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The Best Scuba Diving Liveaboards in the World

Set sail in style on the world's best dive boats.
By Scuba Diving Editors | Published On November 14, 2022
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The Best Scuba Diving Liveaboards in the World

Our survey asked readers to evaluate liveaboards they’ve dived with in the past two years, and to rank the best liveaboard they’ve experienced overall. Below is the top readers choice in every category, followed by every liveaboard that scored excellent (based on number of votes and percentile score), in alphabetical order. In each category, we listed the top overall readers choice, plus all liveaboards that received an excellent score (based on score and number of votes) in alphabetical order.

Best Overall

Caribbean and Atlantic

Readers Choice: Aqua Cat, Bahamas

All Star Cuan Law, British Virgin Islands

Bahamas Aggressor

Belize Aggressor III

Belize Aggressor IV

Blackbeard’s Cruises, Bahamas

Cat Ppalu, Bahamas

Roatan Aggressor, Bay Islands

Turks & Caicos Explorer II, Turks and Caicos and Silver Banks

Turks and Caicos Aggressor II

Pacific and Indian

Readers Choice: Galapagos Shark Diving, Galapagos and Costa Rica

Arenui, Indonesia

Humboldt Explorer, Galapagos

Nautilus Explorer, Baja, Mexico

Okeanos Aggressor II, Cocos, Costa Rica

Philippine Siren, Philippines

Red Sea Aggressor II, Egypt

Red Sea Aggressor III, Egypt

Socorro Aggressor, Guadalupe and Socorro Islands

Quality of the Liveaboard

Caribbean and Atlantic

Readers Choice: Aqua Cat, Bahamas

All Star Cuan Law, British Virgin Islands

Bahamas Aggressor

Belize Aggressor III

Belize Aggressor IV

Blackbeard’s Cruises, Bahamas

Cat Ppalu, Bahamas

Roatan Aggressor, Bay Islands

Turks & Caicos Explorer II, Turks and Caicos and Silver Banks

Turks and Caicos Aggressor II

Pacific and Indian

Readers Choice: The Arenui, Indonesia

Galapagos Shark Diving, Galapagos and Costa Rica

Humboldt Explorer, Galapagos

Nautilus Explorer, Baja, Mexico

Okeanos Aggressor II, Cocos, Costa Rica

Philippine Siren, Philippines

Red Sea Aggressor II, Egypt

Red Sea Aggressor III, Egypt

Socorro Aggressor, Guadalupe and Socorro Islands

Inside Scoop: “I really love the island of Fernandina, only visited by liveaboards as it is too far as a day tour. Fernandina is home to the biggest population of marine iguanas. What others only see on BBC, you can see in person. ” —Jenny Waack, Galapagos Shark Diving

Quality of the Berths

Caribbean and Atlantic

Readers Choice: Turks & Caicos Explorer II, Turks and Caicos and Silver Banks

All Star Cuan Law, British Virgin Islands

Aqua Cat, Bahamas

Bahamas Aggressor, Bahamas

Belize Aggressor III

Belize Aggressor IV

Blackbeard’s Cruises, Bahamas

Cat Ppalu, Bahamas

Roatan Aggressor, Bay Islands

Turks and Caicos Aggressor II

Pacific and Indian

Readers Choice: The Arenui, Indonesia

Galapagos Shark Diving, Galapagos and Costa Rica

Humboldt Explorer, Galapagos

Nautilus Explorer, Baja, Mexico

Okeanos Aggressor II, Cocos, Costa Rica

Philippine Siren, Philippines

Red Sea Aggressor II, Egypt

Red Sea Aggressor III, Egypt

Socorro Aggressor, Guadalupe and Socorro Islands

Quality of Rental Gear

Caribbean and Atlantic

Readers Choice: Belize Aggressor IV, Bahamas

Aqua Cat, Bahamas

Blackbeard’s Cruises, Bahamas

Turks and Caicos Aggressor II]

Pacific and Indian

Readers Choice: The Arenui, Indonesia

Galapagos Shark Diving, Galapagos and Costa Rica

Nautilus Explorer, Baja, Mexico

Attention To Safety

Caribbean and Atlantic

Readers Choice: Belize Aggressor IV, Belize

Galapagos Shark Scuba Diving

A school of hammerheads in the Galapagos.

Gerald Nowak

All Star Cuan Law, British Virgin Islands

Aqua Cat, Bahamas

Bahamas Aggressor

Belize Aggressor III

Blackbeard’s Cruises, Bahamas

Cat Ppalu, Bahamas

Roatan Aggressor, Bay Islands

Turks & Caicos Explorer II, Turks and Caicos and Silver Banks

Turks and Caicos Aggressor II

Pacific and Indian

Readers Choice: The Arenui, Indonesia

Galapagos Shark Diving, Galapagos and Costa Rica

Humboldt Explorer, Galapagos

Nautilus Explorer, Baja, Mexico

Okeanos Aggressor II, Cocos, Costa Rica

Philippine Siren, Philippines

Red Sea Aggressor III, Egypt

Socorro Aggressor, Guadalupe and Socorro Islands

Quality of the Food

Caribbean and Atlantic

Readers Choice: Belize Aggressor IV, Belize

All Star Cuan Law, British Virgin Islands

Aqua Cat, Bahamas

Bahamas Aggressor

Belize Aggressor III

Blackbeard’s Cruises, Bahamas

Cat Ppalu, Bahamas

Roatan Aggressor, Bay Islands

Turks & Caicos Explorer II, Turks and Caicos and Silver Banks

Turks and Caicos Aggressor II

Liveaboard food quality Belize

A typical spread aboard Belize Aggressor IV, first-place winner for Quality of the Food.

Aggressor

Pacific and Indian

Readers Choice: The Arenui, Indonesia

Galapagos Shark Diving, Galapagos and Costa Rica

Humboldt Explorer, Galapagos

Nautilus Explorer, Mexico

Okeanos Aggressor II, Cocos, Costa Rica

Philippine Siren, Philippines

Red Sea Aggressor II, Egypt

Red Sea Aggressor III, Egypt

Socorro Aggressor, Guadalupe and Socorro Islands

Quality of Staff

Caribbean and Atlantic

Readers Choice: Turks & Caicos Explorer II, Turks and Caicos and Silver Bank

All Star Cuan Law, British Virgin Islands

Aqua Cat, Bahamas

Bahamas Aggressor

Belize Aggressor III

Belize Aggressor IV

Blackbeard’s Cruises, Bahamas

Cat Ppalu, Bahamas

Roatan Aggressor, Bay Islands

Turks and Caicos Aggressor II

Pacific and Indian

Readers Choice: The Arenui, Indonesia

Galapagos Shark Diving, Galapagos and Costa Rica

Humboldt Explorer, Galapagos

Nautilus Explorer, Baja, Mexico

Okeanos Aggressor II, Cocos, Costa Rica

Philippine Siren, Philippines

Red Sea Aggressor II, Egypt

Red Sea Aggressor III, Egypt

Socorro Aggressor, Guadalupe and Socorro Islands

Inside Scoop: “The Hermitage is a small monastery built atop Mount Alvernia, the highest elevation in the Bahamas. All Star visits it once or twice a year when we offer the ‘Down Island Itinerary’ with Aqua Cat.” —Kevin Purdy, All Star Liveaboards

Level of Value

Caribbean and Atlantic

Readers Choice: Blackbeard’s Cruises, Bahamas

All Star Cuan Law, British Virgin Islands

Aqua Cat, Bahamas

Bahamas Aggressor

Belize Aggressor III

Belize Aggressor IV

Cat Ppalu, Bahamas

Roatan Aggressor, Bay Islands

Turks & Caicos Explorer II, Turks and Caicos and Silver Banks

Turks and Caicos Aggressor II

Pacific and Indian

Readers Choice: Galapagos Shark Diving, Galapagos and Costa Rica

Arenui, Indonesia

Humboldt Explorer, Galapagos

Nautilus Explorer, Baja, Mexico

Okeanos Aggressor II, Cocos, Costa Rica

Philippine Siren, Philippines

Red Sea Aggressor II, Egypt

Red Sea Aggressor III, Egypt

Socorro Aggressor, Guadalupe and Socorro Islands

Level of Luxury

best liveaboard scuba diving

The 102-foot-long Aqua Cat liveaboard transports guests to dive the Exuma Cays of the Bahamas.

All Star Liveaboards

Caribbean and Atlantic

Readers Choice: All Star Cuan Law, British Virgin Islands

Aqua Cat, Bahamas

Bahamas Aggressor

Belize Aggressor III

Belize Aggressor IV

Blackbeard’s Cruises, Bahamas

Cat Ppalu, Bahamas

Roatan Aggressor, Bay Islands

Turks & Caicos Explorer II, Turks and Caicos and Silver Banks

Turks and Caicos Aggressor II

Pacific and Indian

Readers Choice: The Arenui, Indonesia

Galapagos Shark Diving, Galapagos and Costa Rica

Humboldt Explorer, Galapagos

Nautilus Explorer, Baja, Mexico

Okeanos Aggressor II, Cocos, Costa Rica

Philippine Siren, Philippines

Red Sea Aggressor II, Egypt

Red Sea Aggressor III, Egypt

Socorro Aggressor, Guadalupe and Socorro Islands