cowdog77
Contributor
Sticking to six-pack boats and filling them with my friends works well for my local diving.
Ahhh.............good stuff, yep.
Cattle Boat, what does that mean to you?
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Ahhh.............good stuff, yep.
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Mmmm 1984 Four Winns center console, Channel Islands, and 4 friends. The best 4 years of diving in my life.
Re: Bovine Barges
I just got back from the red sea and firmly believe that a rigid "plan" a slack "organization" is what give the cattle boat feeling. It was a nice boat, 18 of us, and we all had plenty of room. Five days out on the EL Shark and I was sick of 7am briefings, 30min max night dives, finding out that I had a nice 21% nitrox fill with no time to remedy (arg), and last minute Zodiac trips.
caymaniac
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Man, that was the wrong boat. The one I went on...they didn't care if I did solo night dives on the Thistlegorm.
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Since Rainbow Reef was singled out in what was a general discussion about the definition of a cattle boat, I will take the opportunity to clarify a few things for those interested in this discussion. I respect everyone's opinion, and I'm not trying, nor will I engage in a debate.
I feel it's unfair to say that Rainbow Reef only dives at Molasses Reef. Molasses reef is a very expansive and great location with about 30 mooring balls, with about 7 or 8 distinct areas. So just because you've been there once or twice, doesn't mean you've seen it all. We visit that reef more than any other because it consistently has better conditions that many other Key Largo sites we may also visit. We often select it if we know the scheduled location on a given day has significantly lower quality in terms of conditions, in order to give you the best dive possible. It is also important to note that we have 2 vessels in Key Largo. Both go out most every morning and afternoon, to different locations. Normally one boat is going to a deeper location or a wreck, and the other stays on one of the shallow reefs. We find this best accommodates our customers 7 days a week. We visit many different locations during the week. You can refer to our weekly schedule located at Rainbow Reef Dive Center Charter Schedule
Clearly all dive operators are in business to fill the boats, just like airlines try and fill planes, just as your business tries to maximize whatever you sell. We all love it when we get on a plane that is half full and we get to stretch out, and I'm sure the same goes for the dive boats and dive customers. If we don't fill up the boats during peak periods, we wouldn't be in business very long. If I can think of a way to have large vessels, fill them half way, and keep our prices low, I'll be the first to do it. We have invested in larger boats in Key Largo to meet the demand we have in that area.
If you prefer smaller boats, this is precisely why we have 2 smaller vessels in Islamorada. It is a off the beaten path area, and we cater to divers who wish to dive in small groups on small boats. In most cases, in Islamorada, you will be on the only dive boat on that reef, or for as far as your eyes can see.
I would like to point out that our philosophy behind our guide service is exactly what is says.. Service.. We get to know our divers, and abilities, and desires. It's quite often our Divemasters find you fish you always wanted to see, and they strive to make your dive experience as easy and relaxing as it can be. I'm not sure I see at all how a guide service contributes to the cattle boat concept, I suggest that it is quite the opposite.
One last point I would like to clarify is the way we understand divers abilities and experience. Our releases ask you to state your date of last dive, your certification level, and your total number of dives. We absolutely evaluate each diver on this information in a way that many dive centers do not. For instance, an Open Water diver who has been certified for 13 years and has 480 logged dives, can certainly handle diving any of our wrecks. We take this into consideration, and DO NOT require an AOW certification across the board for the deeper dives. On the opposite end of the spectrum, if you got certified 5 years ago on your honeymoon, have 4 dives under your belt, haven't been diving since, and want to hit the Speigel Grove, you aren't getting on one of our boats without a refresher class, much less hitting a deep location!
Not everyone is going to like how our dive center runs. There are plenty of capable, professional and alternative operators in Key Largo that can accommodate whatever needs are most important to you. We can't be perfect every day, and certainly we won't be able to make 100% of the divers happy all the time, no dive shop, or any business for that matter can do it, but it won't stop us from trying.
So to Ron, thanks for diving with us, and thank you for your comments, if you dive with us again, we'll try and do a better job in your eyes. You can also feel free to contact me before you arrive and I'll personally see to it that you get out to somewhere other than Molasses Reef.
D.J. @ Rainbow Reef
I feel it's unfair to say that Rainbow Reef only dives at Molasses Reef. Molasses reef is a very expansive and great location with about 30 mooring balls, with about 7 or 8 distinct areas. So just because you've been there once or twice, doesn't mean you've seen it all. We visit that reef more than any other because it consistently has better conditions that many other Key Largo sites we may also visit. We often select it if we know the scheduled location on a given day has significantly lower quality in terms of conditions, in order to give you the best dive possible. It is also important to note that we have 2 vessels in Key Largo. Both go out most every morning and afternoon, to different locations. Normally one boat is going to a deeper location or a wreck, and the other stays on one of the shallow reefs. We find this best accommodates our customers 7 days a week. We visit many different locations during the week. You can refer to our weekly schedule located at Rainbow Reef Dive Center Charter Schedule
Clearly all dive operators are in business to fill the boats, just like airlines try and fill planes, just as your business tries to maximize whatever you sell. We all love it when we get on a plane that is half full and we get to stretch out, and I'm sure the same goes for the dive boats and dive customers. If we don't fill up the boats during peak periods, we wouldn't be in business very long. If I can think of a way to have large vessels, fill them half way, and keep our prices low, I'll be the first to do it. We have invested in larger boats in Key Largo to meet the demand we have in that area.
If you prefer smaller boats, this is precisely why we have 2 smaller vessels in Islamorada. It is a off the beaten path area, and we cater to divers who wish to dive in small groups on small boats. In most cases, in Islamorada, you will be on the only dive boat on that reef, or for as far as your eyes can see.
I would like to point out that our philosophy behind our guide service is exactly what is says.. Service.. We get to know our divers, and abilities, and desires. It's quite often our Divemasters find you fish you always wanted to see, and they strive to make your dive experience as easy and relaxing as it can be. I'm not sure I see at all how a guide service contributes to the cattle boat concept, I suggest that it is quite the opposite.
One last point I would like to clarify is the way we understand divers abilities and experience. Our releases ask you to state your date of last dive, your certification level, and your total number of dives. We absolutely evaluate each diver on this information in a way that many dive centers do not. For instance, an Open Water diver who has been certified for 13 years and has 480 logged dives, can certainly handle diving any of our wrecks. We take this into consideration, and DO NOT require an AOW certification across the board for the deeper dives. On the opposite end of the spectrum, if you got certified 5 years ago on your honeymoon, have 4 dives under your belt, haven't been diving since, and want to hit the Speigel Grove, you aren't getting on one of our boats without a refresher class, much less hitting a deep location!
Not everyone is going to like how our dive center runs. There are plenty of capable, professional and alternative operators in Key Largo that can accommodate whatever needs are most important to you. We can't be perfect every day, and certainly we won't be able to make 100% of the divers happy all the time, no dive shop, or any business for that matter can do it, but it won't stop us from trying.
So to Ron, thanks for diving with us, and thank you for your comments, if you dive with us again, we'll try and do a better job in your eyes. You can also feel free to contact me before you arrive and I'll personally see to it that you get out to somewhere other than Molasses Reef.
D.J. @ Rainbow Reef
MAGELLAN
Contributor
Mainly the number of divers on the boat, 12 or more is really too much for the operator to pay attention to. But my main gripe is where the operation is so tied to a schedule(in order to ferry out the most people in a day) that you have to cut your dive times short because of the group. I think that is ridiculous, all I want is a ride to the reef, I don't want any hand holding or limitations to our dive profile, whithin reason of course!
deco_martini
Contributor
Cattle boats are best defined by Jeff Foxworthy template jokes:
If the first diver is back from a one hour dive, and your still in line to get in, you might be on a cattle boat.
If the max occupancy sign has a question mark on it, you might be on a cattle boat.
If the operator asks everyone to spoon with their dive buddy to make room, you might be on a cattle boat.
If you are asked to share air before you get in the water, you might be on a cattle boat.
If you come back to shore missing over 10 people without noticing, you might be on a cattle boat.
And so on.
If the first diver is back from a one hour dive, and your still in line to get in, you might be on a cattle boat.
If the max occupancy sign has a question mark on it, you might be on a cattle boat.
If the operator asks everyone to spoon with their dive buddy to make room, you might be on a cattle boat.
If you are asked to share air before you get in the water, you might be on a cattle boat.
If you come back to shore missing over 10 people without noticing, you might be on a cattle boat.
And so on.
MAGELLAN
Contributor
Love it! Whew, Thank goodness my dive buddy is my wife!
pamawi
Contributor
I just got back from the Keys and was very happy with Rainbow Reef. I chose them because they put a guide in the water at no extra charge, publish a schedule, have a shallow and deep boat and because of the convenience to my hotel (Holiday Inn) and several others.
I've heard people say that RR runs a cattle boat. I suppose it can get more crowded on a weekend, but we only had 6 on a boat that is built for about 24 on Monday and 12 on Tuesday afternoon. The Tuesday morning boat didn't make, but they arranged for us to go out with nearby Horizon Divers instead. I decided to wait until the afternoon boat. They didn't even take my money for the first dive. They said just wait to see how much I dove that week and I could pay them at the end of the week. If I had done 3 days or 5 days of diving, there would have been additional discounts. You can dive with their other boats in Islamadora as part of a multiday package. The hotels do give coupon books with a 10% discount for Rainbow reef along with several other businesses at that marina.
I've heard people say that RR runs a cattle boat. I suppose it can get more crowded on a weekend, but we only had 6 on a boat that is built for about 24 on Monday and 12 on Tuesday afternoon. The Tuesday morning boat didn't make, but they arranged for us to go out with nearby Horizon Divers instead. I decided to wait until the afternoon boat. They didn't even take my money for the first dive. They said just wait to see how much I dove that week and I could pay them at the end of the week. If I had done 3 days or 5 days of diving, there would have been additional discounts. You can dive with their other boats in Islamadora as part of a multiday package. The hotels do give coupon books with a 10% discount for Rainbow reef along with several other businesses at that marina.
UnderwaterBumbleBee
Contributor
You know your on a cattle boat when a line forms to get on the boat in the morning. Your mind starts calculating how to get a "good" spot with 4 tanks for you and your buddy. Not a fun start to the morning.
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