It might feel counterintuitive, but if you’re a beginner diver looking to gain experience and confidence more quickly than is possible with sporadic once-a-month dive outings, a liveaboard trip can be a great way to quickly advance your skills underwater. Over the course of a few days on a dedicated liveaboard dive boat you can easily log a dozen dives—with as many as 27 dives often in the cards during a week-long trip. And they might range from reef dives and drift dives to wreck and night dives. What’s more, liveaboard trips often give you the option to gain further certifications, such as PADI Advanced Open Water, along the way. Read on to learn about some of the dive boats operating in destinations with easy and inviting diving, where open-water and beginner divers can level up their skills in no time. And get ready for the dive vacation of a lifetime.

CAYMAN AGGRESSOR IV

CAYMAN ISLANDS

Visibility in the 100-foot range and year-round warm water temperatures are just two things that make the Cayman Islands such an ideal destination for new divers looking to gain experience in a comfortable setting loaded with world-class dive sites. And when it comes to your floating home for the week, it’s hard to get more comfortable liveaboard diving than aboard Aggressor Adventures’ recently remodeled Cayman Aggressor IV. The 108-foot-long yacht sleeps 18 guests in nine cabins, all with private bathrooms and TVs.

Related Reading: The Benefits of Scuba Diving via Liveaboard

Common areas on board include a hot tub on the yacht’s sun deck, an air-conditioned salon and a shaded cocktail deck for sipping something frosty once you’ve hung up your fins for the day. Hearty meals, including Caribbean-inspired dishes like Jamaican jerk chicken and local mahi mahi, keep you fueled for your next dive. You’re in for true concierge-style diving on this yacht—set up your gear on your tank for the week and you won’t have to take it off until you leave. And it couldn’t be easier to get into the water from the yacht, which has a stairway instead of a ladder leading you down to dive. During a seven-night charter, you can log as many as 27 dives from the yacht. Itineraries visit all three of the Cayman Islands and include legendary dive sites such as Grand Cayman’s North Wall and South Wall, Stingray City, and the wrecks of a Russian destroyer and the USS Kittiwake.

NEED TO KNOW

HOME PORT

George Town, Grand Cayman

DIVE SEASON

Charters can be booked year-round.

CONDITIONS

November to June, water temps range from 80 to 84 degrees. July to October, from 84 to 85 degrees.

PRICE

$3,295 to $3,795

CONTACT

cayman@aggressor.com

THE JUNK

SIMILAN AND SURIN ISLANDS,THAILAND

Stepping aboard The Junk to dive the Similan and Surin islands in Thailand’s Andaman Sea is an instantly immersive experience. No ordinary liveaboard, this three-masted traditional Chinese sailing ship was built in the 1960s and used to transport cargo in Southeast Asia before being converted to a liveaboard diving vessel in 1997, with 60 tons of shiny new teak wood to show for it. The 108-foot-long ship hosts 18 divers in cabins with en suite bathrooms that sleep up to four people (twins are also available). The ship’s spacious common areas include indoor and outdoor dining spaces and a roomy diving deck. And you can count on lots of delicious Thai and international food on the menu during your trip. The Junk offers four- and six-night itineraries off Thailand’s west coast into the Similan and Surin islands, where easy diving in warm, clear waters appeals to divers looking to gain experience. “The diving in this part of Thailand is colorful, wonderful and warm,” says Lia Timmermans, of Master Liveaboards, who first learned to dive in Thailand. “There are beautiful corals and fishes, and most of the diving is fairly shallow too.” From January through April, whale sharks and mantas migrate through the waters here, and divers are often treated to underwater sightings. The famous Richelieu Rock and other colorful reef sites are loaded with schooling fish and home to ornate ghost pipefish, harlequin shrimp, mantis shrimp, nudibranchs and many other fascinating critters.

Related Reading: The Best Scuba Diving Liveaboards in the World

NEED TO KNOW

HOME PORT

Thap Lamu, Phang-Nga, Thailand

DIVE SEASON

Charters can be booked from mid-October tomid-May in the Similan and Surin Islands, but The Junk operates year-round in other areas of Thailand.

CONDITIONS

Water temps range from 79 to 84 degrees year round.

PRICE

From $960 to $1,440 per person

CONTACT

dive@masterliveaboards.com

RED SEA BLUE FORCE 2

EGYPT

Short navigation times between dive sites pair with spectacular underwater colors and an incredible diversity of marine life to make the northern stretches of the Red Sea in Egypt ideal for your first liveaboard dive trip. And when you book a berth in one of the nine cabins (for 18 divers) aboard Blue Force Fleet’s 91-foot-long Red Sea Blue Force 2, the captain plans the week’s itinerary according to the experience levels of everyone on board. That means you can expect to go from easier dives to more challenging ones as the week progresses, gaining confidence and experience over the course of five full days of diving.

Related Reading: Power of One: How to Plan Your Next Scuba Liveaboard, Solo

The yacht has comfortable outdoor spaces on multiple decks for lounging between dives, as well as a spacious air-conditioned salon and dining room. All cabins have private bathrooms. “The northern part of the Red Sea is a great destination for beginner divers because there’s not a lot of current and you don’t have to go very deep for spectacular diving within the waters of Ras Muhammad National Park and the Straits of Tiran,” says Jesus Arto, of Blue Force Fleet. At the famed horseshoe-shaped reef at Shaab El Erg, divers might see Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins. And the shallowest part of the SS Thistlegorm, the Red Sea’s most famous wreck, can be dived in just over 50 feet of water. “Seeing the difference in diving experience from all of our divers from the first day of the cruise to the last is incredible,” Arto says

NEED TO KNOW

HOME PORT

Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt

DIVE SEASON

Charters can be booked April through December.

CONDITIONS

Water temps range from the mid-60s in January and February to 86 in July and August.

PRICE

Starting around $1,100

CONTACT

info@blueforcefleet.com

CUAN LAW

BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS

Short sailing distances between islands, spectacular topside sights like the Baths National Park in Virgin Gorda, and legendary beach bars pair with some of the best diving in the Caribbean to make the British Virgin Islands a destination that appeals to divers as much as their travel partners who’d rather just snorkel or sip something frosty ashore. And when you’re looking for an easy and comfortable liveaboard dive trip that allows you time for plenty of topside exploring too, put BVI and a true dive vacation aboard the 105-foot-long trimaran Cuan Law at the top of your list. With 10 large double cabins that can accommodate up to 20 divers and their guests, the yacht offers three guided dives a day to shallow, fish-filled sites around Virgin Gorda, Cooper Island and Scrub Island. Anchorages are particularly scenic in this part of the Caribbean, where the islands are close together, and often you can just strap on a tank to dive under the boat when it’s at anchor for the night too. Diving the RMS Rhone, a Royal Mail Ship that sank in 1867 and is considered among the Caribbean’s best dives, is always on Cuan Law’s dive itinerary too.

The yacht’s laid-back schedule during six-night sailings allows plenty of time to try something different between dives, with tons of onboard water toys, including sea kayaks, Hobie Cats, kneeboards, paddleboards and water skis. Frequent island excursions to hike or visit those beach bars are also in the mix.

NEED TO KNOW

HOME PORT

Tortola, British Virgin Islands

DIVE SEASON

Charters can be booked year-round, except between mid-August and mid-October.

CONDITIONS

Water temps range from 78 to 82 year-round.

PRICE

From $3,340 to $3,600 per person

CONTACT

info@cuanlaw.com

BELIZE AGGRESSOR III

BELIZE

Belize’s most famous dive site might be the 400-foot-deep Great Blue Hole. But there’s so much more to discover along the Central American country’s shallower reefs and walls that make it a prime place to fill your logbook as a beginner diver. Book a cabin on the 110-foot-long Belize Aggressor III to dive some of the best reefs and walls along Turneffe Atoll, Lighthouse Reef Atoll and Half Moon Caye, and you can clock as many as 27 dives during a seven-night trip. “Belize has some of the best wall diving in the Caribbean,” says Jay Roberts, a captain and director of operations for Aggressor Liveaboards. “The top of the wall is shallow, so you don’t have to be deep along a wall to enjoy it there.” With more than 600 species of fish on Belize’s reefs, you never know what might come finning your way here. Endemic whitespotted toadfish can often be seen during dives on Turneffe Atoll, Roberts says. And dives along Lighthouse Reef Atoll usually deliver Caribbean reef sharks and sometimes blacktips, and the occasional great hammerhead too. Visibility in these parts is usually in the 90- to 100-foot range and sometimes pushes upward of 150 feet, says Roberts, adding to the ideal conditions for beginner divers.

Prepare to be pampered aboard Belize Aggressor III. Set up your gear on day one and you’ll never have to change out a tank. Entry is easy from stairs that descend to the roomy dive platform, with no ladders to navigate and plenty of space to stretch out while gearing up on the dive deck. The yacht’s nine spacious cabins (for 18 divers) have private bathrooms and TVs, and you can relax in the jacuzzi on the sun deck while watching for shooting stars after another hard day diving.

NEED TO KNOW

HOME PORT

Belize City, Belize

DIVE SEASON

Charters can be booked year-round.

CONDITIONS

Water temps range from 78 to 82 degrees yearround.

PRICE

$3,395 to $3,695

CONTACT

info@aggressor.com

BLACKBEARD’S CRUISES

BAHAMAS

Zero pretension and endless diving camaraderie are on tap when you set off on a liveaboard adventure with All Star Liveaboards and Blackbeard’s Cruises in the Bahamas, where “low frills, high fun” diving is on tap. The company’s 65-foot liveaboard sailboats (Sea Explorer and Morning Star) are your base for racking up a diverse variety of dives in some of the Bahamas’ most storied locales in the Exuma Cays, teeming with Caribbean reef sharks and tropical fish. “For over 43 years, Blackbeard’s has been taking both new and experienced divers to explore the remote islands of the Bahamas,” says Kevin Purdy, of All Star Liveaboards. “And we see firsthand how quickly a new diver gains confidence and improves their skills by joining a trip.” “In a single week they can log up to 19 dives, including night dives, drifts, wall dives and a blue hole,” he says. Dormitory-style accommodations and affordable pricing make Blackbeard’s a favorite among divers traveling solo, with double- and single- space bunks with shared bathrooms and showers available on both sailboats.

Among the best dives sites for new divers in the Exumas (with lighter current and excellent visibility) are Barracuda Shoals, where bountiful barracuda and hawksbill turtles are often seen, as well as Hammerhead Gulch, where you’ll likely spot eagle rays and nurse sharks in just 35 feet of water.

NEED TO KNOW

HOME PORT

Nassau, Bahamas

DIVE SEASON

Charters can be booked year-round.

CONDITIONS

Water temps range from 72 to 77 degrees November to May. From June to October, waters warm up, around 78 to 83 degrees.

PRICE

Starting at $1,055 per person

CONTACT

info@allstarliveaboards.com

SPIRIT OF FREEDOM

COD HOLE AND RIBBON REEF, AUSTRALIA

Why travel all the way to Australia only to log a dive or two on the Great Barrier Reef between sightseeing when you can get some legit experience underwater on a liveaboard? For a good beginner’s trip, book a three-night adventure aboard Spirit of Freedom to log 11 dives, including a night dive, at some of the best dive sites along the Ribbon Reef, north of Cooktown. The yacht’s three-night Cod Hole and Ribbon Reef trip departs from Cairns for dives along reefs where nutrient-rich water attracts abundant marine life—giant clams, anemones and huge schools of pelagic fish among them. Then continue north another 150 miles from the Ribbons to the famed Cod Hole to interact with chummy giant potato cod that come right up to divers. From there, you’ll overnight on the boat in remote Watsons Bay at Lizard Island before boarding a one-hour flight back to Cairns, enjoying million-dollar views of the waters you’ve just dived the whole way. “The combination of carefully chosen sites and an experienced crew give even the most nervous and inexperienced diver the chance to explore the most exclusive reefs without challenges our Coral Sea trip may include,” says the liveaboard’s sales executive, David Melling.

For an added bonus, migrating dwarf minke whales are regularly encountered along this route on sailings in July and August. Spirit of Freedom’s 11 cabins range from budget quad bunks to ocean-view deluxe cabins. At meal times you might be treated to an Aussie-style barbecue, beef osso bucco or Moroccan fare while swapping dive stories with your fellow passengers.

NEED TO KNOW

HOME PORT

Cairns, Australia

DIVE SEASON

Charters can be booked year-round.

CONDITIONS

From June to November, water temps range from 60 to 75 degrees. From December to May, waters are warmer, ranging from 70 to 86.

PRICE

$2,140 to $3,130 per person

CONTACT

info@spiritoffreedom.com.au