Liveaboard vessels can take you to remote diving locales that most day boats don’t reach. Take advantage at these world-class sites.

Amberjack Reef
Exuma Cays, Bahamas
Amid the reefs of the Exumas, this sandy patch is where a dozen or more Caribbean reef sharks are commonly seen, as are Nassau grouper, queen triggerfish and schools of, yes, amberjack.

Nippo Maru
Truk Lagoon
One of the deeper and more popular Truk Lagoon wrecks, the 352-foot Nippo Maru freighter, starting at a depth of 79 feet, stands out for the intact tank on the top deck and also for its freight. Nicknamed “the million dollar wreck,” Nippo Maru is most known for what’s inside: Its five holds are still heavy with cannon barrels, mines, machine guns and more. Plus, the bridge, with its compass and telegraphs, has survived seven decades relatively unscathed.

Tips for Taking Your First Liveaboard Trip

Shadow Reef
Raja Ampat, Indonesia
This seamount off the island of Misool is where two manta ray species — reef mantas and oceanic mantas — come to feed. Not only are sightings nearly guaranteed, but it’s also common to see trains where six or more swim in a line. And divers can even encounter interactions between the two manta species, which is especially rare given that these two species coexist in very few spots worldwide. Even better? Pregnant females are common, as Raja Ampat is home to several breeding sites.

German Channel
Palau
Oceanic manta rays and schooling whitetip reef sharks, as well as jacks, trevally, barracuda and snapper by the thousands, are the reasons to drop in on this drift dive, powered by the incoming and outgoing tides.

USS Liberty
Bali, Indonesia
Rare is the opportunity to shore-dive a 411-foot U.S. Army cargo ship. Find exactly this off the Bali village of Tulamben, starting at a depth of 15 feet. Downed in 1942, the Liberty’s now covered in gardens of growth that serves as a breeding ground for macro life, including gobies and nudibranchs.

Ad Dimaniyat Islands
Oman
The lush reefs of these nine islands off Oman’s north coast abound in soft and hard corals, creating a habitat for 280 fish species — 10 percent of which are endemic, including the Oman anemonefish. This marine park also protects much larger life, including whale sharks, leopard sharks and the occasional humpback whale.

Elphinstone Reef
Red Sea
This drift dive along a sheer wall is known for encounters with hammerhead sharks. Plus, October through December, it’s also one of the few places where divers can reliably see oceanic whitetips.

Big Dos Amigos
Cocos Island, Costa Rica
This black-coral-covered seamount, a challenging dive thanks to currents and its 90-foot depth, offers choice viewing when schools of hammerhead sharks, mobula rays, manta rays and eagle rays fly by.

Great White Shark Dive
Guadalupe Island, Mexico
Yes, there are cages protecting hookah-air supplied divers, but that doesn’t limit the adrenaline rush — whether it’s a 13-footer swimming inches below your feet or a juvenile, less familiar with the dive boat rig, smacking its nose against the cage bars in an attempt to understand its surroundings.

Finca de Pepe
Cuba
Found in the Gardens of the Queen marine park on the south side of Cuba, this site’s populations of black grouper, Nassau grouper and goliath grouper — some as big as 250 pounds — are thriving. Caribbean reef sharks, indicators of healthy reefs, are also found in high numbers.

5 Questions To Ask Yourself Before Picking Your Next Liveaboard

1 ) Are you more interested in seeing marine life and corals, or are wrecks your thing?

2 ) Are you OK with diving in cold water, or is a tropical destination the only option?

3 ) To save costs, would you share a cabin with a stranger and a bathroom in the hall instead of having a private shower and head? Or are boutique liveaboards with bespoke furniture and huge cabins worth the splurge?

4 ) How long are you willing to travel to reach the boat? Is it worth hours in coach class to get to Raja Ampat, or could you be just as happy someplace closer to home, like a liveaboard in the Caribbean?

5 ) Do you want to eat, sleep and breathe diving with five dives a day, or do you prefer boats with some topside activities on the itinerary? Having a nondiving significant other along can significantly influence this decision.

BONUS TIP

Tp help keep your things tidy on a liveaboard, buy a few cheap over-the-door hooks that you can stash in your luggage and use in your berth. They’ll come in handy for hanging your toiletries bag, small day backpack and bathroom towel so your bunkmate doesn’t confuse yours for his or hers, and help clear the clutter in tight quarters. Leave them behind for the crew to use.