Are dive boats always so packed?

[DaMaDo]

I went on my last two dives for my cert yesterday out of Miami Beach and the dive boat was so packed I had to wait until most people were in the water to even start putting my BC on my tank. The second dive was a mission to even find a full tank to use because someone took my second tank since it was one of the school tanks. Half the tanks were under the benches because they wouldn't fit on top so it was impossible to put my large scuba bag in there.

It was pretty chaotic!

I still had a ton of fun though

We went to the Biscayne wreck 60' down then to the Neptune Memorial Reef 40' down. I cant wait to go again!

I'm really glad I waited to do the last two dives on the boat. I think that chaos is good to experience while with an instructor before you go out with just your buddy for the first time. Some people in my class got certed with all dives in a lagoon the week before.

With my first two dives in the lagoon everything was relaxed with plenty of room and I had time to remember what I needed to do very easily. On the boat however, you get the experience of the hectic movement of everyone walking by trying to get into the water with you on the bench while your stuff is in the middle and people walking in between. It's really easy to lose items, especially the small ones. Luckily the only thing I lost was a plastic clip.

It starts getting easier to make mistakes.

It is self-critiquing when you try to get off the bench and realize your tank is still bungeed

 

[surfinusa555]

My experience is yes. They are usually pretty crazy like that.

 

[danvolker]

I went on my last two dives for my cert yesterday out of Miami Beach and the dive boat was so packed I had to wait until most people were in the water to even start putting my BC on my tank. The second dive was a mission to even find a full tank to use because someone took my second tank since it was one of the school tanks. Half the tanks were under the benches because they wouldn't fit on top so it was impossible to put my large scuba bag in there.

It was pretty chaotic!

I still had a ton of fun though

We went to the Biscayne wreck 60' down then to the Neptune Memorial Reef 40' down. I cant wait to go again!

I'm really glad I waited to do the last two dives on the boat. I think that chaos is good to experience while with an instructor before you go out with just your buddy for the first time. Some people in my class got certed with all dives in a lagoon the week before.

With my first two dives in the lagoon everything was relaxed with plenty of room and I had time to remember what I needed to do very easily. On the boat however, you get the experience of the hectic movement of everyone walking by trying to get into the water with you on the bench while your stuff is in the middle and people walking in between. It's really easy to lose items, especially the small ones. Luckily the only thing I lost was a plastic clip.

It starts getting easier to make mistakes.

It is self-critiquing when you try to get off the bench and realize your tank is still bungeed

You should really drive to Palm Beach for diving...it is MUCH better than Miami. Also, the boats are not cattle boats...Try Splashdown divers in Boynton Beach, or Underwater Explorers in BB.

DanV

 

[DevonDiver]

Not sure about the USA, but in Europe dive charters would be licensed as commercial boats with a maximum passenger capacity.

On small-mid size vessels, it's not unheard of to 'stagger' the kitting up of divers. This makes it less stressful for everyone and also serves to prevent the entire contents of the dive boat hitting the water at the same time. In doing so, that prevents confusion between groups/pairs and also tends to stagger divers finishing their dives... which means everyone doesn't all surface at the same time, scattered across the ocean and demanding to be picked up.

 

[on_two_wheels]

Here in So Cal, the answer for weekend boats is yes. For weekday boats, nope. Last time I dove from a boat on weds it had about 50% of what it was designed for. Friday boats usually have about 75-80%. However, based on the wording, I'd suggest getting the bcd/tank set up on the way to the first dive site. When you have your own gear/tank, set it up before you get on the boat. Then just walk on, put it down and set up your regs. Also be sure to begin suiting up about 20 min before first dive site. If the boat has benches, I'll even get my rig on about 10 min early and just sit there. Then my buddy and I are often first ones in the water.

 

[HowardE]

I went on my last two dives for my cert yesterday out of Miami Beach and the dive boat was so packed I had to wait until most people were in the water to even start putting my BC on my tank. The second dive was a mission to even find a full tank to use because someone took my second tank since it was one of the school tanks. Half the tanks were under the benches because they wouldn't fit on top so it was impossible to put my large scuba bag in there.

It was pretty chaotic!

I still had a ton of fun though

We went to the Biscayne wreck 60' down then to the Neptune Memorial Reef 40' down. I cant wait to go again!

I'm really glad I waited to do the last two dives on the boat. I think that chaos is good to experience while with an instructor before you go out with just your buddy for the first time. Some people in my class got certed with all dives in a lagoon the week before.

With my first two dives in the lagoon everything was relaxed with plenty of room and I had time to remember what I needed to do very easily. On the boat however, you get the experience of the hectic movement of everyone walking by trying to get into the water with you on the bench while your stuff is in the middle and people walking in between. It's really easy to lose items, especially the small ones. Luckily the only thing I lost was a plastic clip.

It starts getting easier to make mistakes.

It is self-critiquing when you try to get off the bench and realize your tank is still bungeed

Look for a smaller operation. There are plenty in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Pompano, Deerfield, Boynton, etc. Many limit their passengers to 6 or 12. The size of the boat matters, as does the maximum capacity of that boat, and the coast guard licensing for max passengers.

 

[PatW]

It really depends on the operator.

Some dive operations are hectic by their nature. There is an operator in Pompano Beach that does some drift dives. When you have 30+ divers on a drift dive, you want them all in the water as fast as possible. So it is DIVE! DIVE! DIVE!

When I go to Key Largo, I use Quiesence which runs 6 packs (a max of 6 divers). Things are quite different. The divers get to choose where they might want to go from a list of possible options. Of course, it is a bit more expensive but not that much.

 

[muddiver]

Not sure about the USA, but in Europe dive charters would be licensed as commercial boats with a maximum passenger capacity.

On small-mid size vessels, it's not unheard of to 'stagger' the kitting up of divers. This makes it less stressful for everyone and also serves to prevent the entire contents of the dive boat hitting the water at the same time. In doing so, that prevents confusion between groups/pairs and also tends to stagger divers finishing their dives... which means everyone doesn't all surface at the same time, scattered across the ocean and demanding to be picked up.

In the U.S. the charter boats are regulated to the number of passangers by boat size and type of license. Typically thay are devided in laymans terms of Six-pack or Larger.

A Six-pack is a boat licensed for only six paying passangers, period. Could be any size over, I think, 26 feet in length.

Larger boats will have a license for more than six paying passangers and I don't know the restrictions on space. Typically they are some sort of converted boat (i.e. an old fishing trawler, or work boat) that was never designed for scuba diving charters. Open deck space ends up being limited. Some of the 30' to 40' boats also stack stuff down the center of the boat which limits deck space even more and makes for garanteed caos.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I tend to avoid large boats ... if it holds more than a dozen or so divers, I'll look elsewhere.

About the only exception is our annual Channel Islands trip on The Peace ... typically get 22-24 divers, but the boat's roomy enough to give us all the ability to gear up and get in the water comfortably ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Beowulfe]

Yeah, I will concur. It depends on the charter company. I have not been on a huge number of boats, less than 24 dives at moment but I can say it depends on their boat. Seems if the operator is more profit driven, the ship is more packed and more like your experience. Those that more customer driven, have more room.