Cattle Boat, what does that mean to you?

[Doc]

Cattle Boat (CB) is a term that is tossed around with regularity, but after many years of diving I wonder if there is a meaningful definition... I sure haven't seen one anywhere on the net.

True enough, most folks pass judgement on boats that carry more than X number of passengers and decry them as CB operations.

Is it more than a raw number? A big crowd :balloon: ?

I submit to you that I have been on day boats that have held 30 divers :colouredsmilies::colouredsmilies: and thought they were fine, I have been on 6 Packs and surely I did hear some mO0iNg !

Is it boat comfort, capacity, crew demeanor, diver experience and expectation... what?

So what earns a boat the Cattle Boat designation?

I have put many of the criteria in the poll. Maybe you can add more here, on this thread.

 

[diver 85]

More divers that I want to be associated with @ any one time.....

 

[Thalassamania]

I think that most divers would call it a cattle boat if the Captain and Dive Master don't know their name and level of competence, if the boat is going somewhere other than to the site they want to go to and if the crew does not know and respect the diver's feelings concerning assistance with equipment. I'm not sure that numbers are the real criterion.

 

[ketchumid]

It may not be the amount the divers but the way you are treated on the boat. And how much room you have on the boat per diver.

 

[timle]

Carrying large number of people to the same sites day after day. MOO!

 

[fdog]

Where:

A) There's too many divers for the available space; or

B) Experienced divers are lumped in with the low timers, and dives are conducted to the lowest common denominator; or

C) (usually) Both.


All the best, James

 

[truck1]

A boat that say carries 25 divers and they repeatedly fill the boat to capacity, rather than put a cap on to say 20 divers.

 

[RonFrank]

To me, the term cattle boat has less to do with boat size than it does with the number of divers on a boat vs. capacity, and the type of diving experience that is available.

I think of Rainbow Reef (Key Largo) as a Cattle boat operation. Why?

You get to choose exactly where you want to dive, as long as it's Molasses Reef! (That has been my experience anyway).

They never let so many divers on board that it will sink the boat! (IOW's they will fill the boat to an uncomfortable capacity level).

I have dove with RR a few times, and I have no complaints. However they don't really even pretend to get to know the divers, i.e., assess ability. You can dive with a guide (no cost) and that is another cattle like factor.... they cater to newbies and once a year vacation divers.

When I dive with Conch for example they are driven by factors like newbies, and wanting to fill up the boats, but they also are interested in what and where I want to dive, and try to cater to that when possible. They offer trips to a lot of different reef and wreck destinations, and I can generally pick my dives, and have a couple options. If I tell them I want to do a Night Dive on the Duane for example, I think they would try and make it happen. They may fail for a number of factors, but they would try. They once held a PM boat for me because their AM boat was late, and they even called the boat I was on so I could order lunch and it would be ready when I arrived so I could pick it up, and eat on the way out. These are the types of things good dive Ops do that go above and beyond.

Cristi at Blue XT also works like this. We wanted to dive Barracuda, and even if she failed to make it happen (mainly due to weather), she did try to make that happen. She also grouped divers of like abilities on her boats to considerably beef up the odds that we would dive well together as a group.

RR would not have a clue about doing that because all they wanted to see was a C card for diving, and an Advanced card if you are lucky enough to hit one of their wreck trips (I have never been on a wreck with them).

I think that is a major difference. Good DiveOps try to know and understand their customers, and their diving preferences, and then work to help ensure that the customers wants are met to the best of their abilities.

Cattle boat Op just move them on, put them in the water, and them move them out. They treat most divers like tourists waiting in line at a Disney ride.

If a DiveOp treats the customers like cattle, they are a cattle boat op. Overcrowding boats is one symptom.

 

[DandyDon]

I voted, based on your questions and based on a day boat - over 20 divers, any mix with snorkelers. Wouldn't apply to a liveaboard. I doubt that you can put a real difinition on this tho.

 

[D_B]

I'm with fdog, and RonFrank ...

To me, the term cattle boat has less to do with boat size than it does with the number of divers on a boat vs. capacity, and the type of diving experience that is available.

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