Anyone else like shore dives?

[Makhno]

I logged a few hundred dives before I did any shore diving. In many places, there's just not much to see if one dives from the shore. Now that I live in Taiwan, most of my dives are shore dives, and in fact that's not a small part of why I moved to Taiwan. My buddies and I decide where to dive, when to dive, how to dive, how long to dive … we often enjoy 70 - 90 minute or even longer multilevel dives and have opportunities to really get to know the local marine life, see how it all comes together as an ecosystem, observe how it changes through the seasons, etc. -- all for US$7 per cylinder (or half price for me with a scuba instructor professional discount). Not possible to do all that from a boat unless one is rich, or one owns the boat … Now that I'm a school teacher and no longer practicing law, the cost is an important factor. (Sheck Exley was also a school teacher, and I don't know how he afforded all those expeditions, all that helium, etc. on a teacher's income).

We splurge on boat dives when we want to see healthier reefs, bigger schools of fish, or specific stuff we can't see on shore dives such as pygmy seahorses … but we realize that we're fortunate to live in a place where even the degraded, overfished, polluted, beat-up reefs provide us with lots of cool stuff to see, even after a few hundred dives. Last diving weekend, I found a robust ghost pipefish, then my buddies found ornate ghost pipefish, then a pregnant pair of seahorses … cuttlefish, an octopus here and another one there … stuff we might not have seen if we had to hurry up and be back on the boat in a hour.

So yeah, I'm big into shore diving.

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[MXGratefulDiver]

Care to elaborate? 'Cause I can't really see why or how.

Provided I'm diving my own gear, I put in more or less the same amount of effort whether I dive from shore or from a dive op's boat.

No matter whether I dive from shore or a boat I have to:
* Load my gear into my car
* Drive to the site/port/marina
* Unload my gear
* Rig up my gear
* Suit up
* Carry my gear to the waterside or boat
* Gear up
* Dive (OK, that's not a chore, it's what I came to do)
* Get out of the water
* Doff my gear
* Break down my gear
* Rinse my gear (for shore dives, that happens in my driveyard after coming home, but it has to be done anyway)
* Load my gear into my car
* Drive home
* Unload my gear and dry it.

Which of those chores are removed or simplified when diving from a boat?

For me, the only real difference is the cost. A shore dive is free except for gas for my car and the tank fill, if I dive from a private boat I pay for gas (and if the boat is mine, quite a bit else as well) and if I dive with a commercial dive op I also pay the dive center's overhead and salaries.

Quite another thing is that some sites are only accessible from a boat while others are easily accessible from the shore, but that's not relevant for the effort required to get wet.


--
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Typos are a feature, not a bug

... I guess you're lucky enough to be able to park right next to the water and giant stride in from shore. There's probably a convenient set of stairs or a ladder for you to exit when the dive is over, and someone there to assist you back on shore and help you out of your gear.

Most of my dives require me to park somewhat away from the entry, suit up, walk in my gear from the parking area to the dive site, negotiate down a beach ... sometimes rocky and/or steep ... slip-slide through the kelp if it's low tide, sometimes balance myself in waves whilst putting on my fins, and usually involves surface swimming out a ways ... sometimes quite a ways ... before beginning my dive.

Then you get to reverse the process after the dive. And since most land is situated above sea level, that almost always requires an uphill walk with scuba gear on. At some sites you drop your rig and/or weightbelt somewhere nearby and use multiple trips to get it back to your car ... depending on access, terrain, and how much gear yout took with you.

YMMV, of course ... boats almost always pick you up at a dock or boat ramp, where you can drive your car down near the boat for offloading/onloading dive gear. Many of the ones I've been out on provide nice carts for wheeling your gear from your car to the boat. Shore dives don't usually give you that option ... you have to suit up and walk to the entry with all your gear on. And an awful lot of my shore dives require me to negotiate a foot path that may be steep, rocky, or uneven.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

---------- Post added June 17th, 2014 at 12:33 PM ----------

I logged a few hundred dives before I did any shore diving. In many places, there's just not much to see if one dives from the shore. Now that I live in Taiwan, most of my dives are shore dives, and in fact that's not a small part of why I moved to Taiwan. My buddies and I decide where to dive, when to dive, how to dive, how long to dive … we often enjoy 70 - 90 minute or even longer multilevel dives and have opportunities to really get to know the local marine life, see how it all comes together as an ecosystem, observe how it changes through the seasons, etc. -- all for US$7 per cylinder (or half price for me with a scuba instructor professional discount). Not possible to do all that from a boat unless one is rich, or one owns the boat … Now that I'm a school teacher and no longer practicing law, the cost is an important factor. (Sheck Exley was also a school teacher, and I don't know how he afforded all those expeditions, all that helium, etc. on a teacher's income).

We splurge on boat dives when we want to see healthier reefs, bigger schools of fish, or specific stuff we can't see on shore dives such as pygmy seahorses … but we realize that we're fortunate to live in a place where even the degraded, overfished, polluted, beat-up reefs provide us with lots of cool stuff to see, even after a few hundred dives. Last diving weekend, I found a robust ghost pipefish, then my buddies found ornate ghost pipefish, then a pregnant pair of seahorses … cuttlefish, an octopus here and another one there … stuff we might not have seen if we had to hurry up and be back on the boat in a hour.

So yeah, I'm big into shore diving.

Where in Taiwan? I always wanted to try diving in the Kenting area ... just haven't had the opportunity yet. Also wondered what it would be like up north ... around Yeliu ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[mathauck0814]

There are a lot of assumptions being made here. If you remove the "cost" from the equation, owning your own boat and/or chartering your own boat is a whole hell of a lot easier than shore diving (searching for parking, climbing into/out of the water, etc.) Hell, just hit the gear with a hose when you get back from the day of diving, drive home and leave everything in tact and under lock and key in the galley of the boat on multi-day trips and you're not even schlepping gear. Unless boats are restricted from the area where shore diving takes place and there's something there that's so incredible to be worth the effort I'll pass almost every time.

All of the arguments for shore diving about guides, schedule, crowds, etc. are manageable if you're willing to throw $ at the problem. Bring the diving platform to the dive site.

 

[Trexmdr]

So true, when you take money out of any equation it's a no brainer.
Why cook you own meals, do your own laundry, fix your own car........when you take money out of the equation we would have al the luxuries like no having to haul gear, but for most of us and especially those with families diving then money can never be taken out of the equation.
What we spend at one activity has to come from another.
So for most shore diving is a great way to go if the conditions are safe and there is something to explore.
While I understand dive shops need the revenue, a good shore diving experience with a divemaster from the lds is also a source of revenue and a great experience for a diver.
BTW if you have not done shore dive I recommend a dive master to teach you the techniques of entry and exit. It's not just wading in.
And if you are on vacation going to a little more advanced spot I also recommend a dive master at least once.
RT

 

[DaleC]

If money were taken out of the equation I'd be piloting a mini sub...

...and living in an underwater habitat.

 

[mathauck0814]

So true, when you take money out of any equation it's a no brainer.
Why cook you own meals, do your own laundry, fix your own car........when you take money out of the equation we would have al the luxuries like no having to haul gear, but for most of us and especially those with families diving then money can never be taken out of the equation.
What we spend at one activity has to come from another.

Right, so that was my point. Boat diving is just plain better, when you can afford it. Otherwise you compromise.

---------- Post added June 17th, 2014 at 04:31 PM ----------

If money were taken out of the equation I'd be piloting a mini sub...

...and living in an underwater habitat.

There are definitely dives that I'd rather do in a submersible. For most things shallower than ~130m I'd rather be able to be outside the sub touching it with my own hands. Diving has a sweet spot... but I like your thinking

 

[xtremesk8ter314]

I love shore diving just as much as I like diving from a boat! But really, I'm only on the boat for sites I couldn't otherwise get to from the shore. If you consider the dive site selections, unless it's a double deep or double wreck, the boat only gives me the edge on the first dive as the second dive site usually can be done from the shore (Here on Oahu anyway). I hate lugging extra gear around but there is a satisfaction when you strap on extra tanks and start up your DPV knowing you're about to meet a bunch of divers who got to the same site by different means.

When I dive from a boat, I'm already at the dive site. The great adventure for me is seeing what's in between the shore and the dive site. I have done several boat sites from the shore and have found interesting things along the way every time; things I would have missed if I were on the boat.

It's really not a matter of how thick your wallet is, it's your personal preference on how you want to conduct your dives. Not many people want to follow me into the water with so much gear and I understand that. Do what makes you happy!

 

[TSandM]

You know, even if money were taken out of the picture, I'd still be happy to shore dive. What I want, rather than using the money for a boat, is a chauffeur so I don't have to negotiate the traffic between my house and the dive site!

 

[drrich2]

Which is better depends on where I want to dive, and what type of diving I want to do. Overall, I prefer to when & how I want, answerable to no one so to speak, that shore diving offers. But I've enjoyed some fine boat diving and generally get along fine and enjoy the crew when I boat dive, too, and boats take me places I couldn't dive otherwise.

Some resorts in Bonaire basically offer you similar diving by boat and shore, and having done a lot of shore there and a couple of boat dives, I prefer shore, even though the boat dives went off fine and were good, too.

Richard.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

You can dive from boats??? Why didn't anybody tell me!!

It really does depend on where we are talking about shore diving vs boat diving.

Actually, I own a boat. But I only shore dive.

Why, in heavens name, would I do that???

1.) Cost. I have to trailer the boat to the ramp, launch it, drive the boat it to where I want to dive.... which in many cases is easily accessible as a shore dive! My diesel truck is pretty good on fuel, even when towing the boat, but my boat not so much... it gets around 2.5 mpg :depressed:

2.) Convenience. If I remember to throw my dive gear in my car, I can go shore diving on a long (2 hr) lunch break; I can zip out of the office at noon, dive, then be back at work by 2 pm. Taking the boat out is at least a 1/2 day affair, and I cannot / will not do it solo. I will not leave the boat unattended on the surface while I dive.

3.) Stress. I enjoy boating, am comfortable on the water. But if I take friends and family out, I'm responsible for their safety, the boat, the dive.... shore diving is much "easier" as far as responsibility.

But diving off a boat is pretty darned cool. Just flop into the water and you there.

Best wishes.