Ishan Saxena
New
Hey guys,
I am a vacation diver and have been to several destinations around the North American continent. I've always wondered if there was an alternate way to go boat diving aside from a dive company/charter. I do know that in Hawaii for instance you can rent a dive boat yourself (Kona Hawaii Boat Rentals - Rent Your Own Boat and Snorkel and Scuba Dive. is one of them), and so the question is how do you find dive buddies. Is there an active community or forum where you find divers like yourself who are either locals or visiting the area and want to buddy up and dive without the cost of charter? Say you just rent your equipment and share the cost of boat, and then plan/prep/execute your dive yourself without a divemaster.
I would also like to understand the safety concerns in doing so and what would be the responsible way to handle them (higher training/experience requirement, personal liability waivers). Also are there any US laws prohibiting people from diving without certified divemaster?
I must say I have nothing against dive charters, and infact I have had nothing short of great experiences with each and every one of them so far. The only setback is the cost that can stack up pretty high for multiple days of diving, although it is worth it for the comfort of having someone do everything for me.
I am a vacation diver and have been to several destinations around the North American continent. I've always wondered if there was an alternate way to go boat diving aside from a dive company/charter. I do know that in Hawaii for instance you can rent a dive boat yourself (Kona Hawaii Boat Rentals - Rent Your Own Boat and Snorkel and Scuba Dive. is one of them), and so the question is how do you find dive buddies. Is there an active community or forum where you find divers like yourself who are either locals or visiting the area and want to buddy up and dive without the cost of charter? Say you just rent your equipment and share the cost of boat, and then plan/prep/execute your dive yourself without a divemaster.
I would also like to understand the safety concerns in doing so and what would be the responsible way to handle them (higher training/experience requirement, personal liability waivers). Also are there any US laws prohibiting people from diving without certified divemaster?
I must say I have nothing against dive charters, and infact I have had nothing short of great experiences with each and every one of them so far. The only setback is the cost that can stack up pretty high for multiple days of diving, although it is worth it for the comfort of having someone do everything for me.