Dive Adventure Handbook: Top-Rated Liveaboards and Resorts for Solo Submersions

Dive Adventure Handbook: Top-Rated Liveaboards and Resorts for Solo Submersions

Exploring the Underwater World as a Solo Diver: A Guide to Solo Travel on Liveaboards

Diving solo can be an exhilarating experience, and liveaboards offer an excellent way for solo travellers to explore expansive underwater landscapes and bucket-list destinations. Here's a guide to help you plan your solo dive travel on liveaboards, with recommendations for some of the best options available.

Three Ways to Travel Solo on Liveaboards

You can opt for single cabins, single supplements, or sharing basis on liveaboards. Single cabins are designed to accommodate one person in a single bed with either a shared or private bathroom. Some liveaboards, like the Blackbird Caye Resort in Belize and Coco View Resort in Roatán & Utila, offer single pricing for bookings.

Solo Dive Travel Benefits

Solo dive travel offers numerous benefits, including flexibility, independence, personal growth, and the opportunity to meet new people. Liveaboards are a great way to meet like-minded individuals and share underwater experiences.

Top Liveaboards for Solo Divers

• Solmar V (Socorro, Mexico): Known for its single cabins and accommodating solo travellers, the Solmar V is a highly regarded liveaboard. It offers a comfortable experience with air conditioning, a camera table, and unlimited Nitrox included. The vessel’s veteran crew and consistent service make it very popular among solo divers and underwater photographers.
• Valentina (Socorro and Sea of Cortez, Mexico): This liveaboard offers comfortable cabins and Nitrox, as well as complementary extras like beer and wine. While single cabins are not explicitly mentioned, it delivers a good mid-range value that appeals to solo divers seeking comfort and convenient amenities.
• Neomi (Alor, Indonesia): Neomi allows solo travellers to choose whether to pay a single supplement for a private cabin or share with another traveller at the normal rate. This flexibility is excellent for solo divers on a budget. The liveaboard offers diverse diving experiences with 2-3 dives per day and rich marine biodiversity.

General Advice for Solo Divers

• Many liveaboards offer same-gender cabin sharing to avoid high single supplements, but boats like Solmar V provide private single cabins to avoid sharing altogether.
• Look for vessels with a low guest-to-guide ratio (around 1:4 to 1:6) to ensure personalized attention and a good diving experience for solo travellers.
• Boats with dedicated solo cabins or low single supplements often feature enhanced facilities such as camera tables, charging stations, and comfortable social spaces to help solo travellers feel welcome and connected.

Other Notable Liveaboards and Dive Resorts

• Indonesia: Alor Divers Eco Resort, Ambon's Spice Island Divers, Coral Eye Dive Resort Bangka, Bunaken's Siladen Dive Resort, Halmahera's Kusu Island Resort, Lembeh's Dive Into Lembeh, NAD Lembeh, Thalassa Dive Resort Lembeh, White Sands Beach Resort Lembeh by Eco Divers, Raja Ampat's Agusta Eco Resort, Dive Into Raja Ampat at Waiwo Dive Resort, Papua Explorers, Papua Paradise Eco Resort, Raja Ampat Dive Lodge, Sulawesi's Eco Divers Manado, Gangga Island Resort & Spa, Lumba Lumba Manado Resort, Thalassa Dive & Wellbeing Resort Manado.
• Mexico (Cozumel): Presidente Intercontinental Resort & Spa Cozumel.
• Fiji: Beqa Lagoon Resort, Garden Island Resort, and Paradise Taveuni.
• Sipadan: Seaventures Dive Rig Resort.
• Philippines: Atlantis Dive Resort Dumaguete, Atlantis Dive Resort Puerto Galera, Buceo Anilao Beach & Dive Resort.

Maximising Your Diving Time

Divers will maximize the time spent diving on a liveaboard, doing up to 4 dives a day and covering a larger area.

Meeting Different People

At a resort, guests often come and go during your stay, so you'll have a chance to meet more people from different walks of life.

Booking Your Liveaboard Holiday

Experts at Bluewater Travel have put together a guide of liveaboards and dive resorts with single-friendly policies. Liveaboard holidays are generally a packaged all-inclusive format with varying additional fees. Always check liveaboard policies on single supplements, as these can vary widely, and consider booking early to secure single cabins where available.

1. Liveaboards like the Blackbird Caye Resort in Belize and Coco View Resort in Roatán & Utila offer single pricing for bookings, providing an option for solo divers traveling alone.
2. With a solo dive travel experience, individuals can enjoy flexibility, personal growth, and the opportunity to meet new people, especially while on liveaboards where like-minded individuals can be found.
3. The Solmar V in Socorro, Mexico, is a highly regarded liveaboard that caters to solo travelers with private cabins and additional amenities like air conditioning, a camera table, and unlimited Nitrox.
4. In addition to the Solmar V and Valentina in Socorro and Sea of Cortez, Indonesia offers various excellent liveaboards for solo divers, such as Alor Divers Eco Resort, Siladen Dive Resort, and Thalassa Dive Resort Lembeh.
5. To maximize diving time on a liveaboard, divers should consider options that offer up to 4 dives per day and cover a larger diving area, ensuring an immersive underwater experience when traveling as a solo diver.

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