There are no bad days (or weeks!) exploring the ocean with a berth on a liveaboard, where getting in three and sometimes as many as five tanks a day (night dive!) is par for the course. Liveaboards come in as many sizes and luxury levels as there are diver types who’ll book them—from rustic fishing boats to floating five-star hotels.

If you’re looking to try a more intimate diving experience on a smaller boat with just four to six cabins, you might want to consider booking a berth on a micro liveaboard to fin with the fishes with fewer divers down.

Read on for a few great diminutive boats for basing onboard.

Cat Ppalu, Bahamas

This sailing catamaran takes you to some of the best dive sites in the gin-clear waters of the Exumas. There’s no shortage of excitement with options for shark dives and high-speed drift dives like the popular Washing Machine dive. With only six cabins, the Cat Ppalu is the ideal vessel if you are looking for a full boat charter where you can bring your entire family. Non-diving activities like snorkeling, stand-up-paddle boarding and island exploring make this Bahamas boat enjoyable for divers and non-divers alike. Diver or not, you won’t want to miss an opportunity to visit the famed Pig Beach, where wild swimming pigs greet visitors in shallow waters. Not keen on renting the full boat? You can book a cabin on one of the many specialty trips planned where a marine biologist joins you and your crew on board.

Water & Wind, Azores, Portugal

The Azores are one of those magical dive destinations with as much to discover above the water’s surface as below. And while most of the scuba diving here is land-based from islands like São Miguel, Pico, Faial and Terceira, you can maximize a week blowing where the winds go while exploring the best underwater sites within the nine-island chain aboard the catamaran liveaboard Water & Wind. Week-long itineraries that depart from São Miguel might have you diving with schooling mobula rays or exploring the fascinating volcanic landscapes closer to coastlines so emerald-hued you could mistake them for Oz. The boat’s four onboard cabins all have ensuite bathrooms and meals are of the gourmet, flopping-fresh variety, with fresh local seafood and salads prepared by the excellent Azorean chef. A typically day’s diving could be diving iconic sites like Dollaborat or hanging on the buoy line like a flag in the current while whale sharks feed on plankton all around you in the upwellings at Ambrósio. During your surface intervals, epic hiking on Santa Maria or, at day’s end, a pint with yachties from around the world at the famous sailor’s bar in Faial, Peter Cafe Sport, await.

Aquatiki II, French Polynesia

With a crew of three and just four guest cabins, the luxe Fountaine Pajot catamaran Aqua Tiki II was designed with diving in mind and charts a course through one of the best spots in the world, during nine to 15-day itineraries around Fakarava in the famed Northern Tuamotu Atolls of French Polynesia. You’re in shark heaven diving the famed atoll passes here, where hundreds of gray reef sharks are regularly seen on drift dives that start on the walls just outside the passages and finish within the coral-lined lagoon. The Aqua Tiki II’s four guest cabins all have private bathrooms. And for onboard meals, you can expect lots of fresh Tahitian seafood, like the islands’ famous poisson cru (marinated raw fish) and fish speared that day by talented local freedivers. There are usually two scheduled dives per day, with plenty of time for topside explorations that might include visiting local pearl farms and kayaking through the pristine water of one of the world’s most remote lagoons.

Fenides Liveaboard, Indonesia

Diving in Indonesia is the stuff of underwater dreams pretty much any way you cut it, with macro life as beguiling as the pelagics that patrol dive sites across the archipelago. But there’s something special about being on a liveaboard with space for just ten divers in five luxurious cabins as you cruise out on itineraries through Komodo, Raja Ampat and the Banda Sea aboard the Fenides. The boat’s classic Indonesia phinisi design is rendered extra luxurious with spacious teak lounges and onboard massage services. When you’re not diving, there are kayaks, paddleboards and even surfboards for getting back out on the water in the incredible island surrounds. And you can count on fun surprises on the itinerary, too, like barbecue lunches and dinners on remote beaches right there at the heart of the world’s triangle of marine biodiversity.

Coral Sea Dreaming, Australia

Rental equipment is free when you sail with Coral Sea Dreaming on the Great Barrier Reef. Offering short one and two-night trips, this vessel will give you a taste of the beautiful coral gardens and incredible biodiversity that make the Great Barrier Reef famous. There's no need to sacrifice comfort since this yacht travels with smaller groups and features only five cabins. Relax in a hammock between dives or spot marine life from the bow, and best yet, this yacht is snorkeler and diver friendly.

King Snefro 5, Red Sea, Egypt

Used interchangeably with twin sister ship the King Snefro 6, this four-cabin cruiser puts divers right atop thrilling drifts, walls, caverns and wrecks in Egyptian waters within Ras Mohamed National Park. The chance to dive the SS Thistlegorm, a British naval ship sunk by German bombers in 1941, that’s considered one of the most thrilling wreck dives in the world, is always an itinerary highlight. But what often surprises divers new to the Red Sea’s wonders are the incredibly vibrant underwater colors that contrast so starkly with the austere topside desert views. Offering three-day mini itineraries in the region that depart from Sharm el Sheikh on the Sinai Peninsula, the King Snefro 5 is a particularly good option for divers looking to get a taste of liveaboard life without committing to a week-long adventure.

S/V Lucky Me, St. Croix and St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Caribbean sailing is even sweeter when you’ve got your own captain, divemaster and private chef onboard while charting a course with Set Sail & Dive’s S/V Lucky Me, stopping to dive at fishy wrecks and reefs in St. Croix, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and other Caribbean locales. Helmed by an American husband and wife team who between them are a PADI divemaster, USCG Captain, surgical nurse and yoga instructor, the S/V Lucky Me is available for charters between four and nine nights, with space for up to eight divers aboard the couple’s comfy Lagoon 500 catamaran. You can even get certified onboard if you’ve still got some family members or friends in your entourage who have yet to take the plunge.