Info on dive op boats

[PermanentlyNarced]

I am heading to GC in April and trying to decide on a dive op. I have read several posts on here and also looked at the dive op websites, if they have them. I have gathered good info but I am lacking good info on their boats. That is what I need in order to make my final decision. I am staying on SMB and will have a rental car.

I am an aspiring amateur underwater photographer (i.e. not real good ) and looking for a dive op with a good sized boat that gives me room for the camera gear without too much worry about people dropping their gear on it or stomping on it. Would like to have a dedicated rinse bucket for photography equipment. Would prefer to use a dive op that leaves someone on the boat during the dives. Would like to stay with the ops that limit the number of divers to 8 or less.

It appears that Wall to Wall and Neptunes both have boats that fit my needs, but not sure about dedicated rinse tank.

Ambasador, Off the Wall, and Indigo all seem to have small boats that don't seem to fit my needs/wants.

Divers Down doesn't always leave someone on the boat during the dives.

Can anyone give some details on the Wall to Wall and Neptune boats? Also let me know if my findings on the other dive ops are accurate or not. Would hate to rule someone out because of incorrect information.

Thanks!

 

[Alex777]

If you would discard the "8 or less" requirement, you would have lots of options. Don Foster's, DiveTech & Ocean Frontiers would all qualify.

 

[BuckBuck]

I dove last summer with Ocean Frontiers on the East End.
Never dove with more than eight people, and each of their boats
had a rinse bucket specifically for cameras.

 

[Damselfish]

If you put enough conflicting requirements on it you might rule out everyone. If you really want the "facilities" you are more likely to get them on a larger boat, and >8 divers does not automatically mean cattle boat. (For the ultimate in luxury for your camera, do a liveaboard!)

There are lots of photographers out there, the ops are well aware of this, and they almost always have some sort of provisions and routine they follow that are appropriate for their boat (even though they often don't cover details on their website.) I would simply email the operators you are interested in and ask them what their provisions for cameras are if you are concerned and can't find out here from someone that's been on their boats.

Dedicated camera tables and tanks are nice, but I wouldn't get too hung up about it. A smaller boat may not have a place to put a big camera rig and you wind up with it wrapped in a towel in your lap while the boat is traveling. But you might sometimes decide to do that anyway. They'll almost always have some kind of rinse bucket or way to rinse a camera, but sometimes people just keep the camera wrapped in a wet towel so salt crystals aren't forming. (You don't want to leave a camera in any sort of rinse tank on a boat while it's traveling, usually its a dip and then a real soak when you get back to land anyway.)

 

[CJ's]

I don't want to blow my own trumpet but as the owner of Wall to Wall Diving our philosophy has always been to provide small group diving with big boat comfort and amenities.
8 divers max and 36ft and 32ft boats, both with camera tables and dedicated camera rinse buckets, fresh water showers etc.
All dives are guided (unless you don't want to be!) and we always leave a staff member on the boats whilst divers are in the water.
See our website for more details.
More details on our website.

 

[scubadada]

PermanentlyNarced,

My family and I have dived with Wall to Wall, top notch operation, very nice people, beautiful boats . They run a great all day 3 tank trip with lunch. As above, looks like they meet all your requirements.

Good diving, Craig

 

[tvscuba]

Try Wall to Wall. They are friendly, relaxed, attentive and the boats are good. I like the fact that the owner is often on the dive- shows they enjoy diving

 

[PermanentlyNarced]

Wall to Wall it is. Now just got to plan out my days so that I can get it booked.

Thanks for the replies everyone, MUCH APPRECIATED!

 

[scubadada]

PN,

Have a great trip, let us know how it went when you return.

Good diving, Craig

 

[PermanentlyNarced]

Got back from GC on Sunday. Good trip, but weather definitely could have been better.

Wall to Wall was fantastic. The boats were a good size and allowed for plenty of room since they limit it to 8 people or less. Dedicated rinse bucket for the camera. They took care of most everything for you. They had two divemasters on each trip. One would guide the first dive and the other would guide the second dive. The guide would do a tour and then surface to the boat, but we could then stay down for as long as our air and computers would allow.

Gilles was also very accommodating with my schedule changes and always had a "no problem" attitude.

Great outfit and I would highly recommend them to anyone.