Courtesy of All Star LiveaboardsAll Star Liveaboards’ luxury yacht Aqua Cat sits just offshore in the Bahamas, where guests enjoy easy access to reefs, walls and island excursions between dives.
Liveaboards are not just about the diving these days. Of course you’ll log incredible bottom time on a scuba diving liveaboard vacation—being underwater on an epic dive site can feel almost cinematic—but the highlight reel will also include the laughter between dives, the hush of night crossings and the camaraderie forged in shared adventure.
All Star Liveaboards offers itineraries in the Bahamas, including the luxury yacht Aqua Cat and the sailing catamaran Cat Ppalu. Sure, there are hotels in Nassau that will give you a room, but All Star’s liveaboards give you so much more. For a few unforgettable days, the ocean is where you wake up to spectacular sunrises, eat, laugh and fall asleep beneath a canopy of stars. The gentle rhythm of the sea replaces traffic noise. Your backyard becomes reefs that pulse with color, plunging walls, drift dives, shark encounters and an endless horizon. Life aboard an All Star liveaboard in the Bahamas is about far more than what happens beneath the surface. It’s also about the moments in between.
Courtesy of All Star LiveaboardsReefs explored from Aqua Cat and Cat Ppalu feature vivid sponge formations, healthy coral growth and clear blue visibility.
Disconnect and Dive Deeper on a Bahamas Liveaboard
Of course, the diving is phenomenal. By the time breakfast ends, everyone is buzzing with excitement in anticipation of the morning’s first dive. Four or five dives a day might sound intense, but the rhythm becomes addictive: dive, eat, nap, laugh, repeat. By the end of the first day, the boat feels less like a charter and more like a floating community and strangers quickly become dive buddies. It’s the kind of camaraderie that happens when everyone shares the same adventure.
The owners and staff of the award-winning All Star Liveaboards have spent decades exploring the waters off Eleuthera and the Exuma Cays to find the best reefs, walls, wrecks and shark encounters. The reefs feature fascinating grotto formations, as well as jaw-dropping wall dives. There are also a few sites that feature high-adrenaline drift diving. You have a good chance of spotting Caribbean reef, hammerhead and nurse sharks every time you giant-stride into the water. Plus All Star Liveaboards offers one designated shark dive on their week-long itineraries.
“My wife claims it was the ‘best vacation ever!’ … and she doesn’t even dive!” — Aqua Cat guest, Tom Springer
The Moments In Between
The dives may anchor the schedule, but what about the rest of your time on board an All Star liveaboard? Slow mornings begin with coffee and breakfast and the beauty of sunrise. Meals served on Aqua Cat and Cat Ppalu—chef-prepared meals, plus an assortment of snacks and decadent desserts—rivals top-tier restaurants.
Courtesy of All Star LiveaboardsBetween dives, guests aboard All Star Liveaboards can explore quiet Bahamian shallows by paddleboard or kayak during topside excursions.
Late afternoon dives often end just in time for one of the greatest shows in the Bahamas: sunset at sea. Divers gather on the deck with cold beverages in hand while the sky is painted in red, orange and yellow and the ocean gently rocks the boat. After dinner, many guests wander back out to the deck. When you’re at sea, the night sky is as captivating as the sunrises and sunsets. The Milky Way stretches overhead, glittering with millions of stars. It’s the perfect end to another day at sea.
Courtesy of All Star LiveaboardsGuests on the Bahamas liveaboard interacting with swimming pigs between scuba diving
All Star’s weeklong cruises include all meals and beverages (alcoholic and nonalcoholic) and up to 19 dives per week. The 102-foot Aqua Cat is a luxury aluminum-hulled catamaran that accommodates guests in 11 cabins with private baths and AC control. All diving is from the boat, but a skiff is used for nondiving activities and topside excursions. The yacht Cat Ppalu offers private dive vacation charters and takes 12 passengers in six cabins. It is a unique experience for families, friends and groups that want a sailing, scuba diving and snorkel vacation. The crew on both boats provide access to uninhabited islands where you can explore beaches, go on guided hikes, feed iguanas or play with water toys. Standup paddleboards, kneeboards and kayaks are available for guests. Snorkeling gear is provided to snorkelers who will love the calm conditions in various grottoes and mangrove habitats. Fishing is also a possibility, and the chef will even prepare your fresh-caught catch for dinner. If the weather permits, you may even have the chance to interact with the famous swimming pigs at Big Major Cay.
“Shared sunset towards the end of the trip with guests and crew ... laughs and stories all night long. A great charter yacht.” — Cat Ppalu guest, Kevin Waite
Not Just a Bahamas Scuba Diving Trip. It’s Life-Changing.
By the end of the scuba diving liveaboard trip, divers leave with full logbooks and memory cards packed with reef scenes and sharks, but All Star’s guests also leave with something less tangible. When the highlight reel plays back later in their memory, it rarely includes just the dives.
Courtesy of All Star LiveaboardsSnorkeling in crystal-clear Bahamian water is one of the many non-diving experiences available aboard Cat Ppalu and Aqua Cat.
An All Star liveaboard trip is not just a schedule built around dive briefings. A trip aboard Aqua Cat or Cat Ppalu is so much more. The feeling of being part of a small tribe exploring the magic of the sea together. It’s about reconnecting—with nature, with people and with yourself.
Contact All Star Liveaboards
(800) 327-9600
