Dive travel and responsibility

[Lorenzoid]

If a paid trip organizer (not a mere booking/travel agent but an actual trip organizer) isn't going to take responsibility, then just what are the organizer's clients buying from the trip organizer? Why not just book a trip independently? By analogy, I could prepare my own tax returns, but I pay a professional to do it for me because the professional takes responsibility for making sure everything is correct and complete.

 

[TSandM]

There are a lot of things you can get from going on a trip that someone else has organized. For one thing, if a group is big enough, the discounts on lodging and diving can be substantial. For another, collecting all the money in one place and then wiring it can be easier than getting individual payments to places where sending money isn't trivial. An organizer can also be somebody who is familiar with the place and the procedures, and can help advise people on what to take, how to pack, how land transportation is going to work, etc. (We organize trips, so I am very familiar with this.)

 

[Hintermann]

But completely trusting someone can sometimes be dodgy, even if they are a reputable agent. I had booked for my Truk Lagoon trip in January 2013 with a well known and reputable single-handed UK based dive trip agent of many years' standing, paying the advance deposit nearly 2 years earlier (even then I could not get the week that I wanted and had to settle for the one before). Everything seemed to be going fine but when I contacted the agent a few months before departure to pay the balance, I got no response to my e-mails nor answer to my phone calls. After 2 weeks of trying and getting nowhere, I started to panic but finally got through to him on an alternate mobile number that I somehow found. It turned out that he had closed his business due to personal stress and had haphazardly transferred pending business to other dive trip booking agents. I found that my booking was with Scuba Travel (formerly Tony Backhurst Scuba) but busy as they were with their own scheduling, had put my booking on the shelf and almost forgotten about it. I requested that they transfer the booking back to me, which they were happy to do and then I contacted Blue Lagoon and Truk Odyssey directly and completed the booking. I had a great trip.

I have decided that even though it may not be the cheapest option, the most secure way of doing things is to DIY. I now do everything - flights, hotels, dive schedule, liveboard booking etc by directly contacting the operator and specifying my requirements.

 

[Lorenzoid]

There are a lot of things you can get from going on a trip that someone else has organized. For one thing, if a group is big enough, the discounts on lodging and diving can be substantial. For another, collecting all the money in one place and then wiring it can be easier than getting individual payments to places where sending money isn't trivial. An organizer can also be somebody who is familiar with the place and the procedures, and can help advise people on what to take, how to pack, how land transportation is going to work, etc. (We organize trips, so I am very familiar with this.)

I wasn't questioning the value of an organizer per se. I was questioning whether an organizer who receives compensation for doing it should expect to be held responsible by the people who are footing the bill for the organizer's services. It sounds like my whole premise may be faulty, though. I have been under the impression that if a group of us were to have a professional organizer put together a customized trip for us, we would have to pay a premium over what we would have paid if we had just booked directly with the resort (whether we lump our payments together into one wire transfer or not). Can you tell I have zero familiarity with group trips? I've never considered myself a "group" person, following the herd, etc. But if it actually could cost LESS, then I might have to consider opening my mind.

 

[lv2dive]

It is my personal opinion that there is a huge difference between a travel agent/paid organizer and someone who is organizing a group trip and their benefit is the same reduction in price everyone else is receiving. The gray area is when the organizer is receiving a free trip (or some reduction in price) for their troubles. Having "organized" one weekend trip, in a completely non-professional fashion, with the only benefit being bringing a group of friends together, I certainly could understand the organizer receiving some sort of benefit, as there is a lot of work involved! But then I guess it has crossed into that gray area. But regardless, it's still different from a professional travel agent.

 

[Edward3c]

To assist in planning diving trips both within the UK and overseas the BSAC produced "The Expedition Manual".

 

[pauldest02]

You are not going to be taught to dive in every environment and condition in your beginning course. And it is not the responsibility of some random Dive Master on a dive boat to teach you. You are responsible to be trained for the environment in which you choose to dive.

 

[JackConnick]

In the State of Washington, as in many othe places, someone who directly contracts with a boat or other travel operator and then sells the spots has to have a "Seller or Travel" permit. This specifies that you have to have a separate bank account and some other procedures that protect buyers from loosing deposits, or not paying operators.

That being said, the operator is the provider of the travel/lodging/boat and the agent/dive shop/organizer is just that - a booking agent. Safe operation, etc is up to the operator.