Boat dive

A dive made from a vessel, from small inflatables to liveaboards, giving access to offshore sites unreachable from shore.

A boat dive is any dive conducted from a vessel, whether a small rigid inflatable, a day boat running a two-tank morning, or a liveaboard anchored over a remote atoll. Boats unlock the sites shore divers cannot reach: offshore pinnacles, wrecks in open water, current-swept channels, and reefs miles from land, which is why most destination diving is boat diving.

Boat procedure is its own small skill set. You set up your gear on a tank rack, listen to the dive briefing covering the site, entry, current, and recall signals, then enter with a giant stride from a stable deck or a backward roll from a low inflatable. Descents often follow an anchor or mooring line, and pickups happen either at the boat or, on drift dives, wherever the group surfaces under a DSMB.

Etiquette keeps small decks workable: keep your kit contained, stow weights low, and never leave a tank standing unattended. Prone sailors should medicate before departure, seasickness ends more boat dives than gear failures do. Log the boat and crew too, good operators are worth remembering. Count heads with the divemaster and always check in after surfacing, roll calls exist because divers have been left behind.