Chepar, it was even more expensive than that for us. There was no discount. I didn't get sick, but it was close. I'm very glad I took some Meclizine beforehand.
Maggi, yes, even through the silt, the sunlight coming through the openings and cracks were pretty amazing. That is the one takeaway we will bring back.
Kris, thanks for your feedback.
I agree with you about the types of divers. I am one of those tourist divers. I am lucky to vacation once a year to a place that will enable me get in 6 or 8 dives. Some years I don't get in any. Gone are the days when I could take a weeklong dive trip to get in 20+ dives. And as my handle indicates, I do not dive here in Northern CA. But I will say that buoyancy control is at the forefront of my mind whenever I put on a BCD. I own my own rig, but I only bring my snorkeling gear with me when I go to Hawaii. You are blessed (and maybe somewhat cursed depending on your point of view) in that there is so much to do there that many people do not go there to ONLY dive. Wrt weight, exposure suits, etc., you are absolutely right. I will admit I don't know the exact weight I need for a 3mm shortie vs. 3mm full vs. 5/4. I usually dial it in after my first dive. I know, I should know. I understand dive leaders wanting to err on the side of overweight. Makes perfect sense.
I must have given you the wrong impression about the boat. I was aware of the boat beforehand as I checked their website. I was trying to explain the layout of the boat, but it didn't bother us. I'm sure the conditions and the fact that it was an afternoon dive had a much bigger impact than the type of boat. The backroll entry and getting out of our BCD before exit were not a problem either.
I completely agree with you about visibility being affected by wind, swell, etc., in addition to divers kicking up silt. In fact, visibility wasn't that great when we entered the water. I recommend morning dives if at all possible as conditions are usually much better then.
Wrt the camera, there was no mention of it beforehand whether it was at the request of a diver or not. But it's certainly possible that was the case. I do know that at least one person did purchase the CD afterwards. This is a personal preference thing. As you say, some people want the dive leader to take pictures of them. I prefer dive leaders who are more focused on leading a dive and finding and pointing out cool stuff rather than taking pictures.
Neither of us had an issue with the bottom time. It wasn't out of line with what I expected. I didn't check the tables, but I will trust you on the NDLs
. I am one who is content to follow a leader's planned dive and not complain even if my air and computer tell me I can stay down longer. Having said that, it was also VERY nice diving with B&B with 50+ minute first dives and 60+ minute second dives or 500 psi, whichever comes first. In my case, they pretty much coincided and my Suunto computer never went into the yellow zone.
In any case, I didn't mean to sound like I was complaining. As I said, we were diving, and that's always a good thing. But compared to my experience on the same trip with B&B, it wasn't nearly as good of an experience. Much of that had to do with the conditions, which can't be predicted. But some of it had to do with the dive operator.
Howard,
. Thanks for the laugh.