How do you decide?

[tennisdivingforever]

I am currently writing a report on dive shops and international competition. I am trying to figure out how divers in general decide where their next trip will take them.

For me, it is all about location. Where I WANT to dive next.

Does location primary decide where you dive next? Or if a dive shop offers complete packages, does that entice you more than location?

Responses would be fabulous!

Heading to dive now! See you after the bubbles!

 

[hilljo88]

Location, timing, friends schedule/preferences

 

[mikeycanuk]

Location first and foremost.


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[Freewillow]

Location, price and difficulty to get there

 

[mmmbelows]

Location first, then find the best dive shop at that location.

 

[drrich2]

Location is #1, but let's break that complex topic down. For me:

-----1.) Warm water strongly preferred.

-----2.) Benign conditions strongly preferred.

-----3.) No plane ride over 4 hours.

-----4.) Get there in one day, back in one day, so on a 7 day trip I can get 5 to 5 1/2 days diving.

-----5.) Moderate on cost; I don't stay at hostels and forego air conditioning, but I'm not in the market for Wakatobi, either. Even live-aboard trips to the Socorros, Cocos & Galapagos have price tags I balk at. Maybe someday.

-----6.) Expected sea life is a big factor.

-----7.) If bringing family, especially 2 year old daughter, non-diving entertainments for them & good regional health care (in case daughter gets sick) are factors.

-----8.) New locations. Formerly dedicated mainly to re-diving Bonaire, I've been branching out to diversify my diving experience. So far, that's meant heading to Key Largo, Jupiter & a live-aboard (Sun Dancer 2) in Belize. Hope to add North Carolina to the list, Lord willing and providing. Interested in California someday.

My 1st 4 trips to Bonaire, I went with a group led by my 1st instructor, and had fun. Especially for trips with a lot of driving in a foreign place, and picking shore entries, starting out going with a seasoned group seems wise. For trips in the U.S. (e.g.: Key Largo, Jupiter) where traffic signs, laws & customs aren't so foreign, or for a live-aboard where they get me from & to the airport & take care of everything, I don't see much need to go with a group in the U.S. & Caribbean.

But if I were to venture farther afield, where getting there & back is longer & often more complicated (more than one connecting flight, more than one day, departure tax in local currency leaving Komodo I've read, etc...), English isn't as prevalent, and the laws & customs more overtly foreign, I'd want at least a good travel agent arranging my trip, and ideally a dive group with a seasoned 'mother hen' shepherding us around. Think land-based or live-aboard in the Philippines or Komodo, places I've never been and way outside my comfort zone.

So, some brain storming ideas for considering dive trip options for a dive shop:

1.) Who is your target audience? New Divers aiming for budget trips, such as Rainbow Reef Dive Center in Key Largo, Roatan, Buddy Dive Resort in Bonaire or Scuba Club, Cozumel maybe? Intermediate divers who've done Cozumel &/or Bonaire and want 'something different' - a live-aboard, or one of the 2nd tier destinations (in my estimation) - Curacao, Belize, etc...?

2.) Are non-diving attractions a big deal? That might put Curacao ahead of Bonaire, based on some comparison threads. Some land-based Belize trips, or perhaps a Roatan resort that offers non-scuba excursions, might work.

3.) Do you want to offer more complex trips that would be off-putting to people like me making their own arrangements? Such as group trips to do 'non-valet' live-aboard diving (e.g.: The M/V Fling out of Freeport, TX to the Flower Gardens, or one of the Truth Aquatic's boats to the Channel Islands off California)? Or to the Philippines?

Richard.

 

[Hintermann]

1. Location - Do I want to dive there? I look at various guides and reports.
2. Price - Can I afford it? A destination may be great but over my budget eg Galapagos.
3. Facilities - Are there good dive centres? If a liveaboard, what is it like?
4. Other - Can I include any other good destination in the itinerary (diving or land-based)?

 

[2toDive]

Hello, we have been taking one or two dive trips a year for the last 12 years. For the most part we always plan them the same.

1.) Find the cheapest three or four airfares to destinations we would like to visit. The flight schedule must get us there in the shortest amount of time. No long delays between flights and no nightly layovers. Flight must leave early in the morning and preferably get us to our destination by early or mid afternoon so we can get one dive in on our first day. If traveling to the Pacific / Asian islands this of course is not possible, but most of our diving is in the Caribbean.

2.) Once we have three or four locations (Belize, Curacao, St. Croix, Bonaire, etc) identified with the cheapest flights and best schedules, we find a resort, apartment / condo, or rental house with a reasonably priced dive package. For shore diving locations we look for the best Stay, Drive, and Dive Packages. We prefer shore diving over boat diving, so finding a place that has a shore diving package or at least tanks and weights for rent is a must for places that have great shore diving. Places like Grand Cayman have put a lock down on this so you have to pay the high prices to dive their boats. That of course is how they make a living. You can however rent tanks at several places on Grand Cayman as long as you shore dive at their resort (no tanks or weights off the property). We prefer locations such as St. Croix, Curacao, Bonaire, Maui, etc. for the freedom of shore diving around the island on our own schedule.

3.) We then add the airfare and dive package together and find the two lowest prices. If the two destinations are close in price (+/- $200.00) we discuss which one we prefer to visit, and then pick. If one is much cheaper (> $300.00 or more) we pick that location.

It is really that simple for us. It comes down to the money. Like most divers we are not rich. With the Airlines raising their prices for travel (more than double and sometimes triple the price we paid 10 years ago) our trips have decreased. I remember trips to Cozumel from Ohio for around $200.00. Just a few years ago we could travel to Curacao for around $400.00. We look for airfare to the Caribbean for around $1000.00 or less for two travelers. If we don't find that we simple do not give the Airlines our money. We stay at home.

 

[Wingy]

Location. Everything else is just incidental. I really don't care if it costs me 3 days in transit or 10 or 20k if the diving is top notch and on my wish list I will find a way.

 

[TSandM]

I guess the first thing that gets me is if people I know and like are going there. Or if people I know, and whose diving I know, have been there and raved about it. Or if the place offers something unique I won't see or get to do elsewhere.

#1 accounted for my trip to Indonesia, my South Pacific trip, and my Red Sea trips, as well as several LA trips and all my trips to Port Hardy, and my trip to West Palm Beach. #2 accounted for the cenotes and the Philippines. #3 sold the Socorros (and the cenotes, for that matter), and of course my trips to dive caves in Florida.

Not sure why I went to Cozumel, but doesn't everybody?