As promised, here's my review of B&B, and an additional one for Mike Severns.
I dove with B&B Scuba on the 11th and 12th of March, and had a good time. Charlie99 came along on the Friday trip, and seemed to have a great time as well. The Friday trip was nearly all B&B staff, with just a few paying customers on the boat. Saturday had a pretty full boat, but the dive groups stayed small. Like others have said, B&B leaves early and boat check-in was at 5:50am. No complaints at all with B&B, and nothing really exceptional to point out either. They're a good, well rounded dive operation.
On Charlie99's recommendation, I dove with Mike Severns on Thursday the 17th. As he said, their dive briefings are second to none, and they do an excellent job. I think the Reef's End briefing at Molokini lasted for 10-15 minutes. I like how they inform you of the conditions at various sites, and let the divers decide where they want to go. We had John and Warren for DMs, and they were both great. Oddly enough, the other divers on the Mike Severns boat were widely less experienced than the B&B trips. Don't know if that's typical, or if it was a fluke.
I enjoyed diving with both, but if I had to choose, I'd pick B&B. My reasons will seem silly to some, but it's what works for me:
- B&B left earliest, and came back earliest. For me, being back early was a big benefit, as my wife doesn't dive and coming back early allowed us to spend more of the day together.
- This one is really stupid... but B&B had sandwiches, my preferred surface interval snack. Mike Severns had lots of snack items, like pretzels, very fresh cookies, trail mix, and a huge variety of drinks and fruit... but nothing beats sandwiches when you get out of the water. It seemed easier to eat/drink on B&B's boat, as things were regularly offered and passed around.
- Mike Severns provided excellent dive briefings, and allowed my input on what dive site we'd be going to. However, that isn't very important to me. Throw me under the water with air on my back, and I'll be happy.
- $15 price difference between the two, with B&B being cheaper. Hardly worth mentioning, but has a little weight when combined with everything else.
So there you go... my preferences. Both are excellent dive operators, providing two different types of an experience. If you want true underwater critter experts, and the professionalism of a 25 year dive op, go with Mike Severns. However, if you just want to dive and be well taken care of, B&B will suit you just fine. I can see why they're the local pick.
-B.
