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I didn’t realize Nekton was out of business. What happened?
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I did about five trips with Nekton which apparently wasn’t enough. The crew and staff were always great, the food usually good but with the downturn in the economy the boats got behind with the repairs. The Pilot had gone in to the shipyard when the other boat had major problems in Mayaguana and there was no back-up to continue the cruise and Nekton had to cancel upcoming trips.
Explorer has some liveaboards in interesting places. Truth offers short liveaboards to California’s Channel Islands but that is cold diving. Nautilus does the west coast from Canada to Baja.
Aggressor has some beautiful boats in great places but is pricy.
I have never forgiven Peter Huges and company for the way they handled the Belize incedent and will never step onto a Dancer boat.
My favorite liveaboard is the Nai’a in Fiji, no other boat or crew has ever even come close to the service they do but a week in Fiji isn’t cheap either.
There are other small liveaboards in the Pacific but all are going to cost you both for the ship and the air to get there.
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I book a live a board the same way I book a hotel room. If you want to be pampered and catered to (Aggressor) you will pay for it. On the other end of the spectrum is Blackbeard’s. They are kind of like camping out.
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Karen - 8/18/2010 11:02 AM 
I am not sure, but if you google "Nekton" a site will appear that describes a financial situation.
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Greg - 8/18/2010 12:21 PM
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Like an earlier response, you get what you pay for. You have Blackbeard’s on one end and then you have the same company’s high end, Aquacat. Once you have gone on Aquacat, you won’t go back to Blackbeard’s.
I have 4 slots open for an Aquacat trip on 6/4/11. Cost is $235 off of the advertised price. Rather than take a free slot for a group of 10, I am sharing the savings with everyone in our group. Travel agents will book a group, and they get a free slot for a booking of 10.
Checkout the Aquacat web site. If interested contact me at sdiversbd [ at ] comcast.net.
Steve DuBose
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First you need to decide where you want to travel to...you maybe able to get under the 2k range but pay more for airfare getting there.
So you need to determine destination first.
But staying close to home (US and Caribbean) in addition to some of the suggestions already posted.....
There is the S/Y Juliet out of Miami
There is also the M/V Spree (somewhere in Florida - Gulf of Mexico itineraries)
You’ve already been introduced to Explorer Ventures - They run Caribbean itineraries under 2k
The Gulfstream Eagle ran out of West Palm Beach, Fl...but I haven’t heard anything from them lately.
Then there is Thailand...which is liveaboard heaven. Of course the Maldives, Indonesia, Solomon Islands, etc..etc..etc..
There is also the Red Sea which has a lot of liveaboards as well.
I’d give the Juliet a REAL GOOD look. You’ll love sailing and diving with them and the price is right.
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I just checked the site for the Juliet. It does look interesting. Later I will contact them for more info. Thanks for the suggestion.
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Karen - 8/19/2010 10:59 PM
Wow, Nesher, thank you very much for the information. :)
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Not a problem Karen. I hope you find exactly what you’re looking for.
Dive Safe..
BTW - here’s the link to the Juliet
http://www.sailjuliet.com/
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