Dive boat captain/crew pay?

[paragonprivate]

Hi - I am new to this "world" and we are considering starting a dive boat operation at a property owned on Big Island. Would anyone be able to guide me about what is customary re compensation, i.e., Capt'n/crew paid a salary or by the hour? If we have our own operation, would they simply be "on call" and then paid when guests book an outing or would we emply FT? ??? Any insights would be greatly appreciated. We are trying to do the right thing, while being fair and generous. In advance, many thanks, ~ karen

 

[Gary D.]

Different operations do different things.

Look into all of your expected expenses first then look at what will be left, if any to pay a crew.

Lots of licenses, permits, insurance and regulations need to be followed. Add those to the vessel cost, maintenance and through the roof fuel costs. Then try and find a crew that is good, reliable and will work for what’s left over.

You might be better paid if you’re a deck hand rather than an owner.

Good luck

Gary D.

 

[paragonprivate]

Thanks, Gary. I am starting to learn that working for an operation is more lucrative. There is an enormous of data through which I have to sort and the possible insurance/liability provisions (coverage, lack of) for the resort is overwhelming, to say the least. I am more inclined to contract out and appreciate any other feedback from those who are veterans in the business or who have commenced one. Thanks again, Gary!

 

[BrianS]

How many passengers can your boat hold?

 

[Gary D.]

How many passengers can your boat hold?

Legal passengers or how many until it sinks?

Gary D.

 

[captain]

When you say "start a dive boat operation" exactly what do you mean. Do you mean you will 1. own and operate the boat, 2. own the boat and hire captain and crew or 3. just act as a booking agent for a boat owner/operator. I owned and operated a dive boat in the 1980's and regulation wasn't near what it is now. Owning the boat and hiring the captain and crew is the least profitable of the three. I do not know if you will find any "on call" crew and if the boat is not booked are you willing to pay a crew for sitting on the dock. Most such operations are owner/operator and generally the deckhand is part time. To a great extent it depends on location. Is it a location that has enough diver traffic that can support a 7 day a week schedual or is it a weekend mostly type location. Weather can put a big crimp in profitibility. There is a lot more to it than meets the causal observer's eye. In most cases it is not an easy or get rich quick business.

 

[paragonprivate]

To Captain and Brian S. Let me first thank you for great info and answer some questions. The boat holds 20-25; it is a RIBcraft. The Resort is Big Island, Hawaii (Kona). The Owner of the Resort intends to own the craft and compensate the crew fairly. We have heard that most captain/crew teams would ask the operator to incur daily rates. Those have benn in tthe $250-300 range. The boat would also be iused for whale watching and night/Manta Ray dives. What has concerned me are the insurance, fuel and maintenance costs, in addition to payroll. It would be daily traffic by the Resort guests, but I think we have to compete with those I would actually consider outsourcing because they meet the certifications and can deal with the equipment, meals, etc. On the face of it, as a newbie, I am not certain that this can be profitable to the Resort Owner. I am not convinced that there is enough "traffic" or that the number of excursions pay for the venture. As a secondary consideration, what if we paid the day rate of captain/crew? I assume this factors in pre- and post-dive prep and clean-up. I am also operating in a vacuum as to regulatory expenses and related costs (e.g., taxes on the slip, if applicable), etc. Many, many thanks to any inisghts, gentlemen/women.

 

[BrianS]

What are the competitor's prices for taking divers out? $100 or so?

If so, you can say average # of divers around 15, that allows you a couple of crew members. 15 x $100 per trip, $1500. I would say $300 per day for a Capt/1-2 Crew Members would be very doable.

Just factor in your distance to the dive site to get your Gas consuption, and are you doing 1 or 2 runs per day.

You just need to work the numbers to see what the Minimum # of divers would be to still make a profit.

 

[friscuba]

Hi - I am new to this "world" and we are considering starting a dive boat operation at a property owned on Big Island. Would anyone be able to guide me about what is customary re compensation, i.e., Capt'n/crew paid a salary or by the hour? If we have our own operation, would they simply be "on call" and then paid when guests book an outing or would we emply FT? ??? Any insights would be greatly appreciated. We are trying to do the right thing, while being fair and generous. In advance, many thanks, ~ karen

Hi Karen,

Do your research. There's a lot that goes into running/owning a dive operation, and if the "this world" you are refering to is diving, be especially careful. I can only readily think of one dive/charter business in the Kailua area that is owned by a non-diver (got certified after buying the biz and then never dove again from what I hear) that has been successful. I can think of a few that were bought by non-divers/non-professional divers that have gone out of business (A good exapmle being Eco-Adventures, which was named among the top dive ops in the pacific a few times and went out of business within a year of being pruchased by someone outside the diving world).

Captain and crew pay can be all over the board. Sometimes it's by the hour, sometimes it's by the charter. If you can't guarantee work, you may have to bite the bullet and pay a salary just so you have someone available. Fair pay is appreciated, but it's tough to retain crew if you pay by the hour or charter and only go out sporadically. It's a fine line to try to balance to make sure you have crew available IF you have customers.

You say "starting a dive boat operation at a property", if this means you've lined up a hotel or condo complex that might be able to funnel you customers, you may have half the battle won. It can take years to build a daily dive business trying to build your own customer base. I can think of one that I believe started in '02 with a big beautiful boat that built his business to a more or less daily one this last year. I can think of several that have started in '03 and later that are still working on it. "Hawaii Boats & Yachts" has 3 spendy recently built boats in it right now that are from failed water businesses in Kona.

You'll need to check into the appropriate permits, insurance (and when you are looking at insurance, deal with a company that really works with the dive industry- I can "buy" insurance for about 65% less than what I'm paying, but it wouldn't cover a lot of what potentially could happen with employees and customers in and on the water) and try to figure in all the other startup and maintenance costs.

Anyway, be prepared as it can be a rocky ride the first few years. If you have a pretty good idea of what's going on when you start, you'll be able to weather the bumps more readily. Feel free to contact me direct if you want to talk shop in vague terms (neither of us needs to know the specifics of the other).

Good luck.

 

[friscuba]

Ahh, just read your last post after I posted. The multi-passenger RIB for whale watching could be lucrative if you get the passengers, as could the manta trip. You might find yourself concentrating more on snorkelers than divers depending on how the RIB is set up. That type of business is a slightly different animal, scale-wize, than what I run.