Standard Dive op. rating?

[kidspot]

If you could figure out a way to make it work, then great idea. But I'm also reminded of the one boat op here on Maui that has more bad word of mouth spread than any other ... and they are the number one op in the state according to a national scuba review ...

Good luck figuring this one out ... and I do hope you succeed...

Aloha, Tim

 

[DiveMaven]

Gee Tim, I was thinking the exact same thing about that particular "#1" operator! <LOL>

 

[redrover]

I think it is a good ideaa.
I get tired of answering folks who pop in asking for recommendations, probably not looking for the past numerous times this has been asked. And my impression the same Ops keep getting glowing reports and could be just repetition from the same locals making them look (possibly) stronger than they are.
I keep speaking of my LDS and it is not to indicate they are the only one good, they are just who I know! If I have not been out with another I cannot SAY anything about my experience right?
I'd like it more of the visitor input. We locals know who we like, and what to expect, it is the visitor that needs the 1 time charley POV.

I think it should be broken into at least islands or it is rating apples and oranges. Possibly further as some Ops may only visit one area, like Hilo and Kona side.

I could see a consumer report kind of thing, specific points. Some how like our Polls show how many answers on a bar?
I think a simple vague 1- 5 stars is useless on The Op. Even say "Safety." My perspective of safety could be very different, for example I do not expect the Op to be my Safely Officer and I read people who do or unhappy seeing what my choices are and hold it against the operator.
Service; there are those who welcome gear set up get a + if it is done and those who dislike having to make an issue about wanting to set up their own giving a -.
Then there are features tooted I may have no use for or aspects I would have no clue were relevant like how different Oahu is from Kona.
There needs some qualifier for the values. I want to know what I am in for, my call what is acceptable. (I am a visitor outside of my LDS

People would need some convenience and direction to take the time. Maybe when we see a post mentioning HI we could pop off a PM directing to a sticky or something with a form? How to translate that into This Op has X# for ABC?

How about develop some questions and multiple choice answers for starting point. Just tossing these out off the top of my head.

 

[friscuba]

It'd be nearly impossible to get an accurate point system going. As far as safety records go, I highly doubt the casual visitor could tell, only the insiders, likely those who've worked for the shops concerned might have a realistic idea, and even then personality clashes might come into play.

I think rather than rating, about the best one could do is make some kind of a Dive operator feature table that divers could fill out based on their experiences.

Operator name:
Boat only: yes or no
Multiple boats: yes or no
Boat and retail shop: yes or no
Boat sizes: 20-30' 31-40' 41+
Boat condition: poor OK good
Max passengers: 6 12 18 24 25+
Water? Other beverages? Sandwich? Snacks?
Bottom Times: strict table dives 45 minutes 55 minutes 60 minutes limited only by computer and air consumption - come up when someone runs low or drop off heavy breathers
Gear available: included in fee additional fee for set $15 $16-25 $26+
Gear condition : poor ok good
Crew experience: Mostly new Mostly 5-10 years Mostly 10 years+ Mixed
Camera bucket: yes or no
Night dives available: yes or no
Classes: yes or no
Start time: sunup 7am 8am 9am 10am
Overall impression: favorable unfavorable

I'm sure there are other things. It might be tough to put out in table form. On the subjective ones you could include percentages by the poor / OK / good or favorable/unfavorable responses. I really suspect you'd end up with some inaccurate information now matter how specific you made the chart, even the Big Island Revealed has had inaccuracies on their boat sizes for the Kona operators they have listed in every edition I've seen, the current edition has one boat off by 13'. I think with enough input over time it'd be fairly close.

Some kind of table format in one place might give people at least some hint at what to expect without perusing a bunch of websites, but I think it might be somewhat involved to set up.

Steve

 

[scubadrewvideo]

These aren&#8217;t bad ideas, BUT as an instructor working full time on this island, I can tell you we are already the lowest paid, least appreciated group. As it is, we already have the sometimes monumental job of keeping the same number of heartbeats before and after each dive, and I know some of you out there know exactly what I am talking about.

Also, I work for a shop that doesn't offer or provide half the stuff on that list, but we have a very high repeat customer ratio and referral rate. If our scores to a review like that were posted on-line, we would appear to suck. But I know that I do everything I can to make sure our dives are safe, fun, educational...and you can "Get Your Dive on DVD"...ok that was a cheap plug...but you get my point. I will not take divers on a "Crappy" dive unless they agree to do a "crappy dive".

If anything, standardizing prices across the board and increasing Instructor/DM salaries, would stop the undercutting of competitors and high turnover of staff.
But of course I would pitch the higher salary idea first...

 

[Lopaka]

...snip...
Boat only: yes or no
Multiple boats: yes or no
Boat and retail shop: yes or no
Boat sizes: 20-30' 31-40' 41+
Boat condition: poor OK good
....snip....
I'm sure there are other things.

Well, speaking for my wife, you left out the critical: does the boat have a head?

 

[friscuba]

Forgot the head. I've worked off 10 boats over here and only 1 had a working head, 3 were certified vessels that had working heads for the Coast Guard inspection only and were immediately removed or disabled after the inspection.

Head or no head could probably be a decent thread in itself.

 

[Rhone Man]

It is a good list. I'd throw in one more:

Nitrox: No, Yes (surcharge < $10 per tank), Yes (surcharge > $10 per tank), Yes (free)

How can we leverage a mod into trying to set something like this up on the board?

 

[Black_3000psi]

all very good points made, but there is a way to do it. sort of like a secret shopper thing.

 

[redrover]

Sorry Steve, I honestly had no idea how much I liked a head until there wasn't one. I can certainly live with out them but do appreciate one. Oddly, have not had one inoperable either.


I guess the way I am looking at it as a consolidation of opinion vs fact. I read the reviews, see the complaints and praise on the same specific facts.
Clearly there are differences in how operators function, what is included and that is NOT saying good or bad. Divers want different things from their experience. Not only that; the islands seem to have very different diving. I hear in my LDS every so often, "Where can we see the wrecks, sharks, walls? (LOL not on this island.)

Some want a level of hand holding others feel restrictive. Some want two dives total in a cruse boat stop, others two weeks different island and dive dive dive variety. Some a specific dive, some all inclusive, some a ride out and let them do thier own thing. Just saw a recent post asking for recommendation on Op with a good head. Any way, the facts aren't necessarily the determining good or bad, it is individual viewer perspective of fact. Whoever wants to can assemble a fact option list from the web sites. Will not say a thing what visitors did and did not like about the fact such as no head but customer service made it well worth the inconvenience.

There can't be a Ono, it is not about scoring the most points or the biggest boat wins.

Cattle boat comes up frequently and really irks me. The most offensive is a review with one sentence, I don't like to go Moo. I am not faulting the poster for not taking the time to mention any other points that were ok. The point is that snippet of review is John Doe Diving = cattle boat. Cattle boat is a derogatory slur, might as well give the Op a score of 2 when in fact, except for the one point their boat held 22 divers, they would have scored a 5.

I would rather not be paying for free things I don't use or want. I would be happy to forego water and snacks for a rate reduction. Other people purchase drinking water in disposable containers, by the case load.

In my spread sheet the answers I put in there was no specific Op but example of its use. Not saying way to go either. But some form to translate individual into a Summary? I dunno. Maybe I will run one and save it to just make it quicker and easier to respond to the repetitious recommend me an Op request post and answer more often.

Ya know, re reading the OP suggestion, I read it wrong. How the heck is a visitor going to know safety factors to rate? About all I could see is knew they had no AOW cert went to 100 on a wreck on Ohau or the Molokini Crater, doing a thumbs down. Or another chance as KrisB says; more opportunity for the same locals to bash at each other, again.

Secret shopper? Is that tongue in cheek? It is still one shopper viewpoint. Make the paying visitors who post here on the board be a boat load of shoppers.

It should not be the end all to the visitor choice of op. What it would do is narrow the search down a bit. Give them direction for what they seek and have those asking us our opinion; ask specific questions vs. who is the best.