What makes a "good" trip report?

[MXGratefulDiver]

I want to read a story.

I want pictures ... preferably good ones.

I want to feel like I was there with you ... and wish that I was.

Most folks dive for entertainment. Write a trip report that's entertaining and I'll take the time to appreciate it ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Damselfish]

Objective information as much as possible. Saying stuff like the viz was good, it was cold, the dive op sucked, the boat was lousy don't always mean much because they're relative to a persons experience. It's helpful if you say why you think that. It's especially difficult when someone without much to compare against writes a review. Great that they do it, but I've seen wonderful reviews of places that I know aren't so good, and terrible reviews of good places. Things were simply done differently than what they had experienced before and didn't match the persons expectations.

Expectations are sometimes a valid thing to consider though, especially if the expectations were set by misleading advertising.

 

[robint]

I agree with everything said by Saspotato and Vladimir!
I hate short reports, especially those with little information - saying things like "the diving was great and the boat was great and the trip was the best ever" is NOT a Trip Report!

Details, details, details, we love the details!
How great do you mean? As compared to what?
Tell me about the rooms at your hotel/liveaboard and show me a picture or two of them. Tell me about the food, prices if eating out at restaurants each night, too. Tell me about the dives in detail (dive time, depth, water temp, what you saw), and give me dive site names, too. If I go to that place I want to know the best sites or the worst sites ahead of time.
And by all means, tell us about the Dive Op - their shop, their boats, their staff. I read so many reports where there is not enough info about the dive op other than "they were great". Tell me why! Give examples.
And PHOTOS, you need photos if only topside! We are visual beings and like to see what you are talking about.
And put LINKS in your report, to dive op, hotel, liveaboard, etc.

I wish more people did trip reports! Those reports I read 10+ years ago are what got me into diving, chatting with the people about the details in their reports, etc. I learned so much about what I wanted to see and do. It is part of the reason I know have a website with MY Trip Reports!

robin

 

[Walter]

C'mon Walter, NO ONE EVER just quickly reports the facts...
I don't think it's in any divers nature

Never?

 

[paddler3d]

I wish people would include on their trip reports what they would have done differently. What worked, what didn't work information.

 

[Eau_Girl]

This is a timely thread as I need to do a trip report for one I did last November. Thanks for the inspiration.

I agree with the comments many are making about giving details, tips for what to do differently. I'll keep these in mind as I work on it over the weekend! Like Saspotato, I'll probably tend to write the sort of report that I find helpful!

 

[TSandM]

I'm with a bunch of the others. I like meat, and detail, and a narrative, although I also appreciate having the report broken into sections with headings, like: How to get there; accomodations (including food); and then diving. I like them illustrated, for sure, with pictures that help tell the story, like photos of the place you stayed, the boats you went out on, and the scenery at the dive sites, as well as what you saw underwater. About the number of photos you'd use in a well-illustrated magazine article, and then a link to a gallery, if there are more.

I LOVE dive and trip reports; they're probably the number one thing I read on all the boards I frequent. I enjoy writing them, and I really appreciate the work that goes into putting together a good one.

 

[reefduffer]

I write them as I would like others to. They should serve several purposes:
- Help the reader decide if that's a place they want to go.
- Inform the person that's going there about details the traveler learned that would be useful to know in advance, either to be prepared pre-trip, or places/things not to miss, or places/things to avoid.
- To entertain. There's some diving stuff I may never get to (and some of that very deliberately) that I would still enjoy experiencing vicariously. One that vividly comes to mind is a description of diving Antarctica posted here a couple of years ago.

Some recent examples of mine:
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ca...tle-cayman-beach-resort-11-11-11-19-09-a.html
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/abc-islands/264815-trip-report-bonaire-12-2-12-12-08-a.html

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

I typically type them out sorta like a story, hoping to convey the days mood and possibly all the players involved. I get picky about details, I don't mind posting temps, vis, depths, times, but I often purposely choose not to include site names to protect them against the untrained and unwilling(to do their own homework).


I always try to include photos when possible, and food... Everyone wants to know where to eat.

 

[Doc]

Pictures are great. Sure, show me your great whale shark pic, but shots of the boat, your cabin, and the head would be more helpful. I already know what a whale shark looks like.

Bingo. And the dive deck, gear lockers, and complete dive operation as well.

Also: What does the daily routine of the operation... by the clock.