The Best Scuba Diving Liveaboards in the World in 2022
All Star LiveaboardsBahamas liveaboard Aqua Cat won first place in seven categories.
For our 2022 survey, readers evaluated liveaboards they’ve dived with in the past two years and picked the best one they’ve ever experienced. We averaged those totals with the 2021 and 2020 Readers Choice awards results to populate our Best of Readers Choice list. In each category, we listed the top overall readers choice, plus all liveaboards that received an excellent score (based on score and number of votes) in alphabetical order.
Best Overall
Caribbean and Atlantic
Readers Choice: Aqua Cat, Bahamas
Bahamas Aggressor
Belize Aggressor III
Belize Aggressor IV
Blackbeard’s Cruises, Bahamas
Caribbean Explorer II, St. Kitts
Cat Ppalu, Bahamas
Cayman Aggressor V, Cayman Islands
Roatan Aggressor, Honduras
Turks and Caicos Aggressor II
Turks & Caicos Explorer II, Turks and Caicos and Silver Banks
Pacific and Indian
Readers Choice: The Arenui, Indonesia
All Star Aurora, Indonesia
Dewi Nusantara, Indonesia
Galapagos Sky, Galapagos
Humboldt Explorer, Galapagos
Ocean Hunter I and II, Palau
Odyssey Adventures/Truk Odyssey, Chuuk, Micronesia
Palau Aggressor II, Palau
Pelagian Yacht, Sulawesi, Indonesia
Rock Islands Aggressor, Palau
Spoilsport, Great Barrier Reef, Australia
Undersea Hunter, Cocos, Costa Rica
Quality of the Liveaboard
Caribbean and Atlantic
Readers Choice: Aqua Cat, Bahamas
Bahamas Aggressor
Belize Aggressor III
Belize Aggressor IV
Blackbeard’s Cruises, Bahamas
Caribbean Explorer II, St. Kitts
Cat Ppalu, Bahamas
*Cayman Aggressor V, Cayman Islands
Roatan Aggressor, Honduras
Turks and Caicos Aggressor II
Turks & Caicos Explorer II, Turks and Caicos and Silver Banks
Pacific and Indian
Readers Choice: The Arenui, Indonesia
All Star Aurora, Indonesia
Dewi Nusantara, Indonesia
Galapagos Sky, Galapagos
Maldives Aggressor II, Maldives
Ocean Hunter I and II, Palau
Odyssey Adventures/Truk Odyssey, Chuuk, Micronesia
Palau Aggressor II
*Pelagian Yacht, Sulawesi, Indonesia
Spirit of Freedom, Great Barrier Reef, Australia
Spoilsport, Great Barrier Reef, Australia
Undersea Hunter, Cocos, Costa Rica
Quality of the Berths
Caribbean and Atlantic
Readers Choice: Aqua Cat, Bahamas
Belize Aggressor III
Belize Aggressor IV
Blackbeard’s Cruises, Bahamas
Caribbean Explorer II, St. Kitts
Cat Ppalu, Bahamas
Cayman Aggressor V, Cayman Islands
Roatan Aggressor, Honduras
Turks and Caicos Aggressor II
Turks & Caicos Explorer II, Turks and Caicos and Silver Banks
Pacific and Indian
Readers Choice: The Arenui, Indonesia
All Star Aurora, Indonesia
Dewi Nusantara, Indonesia
Galapagos Sky, Galapagos
Maldives Aggressor II, Maldives
Ocean Hunter I and II, Palau
Odyssey Adventures/Truk Odyssey, Chuuk, Micronesia
Oman Aggressor
Pelagian Yacht, Sulawesi, Indonesia
Philippine Siren, Philippines
Spirit of Freedom, Great Barrier Reef, Australia
Undersea Hunter, Cocos, Costa Rica
Quality of Rental Gear
Caribbean and Atlantic
Readers Choice: All Star Avalon II, Cuba
Aqua Cat, Bahamas
Bahamas Aggressor
Belize Aggressor III
Belize Aggressor IV
Blackbeard’s Cruises, Bahamas
Cat Ppalu, Bahamas
Cayman Aggressor V, Cayman Islands
Roatan Aggressor, Honduras
Turks and Caicos Aggressor II
Pacific and Indian
Readers Choice: Pelagian Yacht, Sulawesi, Indonesia
All Star Aurora, Indonesia
The Arenui, Indonesia
Four Seasons Explorer, Maldives
Galapagos Shark Diving
Galapagos Sky, Galapagos
Odyssey Adventures/Truk Odyssey, Chuuk, Micronesia
Spirit of Freedom, Great Barrier Reef, Australia
Spoilsport, Great Barrier Reef, Australia
Undersea Hunter, Cocos, Costa Rica
Wakatobi ResortA room on Pelagian Yacht, which cruises Sulawesi, Indonesia.
Attention To Safety
Caribbean and Atlantic
Readers Choice: Aqua Cat, Bahamas
Bahamas Aggressor
Belize Aggressor III
Belize Aggressor IV
Blackbeard’s Cruises, Bahamas
Caribbean Explorer II, St. Kitts
Cat Ppalu, Bahamas
Cayman Aggressor V, Cayman Islands
Roatan Aggressor, Honduras
Turks and Caicos Aggressor II
Turks & Caicos Explorer II, Turks and Caicos and Silver Banks
Pacific and Indian
Readers Choice: The Arenui, Indonesia
All Star Aurora, Indonesia
Dewi Nusantara, Indonesia
Galapagos Aggressor III, Galapagos
Galapagos Sky, Galapagos
Maldives Aggressor II, Maldives
Odyssey Adventures/Truk Odyssey, Chuuk, Micronesia
Palau Aggressor II, Palau
Pelagian Yacht, Sulawesi, Indonesia
Spirit of Freedom, Great Barrier Reef, Australia
Spoilsport, Great Barrier Reef, Australia
Undersea Hunter, Cocos, Costa Rica
Quality of the Food
Caribbean and Atlantic
Readers Choice: Aqua Cat, Bahamas
Bahamas Aggressor
Belize Aggressor III
Belize Aggressor IV
Blackbeard’s Cruises, Bahamas
Caribbean Explorer II, St. Kitts
Cat Ppalu, Bahamas
Cayman Aggressor V, Cayman Islands
Roatan Aggressor, Honduras
Turks and Caicos Aggressor II
Turks & Caicos Explorer II, Turks and Caicos and Silver Banks
Pacific and Indian
Readers Choice: The Arenui, Indonesia
All Star Aurora, Indonesia
Galapagos Sky, Galapagos
Nautilus Explorer, Mexico
Ocean Hunter I and II, Palau
Palau Aggressor II, Palau
Pelagian Yacht, Sulawesi, Indonesia
Rocio Del Mar, Baja, Mexico
Rock Islands Aggressor, Palau
Spirit of Freedom, Great Barrier Reef, Australia
Spoilsport, Great Barrier Reef, Australia
Quality of Staff
Caribbean and Atlantic
Readers Choice: Aqua Cat, Bahamas
Bahamas Aggressor
Belize Aggressor III
Belize Aggressor IV
Blackbeard’s Cruises, Bahamas
Caribbean Explorer II, St. Kitts
Cat Ppalu, Bahamas
Cayman Aggressor V, Cayman Islands
Roatan Aggressor, Honduras
Turks and Caicos Aggressor II
Turks & Caicos Explorer II, Turks and Caicos and Silver Banks
Pacific and Indian
Readers Choice: The Arenui, Indonesia
All Star Aurora, Indonesia
Galapagos Sky, Galapagos
Humboldt Explorer, Galapagos
Odyssey Adventures/Truk Odyssey, Chuuk, Micronesia
Palau Aggressor II
Rocio Del Mar, Baja, Mexico
Rock Islands Aggressor, Palau
Spirit of Freedom, Great Barrier Reef, Australia
Spoilsport, Great Barrier Reef, Australia
Undersea Hunter, Cocos, Costa Rica
Matthew MeierThe Arenui, in Indonesia, earned eight first-place liveaboard awards.
Level of Value
Caribbean and Atlantic
Readers Choice: Cat Ppalu, Bahamas
Aqua Cat, Bahamas
Bahamas Aggressor
Belize Aggressor III
Belize Aggressor IV
Blackbeard’s Cruises, Bahamas
Caribbean Explorer II, St. Kitts
Cayman Aggressor V, Cayman Islands
Roatan Aggressor, Honduras
Turks and Caicos Aggressor II
Turks & Caicos Explorer II, Turks and Caicos and Silver Banks
Pacific and Indian
Readers Choice: The Arenui, Indonesia
All Star Aurora, Indonesia
Galapagos Sky, Galapagos
Humboldt Explorer, Galapagos
Ocean Hunter I and II, Palau
Odyssey Adventures/Truk Odyssey, Chuuk, Micronesia
Palau Aggressor II
Rocio Del Mar, Baja, Mexico
Spirit of Freedom, Great Barrier Reef, Australia
Undersea Hunter, Cocos, Costa Rica
Level of Luxury
Caribbean and Atlantic
Readers Choice: Aqua Cat, Bahamas
Bahamas Aggressor
Belize Aggressor III
Belize Aggressor IV
Caribbean Explorer II, St. Kitts
Cat Ppalu, Bahamas
Cayman Aggressor V, Cayman Islands
Roatan Aggressor, Honduras
Turks and Caicos Aggressor II
Turks & Caicos Explorer II, Turks and Caicos and Silver Banks
Inside Scoop: “One of my favorite sites is the Dome in Turks and Caicos. The site is just 35 feet deep, but you get big pufferfish and massive schools of yellowstripe grunt thanks to this dome frame left behind from a French TV show.” —Wayne Brown, CEO of Agressor Adventures
Pacific and Indian
Readers Choice: The Arenui, Indonesia
All Star Aurora, Indonesia
Dewi Nusantara, Indonesia
Galapagos Sky, Galapagos
Maldives Aggressor II, Maldives
Ocean Hunter I and II, Palau
Odyssey Adventures/Truk Odyssey, Chuuk, Micronesia
Oman Aggressor
Pelagian Yacht, Sulawesi, Indonesia
Undersea Hunter, Cocos, Costa Rica
