Quabo Divers - Are You Experienced?

[Alex777]

Divers coming to Grand Cayman who dislike cattle boats and want a maximum of flexibility and independence should consider using Quabo Divers.

This small operation has one 40 foot boat, older but well maintained, running from the Yacht Club to the North Wall. Capt. Allan, one of the few Caymanian captains running a dive boat, has been plying these waters "Since my mother used to beat me for skipping grade school and going out on the water." The boat will accomodate 20+ divers but Capt. Allan limits the number to 8 divers max. (He will consider increasing the number if all divers are part of 1 group.) The boat is not fancy but has a shaded area and all the usual emergency equipment.

DM / Instructor Hiroko is one of Cayman's longest-serving DMs and definitely of the old school. Her briefings range from non-existent to, well, brief. You won't hear her wasting dive time explaining how divers should exit & enter the boat. The working assumption is that all divers will dive their own profile and do their own navigation, although Hiroko will lead the dive if requested to do so. There are no time limits. Non-standard gear configurations (like mine) and solo divers are welcome. The latter are asked to bring their own fully redundant bailout gas supply (pony bottle). And don't even think about asking her to set up your gear.

Quabo has no set schedule. They will leave and return at the times requested by the 1st diver to book for a given day. They are also willing to be somewhat adventurous where the weather is concerned. I can recall diving Ghost Mountain with them as Hurricane Wilma approached, on a day when no other dive op went out.

Overall, if you are an experienced diver and happy to take care of yourself, Quabo would suit you just fine.

Disclaimer: I have no commercial interest, direct or indirect, in any dive op.

 

[billinwilliamston]

Sounds interesting. Have any contact info?

 

[Alex777]

Try Capt. Allan at 345-916-5853 or 345-945-4340.

 

[miztflip]

I can vouch for Quabo as well. While working on the Island in 2001-02, I came to know the owners, Arthle and Keoko (sp?) pretty well as they were friends with my boss. On occasion I would venture out with them on my days off. Also when our boat was being serviced we would take our clients out with them and vise versa.

Arthle was the first ever Caymanian Dive Instructor and is held in high regard on the island. And yes, the operation is no frills (which some of us like) but you will certainly get to dive spots that others don't venture to and maximize your dive time.

You can also check them out at www.caymandiving.com

 

[Alex777]

I can vouch for Quabo as well. While working on the Island in 2001-02, I came to know the owners, Arthle and Keoko (sp?) pretty well as they were friends with my boss. On occasion I would venture out with them on my days off. Also when our boat was being serviced we would take our clients out with them and vise versa.

Arthle was the first ever Caymanian Dive Instructor and is held in high regard on the island. And yes, the operation is no frills (which some of us like) but you will certainly get to dive spots that others don't venture to and maximize your dive time.

You can also check them out at www.caymandiving.com

I heard the other day that Arthle has 18,000 dives. That's Eighteen THOUSAND!

 

[EastEndDiver]

Alex i have heard both Olin from Sundivers and Peter Milburn claim to have 18,000 dives ,I don't doubt them,that must be the magic number on island.Why bother to count after that?

 

[Alex777]

Yah, exactly! I don't think Arthle dives much any more, and I know Ollin doesn't.

 

[H2ODoc]

I heard the other day that Arthle has 18,000 dives. That's Eighteen THOUSAND!

I know this is an old thread, but we just met Arthley on the Brac, and he's fishing most days. He is a SUPER nice guy and gave us a bunch of red snapper for dinner. He said he had 11,000 dives! He started to tell us his story of diving since 1973. We hope to chat with him more over the next few days.

 

[Alex777]

I know this is an old thread, but we just met Arthley on the Brac, and he's fishing most days. He is a SUPER nice guy and gave us a bunch of red snapper for dinner. He said he had 11,000 dives! He started to tell us his story of diving since 1973. We hope to chat with him more over the next few days.

Good to hear he is still doing well. Hiroko has returned to Japan after many years in the CI.

Sadly, Quabo is out of business now I am told.

There just doesn't seem to be much of a market now for no-frills dive ops which expect divers to look after themselves. The dive ops are all trying to outdo each other with valet services ("we not only set up your gear for you, we will rinse it too!") and stressing "safety", as in "we will take care of you every step of the way". I recall trying to explain to Hiroko that the fact that most of the tank holders were broken might be bad for business; she couldn't see why divers should care, as long as the boat stayed afloat and went to interesting dive sites.

I did my DM with Quabo and had a great time. Unfortunately, time has passed them by.