboard dive boat for you, your decision is helped by customer scores, which is how the liveaboards in the above table are sorted in descending order.

If you are stuck choosing between two or three of these liveaboards, where each one has a high customer score out of 10 and that have itineraries you like, use the SDE Luxury Rating score to help narrow down your choice.

Think about it like using Booking.com when searching for the best hotel to stay at. Booking.com also use a customer score where each customer rates hotels out of 10. This is similar to the liveaboard customer rating, which is also rated out of 10.

But let’s say you only like to stay in hotels rated 9 and above on Booking.com, but you also want the hotel to have WIFI or parking, or to have a swimming pool etc. The features each hotel has is secondary to the score out of 10.

In the case of liveaboards, the SDE Lux Rating system can also be used as a secondary tool in the same way to help you determine which liveaboard offers the best features to suit you.

Each of the liveaboards linked-to from the above table will be individually scored. Which means that if cabin luxury is important to you, focus on this score to help you choose your liveaboard. But if diver benefits are your top priority, use this score first, and so on.

I hope you enjoyed this article about the best liveaboard boats for the money

If this article hasn’t answered all of your questions. If you have more questions either about snorkelling or scuba diving (or specifically about the best liveaboard boats for the money), please comment below with your questions. Or if you have a suggestion for another table of best liveaboards for the money, please comment below.

There will also be many more articles about scuba and scuba diving safety tips (and on snorkelling too) for you to read and learn about this fabulous sport.