S'pore LOB- Which is better?

[goh]

We're a group of 4-6 divers going on our first LOB trip and we're wondering if the White Manta (Vincent Dive) is more enjoyable or the Samudera Quest. Pls give ur views and why to help us make a more informed decision! Cheers!

 

[Peter Lim]

goh,

You prefer peace or party?

Go for Samudera Quest if you are a party anaimal.

 

[Zippsy]

Definitely go on Samudera Quest if you like to stay up late, hit the bottle and party hard - they can't be beat.

If it's just diving and comfort you want, maybe Vincent's White Manta is a better choice. Vincent's DM's tend to discourage heavy late night drinking binges although many of them do have a beer or two themselves after the night dive.

IMHO, the food is about the same on both boats but I prefer the White Manta's accommodations.

 

[goh]

Actually, I don't mind peace or party but whats really impt is the cleanliness of the boat, comfort in cabins, space for gearing up and of course DMs and crew that are friendly and easy to chat wif since we'll be on the boat wif them for a couple of days. So which is better in those aspects?

 

[Zippsy]

The White Manta probably is the nicer boat because it is not quite yet a year old. Although the dive deck needs a paint job already, the cabins still look brand new. All the safety and navigation equipment is also state of the art. There are several cabins which are four ppl to a room and some that are two to a room. There is plenty of space in the cabin for storage of person gear although your dive bag gets put away under the benches elsewhere on the boat for the duration of the trip. If the full compliment of 22 divers and 5 DM's are onboard, they definitely need to gear up in two stages. I have been onboard with 16 divers and 3 DM's before and we could all gear up together. I like their DM's who all seem to be friendly and try to talk with everyone. About half are ang moh and half are Singaporean - which usually seems to match the mix on the boat. I am very appreciative of the fact that the more experienced divers are always given the option to dive on their own (i.e., with buddies but not following a DM).

It has been about 16 months since I have been diving from the Samudera Quest so my memory of that boat is not as good. More often, I stayed in their resort so I'll let others comment on that boat. I do believe they have very friendly and helpful DM's although I had some trouble getting permission to not follow them on dives. That's not an issue for many people though.

 

[frogfish]

Totally agree with Zippsy's comments on White Manta. An other point to note is that they offer Nitrox (actually I think Samudera Quest also does). One drawback of White Manta is that when they have a full boat, the diving gets pretty crowded (25 divers in the water !)

 

[blackice]

goh once bubbled...
We're a group of 4-6 divers going on our first LOB trip and we're wondering if the White Manta (Vincent Dive) is more enjoyable or the Samudera Quest.

So have you made a choice? and when are you going?

I'm heading off with white manta for the first time in an hour...

 

[IzzyTahil]

do these boats leave from S'pore? do have sites to point me to?

 

[neve]

WHITE MANTA www.whitemanta.com

and

SAMUDRA QUEST www.friendlywaters.com.sg

Note: This weekend is the last diving weekend from Singapore. White Manta will be in Phuket from next weekend, and Samudra Quest will be doing day trips around Singapore (Pulau Hantu, Pulau Sudong, Raffles Lighthouse).

The next season starts from early March.

 

[blackice]

I was on the Whitemanta last weekend, the last trip of the year and my first time on the boat. Very nice and comfortable, the beds are good and the boat stable. The dive platform is good but can get crowded with a full lot of divers, we had about 24 divers and it was busy.

Just divided into two groups and it seemed fine.

There were divers that saw a whale shark and some manta's. I saw a white manta aobut 3-4m across moving past the boat at the surface... so cool.