Planning a liveaboard dive trip? This ultimate 2026 packing list covers everything you’ll need – from must-have dive gear and personal items to handy extras that make life onboard smoother. Whether it’s your first time or you’re a seasoned diver, this checklist helps you dive in fully prepared.

An in‑depth, first‑hand look at liveaboard diving in the Maldives, covering sharky channels, manta hotspots like Hanifaru Bay, Emperor Liveaboards’ key itineraries and boats, seasonal tips, and the warm‑water kit that actually works for a week of dive‑eat‑sleep‑repeat.

Bluewater Travel’s partnership with the Manta Trust highlights responsible tourism, conservation funding, and research-driven guidelines work together to protect manta rays while enhancing the guest experience.

Bluewater Travel is committed to sustainable tourism, ensuring responsible whale and marine-life encounters.

Beqa Lagoon’s shark dive is one of those experiences that gets talked about wherever divers gather. Dropping onto a reef ledge, watching the blue fill with sharks, and feeling that mix of awe and controlled adrenaline is something that tends to stay with you long after the trip is over.

On Fiji’s south coast, Waidroka Bay Resort is perfectly placed for divers who want to combine the famous Beqa Lagoon shark dives with colourful reef diving and a laid‑back, adventure‑style stay on Viti Levu. For many Bluewater guests, it has become the go‑to base for divers wanting sharks, but also want a proper holiday.

When divers talk about bucket list liveaboard routes, the same three regions keep coming up: Indonesia, the Maldives, and the Solomon Islands. They’re very different experiences, but they all have two things in common – serious diving and long memories.

We’re shining a spotlight on Emperor Liveaboards across the Indo-Pacific: Emperor Harmoni in Indonesia, Emperor Serenity in the Maldives, and Emperor Bilikiki in the Solomon Islands. Together they offer three very different ways to spend a week (or more) at sea – from classic Maldivian shark and manta channels, to Indonesian big fish and reefs, to remote tropical seascapes in the Solomons.

For many divers, the Maldives is a dream destination – mantas, sharks, channels and blue water as far as you can see. The catch is usually the cost. Private‑island resorts and high‑end liveaboards add up quickly, especially if you want to dive a lot. Himmafushi Scuba Adventure offers a different way to do it: Maldives diving at a realistic price, based on a friendly local island and run by a team whose focus is firmly on safety, marine life and value for money.

If you’re happy to swap over‑water villas for solid diving, straightforward logistics and a more authentic Maldivian feel, this operator sits right in the sweet spot.

Perched on a hillside above the Caribbean Sea on the tiny island of St Eustatius (Statia), Golden Rock Dive & Nature Resort offers something rare in the region: a genuinely high‑end, nature‑focused dive resort, surrounded by a superb marine park, at a price point that’s very competitive for this quality of stay.

With 75 ocean-facing rooms set in lush gardens, awarded a Michelin Key for an outstanding overall hotel experience, and direct access to some of the Caribbean’s healthiest reefs and wrecks, this is a serious option for divers who want excellent underwater time without crowds — and without giving up comfort.