How do I find out about dive trips?

[FPDocMatt]

After having a great time on the Cozumel Invasion, I'm ready to go on organized dive trips. Heretofore I had only gone solo or with my family. Having a larger group adds some advantages.

So I thought I'd look on Scubaboard, to see what are the upcoming trips over the next 6 months or so. But I can't seem to find one location where such trips are listed. The calendars are little used. The travel forum is sparse. Even the Caribbean forum is sparse.

What gives?

There should be one place where you can see all the upcoming dive trips.

Oh well.

 

[diversteve]

What gives?

There should be one place where you can see all the upcoming dive trips.

Oh well.

All we'd need is a full-time volunteer to coordinate that..it's not built into the software. Since it's a purchased program, it probably never will be. Commercial offerings are found in the Trips & Local Marketplace sub-forums for each geographic region.

Most LDS's post their sponsored trips on their websites. That way you get to meet/go with people from your area. You might also look for a dive club in your area - ours is a loose group of friends that (until recently) used to plan/execute a couple of weeklong trips per year. With enough people participating you get discounts on dives or accommodations etc - I've been offered a free spot with 10 paid bookings. We put any discounts offered back into the total cost of the trip to reduce it for everyone slightly.

I often see trips being offered - either from commercial or private groups here on SB just by reviewing New Posts.

Interested in a liveaboard? That's a good way to meet other divers. You'll all be friends by the end of the week. I have a small group of contacts from one trip - we keep each other informed on our upcoming future plans. We'll likely dive together again in the next couple of years. Liveaboard divers often tend to repeat as it's such a good way to do a lot of great diving in a compressed timeframe.

ScubaBoard has also sponsored an Invasion (Cozumel, b4 that the Keys) for at least the last 5 years now IIRC. Probably do it again next year.

Singledivers.com lists their sponsored trips here: http://www.singledivers.com/surface.../173-2011-amp;-2012-upcoming-sd-trips-events/ You don't have to be un-married, just diving by yourself to participate.

 

[Insta-Gator]

Join a local dive club or, maybe better, contact Al at Bay Adventures (same as used for Invasion) and ask him to put you on a mailing list. Don't expect SB to be your only source of dive trip opportunities. Cardzard doesn't have the bandwidth to do this full time.

 

[ScubaSteve1962]

Join a dive club, look in to LDS, and some not so local LDS, you could always meet them there.

 

[Force-E Divers]

I can definitely recommend contacting a dive shop (after all, I am one), but you've already received some great suggestions on alternatives. Joining a local dive club will get you diving both locally (if available) and to destinations. You can usually get a better rate or package if you have a group going. You can find dive clubs here on ScubaBoard in one of the regional forums or check out meetup.com and Facebook. And don't short yourself by limiting your search for resorts. Liveaboards are a sure way to get in a lot of great diving and meet some new friends.

 

[FPDocMatt]

Singledivers.com lists their sponsored trips here: 2012- 2015 Upcoming SD Trips & Events - SingleDivers.com Surface Interval INDEX You don't have to be un-married, just diving by yourself to participate.

Just checked out their site, looks great! Especially since my wife can't accompany me on all my dive trips.