Posted by Kevin on March 23, 2001 at 09:27:05:
Tailoring dive boats to people's needs.
Anything can be done for the right price.
For many years I used to charter boats for dive shops. I ran everything from open water boats to Bird Rock on the Magician to technical outings on the Reliance and Star Gazer and Second Stage and Psalty Five.
On some boats I ran, people paid TOP DOLLAR and got first class food ( bagels and lox and pizza and steaks and pasta ) and tanks and BCDS and regs set up and ready to go, and all gear carried to and from the boat from their car. I used the Atlantis and used to even include a full nitrox course aboard the boat, lecture Friday night, dives on Saturday and the exam on the ride home. It was as first class as you could get, and the Bob Marley music played all day long. I even had the captains daughter walking around with a plate of fresh fruit all day long. ( That went well until someone slipped a five dollar bill into the 14 year old's bikini top. )
Those boats did and still sell out instantly.
I recently set up a charter to some local deep wrecks, bare bones trip, bare bones price. For $ 80 we are gonna dive three wrecks, and airfills and food are included. Bring your own cylinders and weight. This is a low price for a low frills outing.
Keeping with my track record, this boat sold out too.
The dive industry can tailer any dive boat to anyone's needs provided they can make a profit. I did on a regular basis. And it didn't matter whether it was an expensive trip with heavy labor and overhead or an inexpensive trip with very little labor and a small overhead.
Sorry folks but you can't have your cake and eat it too. You get what you pay for like most things in life.
Do you really expect a steak lunch included on a $ 49 open boat to Catalina ?
Kevin