In Reply to: Comparing an Anacapa trip to Catalina? posted by Mike Meagher on July 09, 2009 at 09:59:21:

You make a very fair point. I guess the driving makes very little difference to me since I live near Santa Monica and going to the ports (Los Alamitos, San Pedro or Ventura) is about the same.

I think most of our local boats make a good effort to give customers a decent value. It is true that some are more expensive than others though... that's the nature of a free market. If I offer something that I think is worth more, I might charge more for it. If a customer doesn't think the extra expense is justified, he'll buy it from someone else or make do without. Most of the boats will do something to differentiate themselves to attract more divers, some offer enormous amounts of EXCELLENT food, some will include a tank or lead so that you don't need to rent these. Being able to sleep on the boat is certainly a great perk I sometimes take advantage of.

I don't feel that trips should necessarily be clones of each other. While MaryDiver may appreciate not having to rent a tank, JoeDiver has his own and would rather come back by 2pm so he can pick up his dry cleaning before work the next day. And maybe BillDiver doesn't mind paying $10 more for a Dana Point boat so he doesn't have to drive so far.

At the end of the day, we vote with our wallets. The boats that are charging $20+ more for comparable trips will eventually have to justify this extra expense to maintain their customers - simple as that. Maybe their current customers are already happy with the value they are getting.

Lastly, to get back on thread...

The Great Escape is a good boat and the crew is a cool bunch. I did not mean to say the trip I posted was better... but it seemed like the original poster thought it was the only option left for a good value. I suggested what I thought was a comparable trip (you can't go to Catalina ALL the time).

Here are a couple more options:

Sand Dollar - $118 for a very similar Catalina trip as the one described by the OP, you may not get to sleep on it Saturday night.. but you don't have to lug around your tank/lead from home. If you go and don't think the trip is worth the extra $3, I'll personally refund you the difference.

SunDiver Express - $115, tanks included, no bunks, but faster crossing AND you get a night dive (1:30pm depart! no 5am alarm!)

http://www.ecodivecenter.com/boatschedule

In the spirit of full disclosure, I should mention that I'm an instructor at Eco Dive Center. So I only know specifics for the dives we charter. I make no money off how many seats get taken in our charters, but I love meeting new dive buddies. The opinions above are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of anybody else involved with Eco.

• Raining on someone else's parade? Mike Meagher 17:04:42 07/09/09 (2)
  • Re: Raining on someone else's parade? Erich 08:14:07 07/10/09 (1)
    • I apologize too mike meagher 09:38:30 07/10/09 (0)