Bareboat charter and scuba diving

[Emason]

Hi,

My husband is 40 this year and for his birthday present I am thinking of purchasing his RYA Helmsman and Day Skipper qualifications so that once he is qualified he can fulfil his ambition of a bareboat charter of a motor cruiser and scuba diving holiday.

As we are relatively new to this I was wondering if this is even possible to do and whether anyone has experience of doing this. I can see plenty of places to arrange a bareboat charter providing you have RYA day skipper or higher, however I cannot see places that tie this in with scuba diving tank rental.

Is there any reason for this? Are there regulations preventing you from mooring up at a dive site and going scuba diving? Obviously we could charter a boat and then just go to a scuba diving shop and rent the tanks, but before I purchase the courses and set the wheels in motion I thought it wise to ensure that this is not just a pipe dream and is actually possible.

We are qualified scuba divers to Master Scuba diver level with over 100 dives. The dream would be to have each of our holidays chartering a boat somewhere new and then going diving in the local sites. Initially this would probably be in the Mediterranean.

All advice would be very much appreciated.

Thank you

 

[Darnold9999]

I own a boat in the Pacific Northwest so not directly related to what you are thinking of, but my experience diving from that boat is that it more difficult than you might think to do this. Simple when you are using the boat to just go out for the day to dive, but if you are on an extended cruise it does not work very well.

The biggest problem is getting air to refill your tanks - assuming you can rent tanks at all. One of the reasons for boating is to get away to remote sites - unlikely there will be a convenient fill station nearby. You will need to return to some kind of major port to refill tanks. This limits your diving to one or two dives per outing - renting the tank(s) for the full length of that leg of the trip. I carry two tanks (which I own) and plan on only diving a couple of times on each trip, unless I am stopping in a location that can refill them.

Another issue is the location of the fill station. It may or may not be close to where you are docked or moored so you need to transport tanks from the boat to the fill station and back again. Not a trivial process if you are moored somewhere as opposed to being at a dock.

This is all doable, but not as easy as you would want.

The perfect solution is an on board compressor, but I would guess that is extremely unlikely on a bare boat charter.

Another issue is leaving an unattended/unfamiliar boat at a dive site in unfamiliar waters. You need to be very confident that you can get back to the boat at the end of the dive. Something I worry about every time I dive from my boat - and I do have someone on the boat that could come and get me if I misjudge currents, and I am very familiar with local conditions.

 

[smokey braden]

emason,
welcome to this board.
google the bvi's for a bareboat charter.
there are many options.
i've chartered crewed yachts 3 times in the bvi's.
my broker is regency in st thomas 800/524-7676

imho a bareboat is a lot of work.
i found the diving and the sailing in the bvi's very good.

there is a company called moorings that would be a good place to start your research.
regards,

 

[Emason]

Thank you for the reply. That is some great advice from both of you.

It has certainly given me a lot to think about.