Dive Trip Value- Cost Per Dive

[waterone]

Yeah Hawaii is going to be expensive no matter how you do it.

Yes it is, solo or not.

Blackbeard's! Blackbeard's Cruises Bahamas Liveaboard Diving Official WS

Figure +/- $1300 with tip, 18-19 dives, 6 nights, basic (but solid) food and limited (selection: beer and punch-o-the-night) alcohol.

If you are OK with roughing it a bit and don't mind insta-roomates, it was hella-fun.

It is a mostly hands-off deal. They brief you, say pools open, and in you go ... You and your buddies, pick your plan and dive your tanks.

Do they say 19 as a hard limit or is it fully open pool?

Start trying to put numbers to it like this and you loose the fun.

Soon it start to turn toxic, I have to make xx dives for the value, forgetting about the quality of the dives and the overall vacation. When the dive count is all that matters, things get ugly.

I have no issue being on dive vacation and deciding I don't want to take this dive. That would destroy you cost per dive calculation. When you are talking $5k+ for 20ish dives.

Nah, just talking about what is a good value.

A 5g trip with 20 dives usually isn't going to be considered a good value but doesn't mean it won't be worth it just because the cost per dive will go up. While I can only speak for me, i wouldn't ever feel obligated to make every planned dive on any trip. Sometimes the tequila tastes too good after a few dives and the next morning comes too soon.

 

[-JD-]

Do they say 19 as a hard limit or is it fully open pool?

Every dive is "scheduled", but there was only a slight run-time limit on a few occasions due to the need to move the boat promptly. The only time we stayed in the same location was between the last day dive and the nite dive which were generally at the same site so you had a day preview/familiarity dive. Except for the one chum-sicle shark dive, there is no guide/DM/Instructor in the water with you unless you are part of a class with them.

We had 18 dives instead of their max of 19. We got a slightly late start and traded the "check out" dive on the first day for the opportunity to take advantage of a perfect weather window for a crossing and get further down-chain than they ever do normally. A great tradeoff to get to a new site.

 

[RobPNW]

Even though people think I'm overanalyzing, I'm not. Just a simple ball park starting point on what might be a good deal. Then go from there and decide if any value added about the trip makes it financially worth it.

 

[Rob9876]

Another mention for Blackbeard's. A basic bunk, but the food is surprisingly good, and it's just hard to beat the price for (up to) 19 Caribbean dives -- we really enjoyed it.

I don't do a detailed cost analysis, but I am frugal (or maybe just cheap). Next LOB experience I might be tempted to pay the extra $$ for the next step up on the All Star (parent company of Blackbeard's) fleet -- mainly for a little nicer bathrooms, and perhaps nitrox also. Also, cheap as I am, next LOB trip I'm going to give myself permission to skip a dive or 2 -- for me, personally, I find that 5 dives a day starts to feel like work (especially when you need to get in and out of a wetsuit each time so that you can go below decks, bathroom, etc.).

 

[ColoDale]

Deal depends on where you are and how. You can pay $100 USD per tank in some locations (no package, one day no deals) in places like French Polynesia or you can shore dive lakes in the US. Sometimes if you want to see more exotic locations and diving, you gotta pay, so the average dive cost is irrelevant.

If your $100 per dive ($200 for two tanks) is simple division based on total trip cost and number of dives than, it's not too bad. I've paid more for south pacific dives on average.
However, I always separate out the dive cost from amenities since just simple division of the total trip cost may not say much. My dive costs are driven by location and many times I cannot compare dive cost or even trip cost as it is apples and oranges.

 

[Doc]

CoCo View
$1700 highest possible price, including
Food, AC room, everything, all transfers, done.
I am gimpy, i get “only” 27 dives in a week
That’s $62 a dive. (With food & bed for free)

(If you figure a dive would sell for $40 per, that means that i am getting the food and bed for $88 per day, 3 meals and a lovely room on silts over the reef)

That includes the pie.
and CoCo View

Which, does NOT rock at anchor all night.

Philippines Atlantis, same value.

 

[-JD-]

Which, does NOT rock at anchor all night.

Feature or Bug ... depends on perspective (and conditions.)

Coco View does seem to offer good cost per dive value. Someday ...

 

[InstaBud]

I think $100 per dive is a really great deal if that is the all-in cost including airfare and accommodations. From the US, it seems the Bahamas is one of the best "values" in terms of the cost per dive on a liveaboard. I have not been there yet, but after doing a bit of research I think that will be my next destination. It is relatively inexpensive to get to, and there are a range of dive resorts and liveaboards there that offer a decent number of prime dive sites for not much money (relatively). You can find a bit cheaper in Asia, but getting there is easily 2x-3x the cost.

Dive resorts are less expensive than liveaboards, so if you can find a good dive resort with a lot of nearby dive sites that will keep you satiated for a week, you will definitely reduce your cost per dive compared to spending that same week on a boat. I plan on going to a dive resort in the Bahamas first, and then maybe next year take another trip there, but do it on a liveaboard so I can see some different sites and to experience a liveaboard for the first time. This way I can minimize my cost per dive at the resort, and then take advantage of a less expensive liveaboard later to see some of the more remote sites. It looks like the Aqua Cat might be a good mix of value and decent bathrooms lol - not sure I like how the dirt cheap Blackbeard bathrooms look.

Calculating costs like this can take the fun out, but I still do it because I like to have a benchmark to compare trips to. When I snowboard I calculate the average all-in cost per lift for each trip and the entire season, but none of my friends care about this, and are usually confused as to why anyone would even think about it this way.

 

[Doc]

When I snowboard I calculate the average all-in cost per lift for each trip and the entire season, but none of my friends care about this, and ….

Jackson Hole has 100,000 vertical foot “award club” for this.

One August day i spent $8500 to cover a grassy 75’ hill in Chicago with crushed ice so Billy Kidd could do three runs.

You’re right, value is hard to quantify.

 

[lermontov]

Start trying to put numbers to it like this and you loose the fun.

Soon it start to turn toxic, I have to make xx dives for the value, forgetting about the quality of the dives and the overall vacation. When the dive count is all that matters, things get ugly.

I have no issue being on dive vacation and deciding I don't want to take this dive. That would destroy you cost per dive calculation. When you are talking $5k+ for 20ish dives.

Yes agree trying to place a dollar value on an experience is very hard to do- I’ll also add to the discussion by saying a day dive although perhaps cheaper per time underwater doesn’t come within a bulls roar of a stay overnight in a lodge or yacht when it comes down to a fuller and richer experience.
Being able to discuss and chatter about the days events is part of the fun when you sitting around the table having a wine or beer talking and listening to others experiences and sharing knowledge- try quntifiying that to a dollar value.
Of course if you look at time to dollar investment it’s always a consideration-so when I plan a trip ahead I’ll always want to know what restrictions ther are in run times.
I’m not buying a trip with short dive times just because the dive op has tight schedules -especially as I’m on a ccr and 90 min dives are my standard times.
So if u want to quantify value you need to look at the overall package of the experience.
If you look back over your dive trips what’s the first thing you refer to? how good the trip was or how much the cost was - for me my favourite trip was a private yacht charter in the Philippine with a bunch of friends - I’d do it again in a heartbeat - and I have absolutely no recollection of what it cost -don’t go for value go for quality