Live-aboard Tip

An Undercurrent correspondent points out a problem inherent in live-aboards that split their itineraries between two destinations. In discussing a December 1999 Belize trip aboard the Nekton Pilot, she notes that while the accommodations were basic at best and the boat itself a bit worn around the edges, the sites were generally good ones, with pristine reefs, good visibility, and a wide variety of fish. But, since the boat had been in Belize only five weeks at the time of her trip, the all-American crew lacked a local perspective on the sites and seemed unfamiliar with them as well, delivering too many briefings in which they requested divers to “tell us what you see." All in all, though the diving was good, our correspondent’s vote was to “opt for a live-aboard without a split itinerary next time around.”