In Reply to: Why the high costs of dive boats? posted by Mark on May 22, 2008 at 19:10:20:

In my experience, another trend I've noticed is that charters rarely cancel, whereas, on an open boat, if they can't sell enough spots to cover costs, then the captain cancels the trip.

Benefits of Open Boats:
1) Cheaper.
2) More money typically will go directly to the boat operator per spot. (Open Boat spots usually sell for more individually than a charter pays.) So, if you like a boat alot, and want more money to go the operator, go for it.

Benefits of Charters:
1) Loyalty to the charter group and sometimes more certainty on the group or people on board, whether photographers, hunters, advanced divers, beginning divers.
2) The staff I go with on Charters seem to really be focused on being attentive to divers needs and making sure its a fun trip. Not all Charters work that way.
3) Certainty of going out. The group I go with that runs charters have never cancelled a boat on me because of lack of interest.