Do I need to be a certified diver?

Yes — Open Water (PADI/SSI/RAID/CMAS) is the minimum. Advanced Open Water + 25 logged dives is recommended for most destinations.

Yes — the absolute minimum to board a liveaboard as a diver is Open Water (or equivalent). PADI, SSI, NAUI, RAID, CMAS and BSAC are all universally accepted. Bring your physical or digital c-card and your dive logbook to embarkation. Most operators photocopy or scan your card on day one.

For mainstream tropical destinations like the Maldives north atolls, the Egyptian northern routes, the Bahamas reef, the Cayman Islands and parts of Indonesia (Bali, Komodo southern sites), Open Water with 10+ logged dives is enough to enjoy the trip. You'll be paired with experienced divers, depths stay above 18m on most sites, and currents are manageable.

For Advanced destinations — Komodo central, Maldives southern atolls, Red Sea offshore (Brothers, Daedalus, Elphinstone), Mexico Sea of Cortez, Philippines Tubbataha, most of the Caribbean's wreck sites — you really want Advanced Open Water and at least 25–50 logged dives. Several of these sites push beyond 30m, have current, or include penetration.

For Expert/Expedition destinations — Galápagos, Cocos Island, Socorro, Antarctica, the Brothers in winter, deep wrecks in Truk Lagoon — operators enforce strict prerequisites: Advanced Open Water, Nitrox, 50+ logged dives (often 100+), and demonstrable experience in cold water and current. Some boats require a recent dive within the previous 12 months and will test your skills on the check-out dive.

If you're not yet certified but want to learn, a few specific operators in the Maldives and Red Sea run combined Open Water + liveaboard packages where you complete the certification on board. These are popular but limit you to shallow sites for the first half of the trip.