Is Undercurrent worth $29.95 a year?

[pilot fish]

I thought they went out of business but today I received a subscription request for one year at $29.95, instead of the usual $78.00. It was really that expensive? Is it a worthwhile newsletter and how often is it published?

 

[drbill]

While I enjoyed it, especially the chapbook, I didn't renew (the offer to me was for $39.95). It isn't worth that much to me, but I'd spend $20-25 on it.

Dr. Bill

 

[pilot fish]

While I enjoyed it, especially the chapguide, I didn't renew (the offer to me was for $39.95). It isn't worth that much to me, but I'd spend $20-25 on it.

Dr. Bill

Then it must not have been worth their regular price of $78? Is it once a month? The chapbook guide is a review of dive resorts world wide by other divers?

 

[Jim Baldwin]

Got my 2005 Chapbook in about thee weeks ago. It's 435 pages of divers reports all over the world. It's a good resource. When I went to Costa Rica last year I heard the story from the guy putting the trip together but read reviews from divers who had been to the same location and resort.

The newsletter comes about every other month and has current info on gear recalls, problems with training, dive ops, etc. Also some expanded reivews on other topics.
Hardcopy subscription in the back of the book is $59 a year.

It's just an unbiased resocuce. I knew the dive operation I was using in Cozumel was excellent. Eight other divers gave it great reviews.

Jim

 

[pilot fish]

Got my 2005 Chapbook in about thee weeks ago. It's 435 pages of divers reports all over the world. It's a good resource. When I went to Costa Rica last year I heard the story from the guy putting the trip together but read reviews from divers who had been to the same location and resort.

The newsletter comes about every other month and has current info on gear recalls, problems with training, dive ops, etc. Also some expanded reivews on other topics.
Hardcopy subscription in the back of the book is $59 a year.

It's just an unbiased resocuce. I knew the dive operation I was using in Cozumel was excellent. Eight other divers gave it great reviews.

Jim

Were the reviews in Undercurrent on Costa Rica the same as your experience? If it's reviews by other divers on resorts and dive ops, isn't that about the same as this board? Do you recommend Undercurrent?

 

[knotical]

It could depend on how much travel you plan. Whenever I’m heading to a new location I search for reviews in that area and choose the dive operator I will use. It’s worked each time. Is a dive trip saved worth the subscription price? For me, yes.

I also like some of their gear reports and other topics.

For ten bucks US, you can do a trial online Undercurrent subscription, see lots of back issues, and decide for yourself.

 

[drbill]

I still read the diver reviews in my older two chapbooks and find them useful even if individually subjective. If a location or an operator get consistently good reviews from several different divers, it is one I'll look at more closely. Also if reviews differ in different times of the year, it may be a clue to seasonal differences of significance in evaluating when to go.

Dr. Bill

 

[pilot fish]

Bill & Knotical, sounds like a good extra source of dive info. Will look into it.

 

[Natasha]

I've been getting Undercurrent for a few years now. I'm bored with it now though. I don't plan to renew. They need a new format, or something to spiff it up a bit. Yawn.

 

[Otter]

I agree. I subscribed for a while and found that SB offered everything that Undercurrent did PLUS the ability to interact and ask questions. So no renewal for me. In its time, it was useful, but the internet has made it largely irrelevant.