Many divers prefer live-aboards, where they sleep on the dive boat. This can save on accommodation costs, allow for more diving, and make it easy to get to know your fellow divers. Liveaboards typically allow between 3 and 5 dives per day (depending on time and dive tables). You will typically get these dives for about two thirds the cost of a day trip on a boat, even leaving aside the savings on accommodation. Liveaboards range from one night to a week or more in length. The accommodation quality ranges from backpacker-esque, with 4-share cabins and showers shared between multiple cabins, to luxury cruise style accommodations.

When travelling on a liveaboard:

• pack as little as possible: a few changes of weather appropriate clothes, sleep gear, toiletries, light-weight entertainment (non-electronic is best) and your dive gear if you aren't renting
  
  
• space is always at a premium, and its easy to get things mixed up and annoy fellow divers, keep your dive gear together in a tub or bag on the deck
  
  
• dry off before heading into the interior of the boat so that the floors aren't constantly wet
  
  
• most boats have a limited supply of fresh water for drinking and washing: have short showers
  

If you haven't spent much time on boats, you may not be aware of whether or not you get sea-sick. Some divers have an unhappy first dive trip on boats because they weren't aware that they suffer from sea-sickness. If you haven't been on a boat in open before, especially if you suffer from other kinds of motion sickness, you might be best off doing a few day trips on dive boats and experimenting with sea-sickness medication before committing to a liveaboard. That said, liveaboard trips for your first dives can be an excellent introduction, because you will usually do more than the bare minimum dives required for certification. Instead, you will get a lot of additional dive experience.

The main activity on a liveaboard is the diving: you will wake early for your first briefing and only complete the last dive at or after sunset, day after day. During the surface time you need to let nitrogen out of your body you will usually be eating or sleeping. Liveaboard trips are excellent for dedicated divers, but may not suit divers who don't want to spend their entire holiday gearing up, diving, getting their gear off, eating and sleeping.