Talk about booking in advance!

[DanBMW]

My wife and I have been the "only non club member" on several live a boards, in order to go when we had the time or sort of stand by and in all occasions, had a super time. We were never made to feel unwelcome and in all situations were looked at as fresh meet/meat! They were looking for new members and we have made life long friends that way. One couple in particular from a group we joined at the last minute is meeting us in the Solomon Islands next month.

 

[Scared Silly]

On our trip this past May 06 we booked it in Sep 05. Half the boat was a shop trip and half was open. The shop originally had the whole boat but could not fill it so they released half the spots. We laughed the shop was in Denver and we are in Oootah - two people from CA took two of the shop spots the rest of us were the other half. The boat had 5 double tankers (my self included) of which 2 were real tec, the ability levels were quite diverse. So we ended up being a real mixed group and it worked out fine. Everybody had fun.

On the other hand, the week before we were on Pohnpei and were joined by a group of 16 on our second day that were from a shop trip (they had just come from Truk). That was not much fun for the two days we dove with them. They were friendly but the circumstances just did not make it work.

BTW If your time permits a stop on Pohnpei is worth while. It is good for 4 days of diving especially if you can get out to Ant Atoll. Also spend a couple of days seeing the island - Nan Mandol and the WWII guns are cool.

 

[DiveMaven]

On our trip this past May 06 we booked it in Sep 05. Half the boat was a shop trip and half was open. The shop originally had the whole boat but could not fill it so they released half the spots. We laughed the shop was in Denver and we are in Oootah - two people from CA took two of the shop spots the rest of us were the other half. The boat had 5 double tankers (my self included) of which 2 were real tec, the ability levels were quite diverse. So we ended up being a real mixed group and it worked out fine. Everybody had fun.

On the other hand, the week before we were on Pohnpei and were joined by a group of 16 on our second day that were from a shop trip (they had just come from Truk). That was not much fun for the two days we dove with them. They were friendly but the circumstances just did not make it work.

This is exactly why we chose to book 2 years in advance to get a week where the boat would be comprised more of individuals rather than a dive shop group. We've done enough traveling around groups to know that they are hugely diverse, and we could have had either one of your experiences, and didn't want to risk the second one.

Thanks for the suggestion about Pohnpei, we'll have to check it out.

For now, we have liveaboards planned for each of the next 2 summers, so I'm pleased.

 

[Damselfish]

I've done one trip with a shop that books boats like this and have another one planned. Some people on the boat that have gone on some of the same trips and already know each other, but a lot of people won't have, and either way probably wouldn't matter too much. I suspect it is fairly rare to get a boat mostly booked by a cliquish bunch who wouldn't welcome whatever random people, and I'm sure you could get an idea by asking a few questions. I wasn't sure how I would like the group thing but did find traveling with a group on a long trip to have some unexpected benefits for stuff like transfers, watching out for each others luggage, general amusement on long layovers, and you start to know people before you get there. If you were coming from someplace else you don't get that unless itineraries allowed joining the group at an airport along the way, but of course not a big deal.