Feedback Please... Opinion On What You Would Like To See In A Dive Operation

[scubadada]

They use my docks when in St Maarten...

 

[Trailboss123]

Feedback I am looking for:

1. Stay A Board (1 night 2 nights or 3 to 5 nights or just all day diving)
Personally, I would be looking for a weeklong dive vacation or even 10 days. I have long considered doing a weeklong trip with Explorer Ventures and I have friends that have gone with them and speak highly of their experience and the diving. Probably the biggest reason that I have not gone with them yet is the added headache of flying into one location and out of another. Maybe it is less complicated than it appears, but I'd prefer to simply book a round trip flight between one destination. So, if you managed to begin and end your trip in either Saba, St. Maarten or St. Kitt's, it might be a differentiator? Getting anywhere in the Caribbean from the West Coast of the USA is difficult and costly enough. Trying to fly into one location and out of another a week later is even worse.

2. Co-Ed Bunk House Accommodations or Single Suite Style
Single or double suite style for me. I do bunk style here in So Cal Islands because it is all we have available and it is local and I am good with that. But, I am local and I don't even consider those trips a vacation. If I am flying and vacationing, I want a higher level of comfort. Having a certain # of single rooms without charging a single supplement up-charge would also be a big differentiator in the liveaboard market.

3. High End Accommodations or Comfortable Low Key Style
We all want high end, but low cost - Realistically, comfortable and reasonable cost is where it is at, in my opinion. See previous question.

4. Expectations on number of dives per day
If I am on a dive vacation, then I want the ability to make 4-5 dives a day; whether I do them all or not. 3 dives per day is the minimum- otherwise, I am not doing a liveaboard.

5. Classes Available
Not that important in my opinion. Most people that are coming on a liveaboard are adequately certified. Make Nitrox certification available.

6. Meals & Drinks
Food is hugely important to most people. It can make or break an operation- especially if doing 5-10 days. Food needs to be good, plentiful and satisfying.

7. Type of diving??? sight seeing, technical diving, exploration diving, new dive sight development, science related diving ....
Recreational scuba diving. Anything else will limit the market.

 

[drrich2]

Trailboss123 hit most of what I had to share. A few points:

1.) Aggressor Fleet in the Caribbean has a good reputation. I think people aren't sure what Aggressor's relationship with 'its' boats is. It is just a booking agency, an owner, a franchise operator, etc...? If a female client accuses a captain of peeping at her, for example, and he's not fired, is it Aggressor's fault, or the boat owner, etc...? My impression is we should judge boats on a case-by-case basis.

2.) I'm more likely to consider a newcomer if it's part of an established fleet, such as Aggressor or Explorer Ventures. I'm less afraid you'll take my money and booking, then disappear.

3.) As for upscale vs. low-scale, I'm not after high luxury, but the wider Caribbean live-aboard standard is pretty nice. Trying to operate like Blackbeard's in the Bahamas (cheap airfare), or a California boat (which may cater to local divers), I don't think that's going to fly. I agree with Trailboss123; if I'm flying, I want at least a 7 day boat trip. If you want to see an 'in-between' provider, study the Juliet. If I pay well under $2,000, you might get by with 19 - 20 dives (Blackbeard's & Juliet); anymore than that, and I want 25 + and a guide on every dive at no added charge.

4.) If a new unknown wants my business, you must do one of these things:
-----1.) Offer me something I can't get elsewhere.
-----2.) Offer me what someone else does, but much cheaper.
-----3.) Offer me what someone else does, but a good deal better.
From what you've posted, you could...
-----1.) Focus on St. Eustatia and Anguila, since your competition doesn't offer those. I've read good things about Eusatitia, what little I've seen. The 'buzz' (e.g.: trip report volume) on St. E. seems way less than even Grand Turk! Does Anguila have good diving? Caribbean Explorer doesn't offer dives in St. Martin from what I understand.
-----2.) Can you really undercut Caribbean Explorer on price?
-----3.) Leave from & return to the same port, unlike Caribbean Explorer. Agree with Trailboss123 on preferring simplified travel plans.

5.) If I'm stuck on your boat for a week, food better be good.

6.) I can't imagine you'll get a high enough volume of tech. divers for a tech. only operation, but offer sporadic trips. Imagine - 'Tech. Week 2018; see Saba as few divers ever have!' Would tec. folks like to hit those deep pinnacles?

7.) As for co-ed bunkhouse vs. single suite, I experienced the former on Truth Aquatics Vision out of Santa Barbara, the latter on the Sun Dancer II, Cayman Aggressor IV and Turks & Caicos Aggressor II. The culture of California diving is much different than the Caribbean; unguided, cold water, more exposure protection, more local divers, rent tanks & weights separate from boat trip, cheaper. I enjoyed both, but I'm not convinced the warm-water seeking tropics vacationer flying in is going to go for a bunkhouse (yet there is Blackbeard's).

8.) In addition to Nitrox, if any of your diving is deep, offer AOW and Deep Diver.

I linked you trip reports with photos in the boat names from my trips; look at those rooms (being mindful I book the cheapest) and shots around the boats. In order, the Caribbean boats offered me 26 (1 was Blue Hole), 25 and 27 dives. Really good food.

Can you beat that?

Richard.

 

[Seaweed Doc]

My perspective is a little different, and keep in mind I've not got liveaboard experience other than diving the same places as liveaboards I've seen.

The thing that would turn me off in what you described is "accommodates 40 people." I like diving in smaller groups, away from large numbers of other divers. I suppose that might argue for "fewer, nicer rooms" though I have no problem with the bunkhouse idea. It's the fact that there may be 39 other divers in the water in the same vicinity that would prevent me from becoming your customer.

 

[Charles S]

I appreciate all the feedback, this is very helpful to me as I start to formulate a plan of action.

I will continue to read posts and will update my plans as we move forward

Again I am very grateful for all of your assistance that the members are providing.

Please note I do not want to compete with already existing operations I want to offer something unique and special at a affordable price.

Thank You

Charles

 

[DavidFL]

Especially since you are not a diver, I highly recommend spending considerable time and resources on recruiting, training, and managing the crew.

The very first live-aboard for me was M/V Spree, captained by Wookie (who was been referenced in earlier posts in this thread), and with the dive operation led by his wife Melanie. Spree was the shortest live aboard trip I've done (3 dive days), bunk style accommodations, had to climb a ladder to get to the facilities. I have since done three trips on Aggressor boats and a trip on the Aquacat. I would have done more trips on the Spree, but my second booking there got cancelled for weather, and then Frank and Mel sold the boat.

Of all the liveaboards I have been on, the most memorable was my first trip on the Spree, and that is primarily memorable because of the combination of professionalism and customer service from the crew. In the case of the Spree, it was no doubt partially because Frank and Mel owned the operation and worked on it every charter. Here's what "stood out" for me:

1. They directly confronted the seriousness of the safety of the passengers (both on the boat and on the dives). In the initial "pre-boarding" briefing and the initial dive briefing, it became clear that they wanted everyone to concentrate and participate in understanding the boat and dive safety. This is the same problem, on a more intimate and significant scale, as the "safety brief" on an airliner. Most people ignore it. The more experienced a traveler is, the more likely he or she will ignore it. It takes some effort to get a group of divers about to embark on a trip to focus, listen, and comprehend. And then, the rules have to be actually applied.

2. M/V Spree had some rules they followed. I don't remember all the rules, but they were carefully explained in the first brief. One obvious example was (for this non-tech trip): No deco. If you have a computer, and you come back on board (where Mel, with a clipboard, would collect depth and time info), and your computer is "in deco", then there was a consequence about subsequent dives. On the very first dive of the day, a dive team came back consisting of woman and her teenage or early 20's son. The son didn't have a computer, as I recall, but the reported depth and time for the dive exceeded NDL. Probably not all that unusual, but what was interesting was how skillfully they handled it. First of all, part of the charter was done through a dive shop, and that dive shop had a leader assigned to the group, and the mother/son dive pair were part of that group. Rather than cut out the dive shop (who blocked/booked the charter), I overheard Mel carefully and quietly take the dive shop leader aside, explain the situation, explain the expected consequences, and then the dive shop leader carried the message. There was no angry showdown with other people around, and more importantly, as far as I know, there were no further problems like that from that dive group for the rest of the trip.

2. All of the crew on my one M/V Spree trip were great with the divers. At least one member of the crew of my trip, who was working as an assistant on the dive deck, turned out to be a serial entrepreneur with net worth probably 100X mine. She crewed on Spree from time to time because she enjoyed it, as far as I could tell, and she didn't present herself as anyone but a member of the crew. So, if you can create an atmosphere where the divers love it AND the crew loves it, you will have something unique. It will take continuous effort to maintain, and its an intangible. If I were in your shoes, I would set aside more than the "customary" payroll for your crew, and also pay a lot of attention to the work environment for the crew. Difficult to put on a cost/benefit spreadsheet.

If you read any of the review of liveaboard trips, virtually every review will say something about the crew and the food. You may or may not get details about the dives, how "fishy" the sites were, how many different types of sharks they saw, but everyone will have an opinion on the food and the crew.

 

[boulderjohn]

Here is something that hasn't been mentioned--a crew with the ability to handle problem divers, because your boat will get them. Here is a story to illustrate what I mean.

I was diving on a liveaboard in Thailand, and one of the DMs leading the dives was new to the job. He was skilled enough as a diver, and he knew the sites well enough, but... Our total customer group was split into two groups for what was supposedly the signature dive of the trip. I was in the second group, and it was led by the inexperienced DM. We were to follow a certain path through the open ocean and then surface within a cavern (open surface--not a cavern as defined by diving standards) that was supposedly breathtakingly beautiful. We would then surface swim through the stalactites back into the open ocean, where we would be picked up.

Our group included a photographer who had already proven to be a problem because of his penchant for selfish behavior in filming objects, etc. He initially slowed the group down in its travels through his repeated photographic obsessions, but he finally brought the group to a halt when he discovered some small critter within a coral formation. As he gleefully related later on the boat, he got more than 100 shots of that critter while the rest of the group hovered nearby, watching him take those shots. When we ran low on air, we surfaced. We had to take the word of the first group as to how beautiful the cavern was. When others mentioned how sorry they were to have missed it, the photographer scoffed. "Not me! I'd rather look at living things then some old rocks any day!"

As that photographer took those 100 shots, the DM watched him along with the rest of us. He should have had the courage to go over to him, tap him on the shoulder, and indicate that it was time to move on. He may have angered that one customer by doing that, but instead he angered 5 others by meekly letting that selfish jerk dictate the dive. None of the rest of us had the courage to act, either, but leading that dive was not our job.

When it was time for the next dive, the captain handled it better. He went to the photographer and offered to work with him on the future dives to get the best possible shots. From then on, the captain went with the photographer as his personal guide on every dive. The photographer raved about the great personal service, and so did the rest of the customers.

 

[Diving Dubai]

Please note I do not want to compete with already existing operations I want to offer something unique and special at a affordable price.

Affordable and Uniques don't always have to go together..

Example: Misool Eco Resort in Indonesia. !2 days there is $6000-8000 USD per person. To get there from europe of the US takes around 40 hrs of travel time each way. Yet it's fully booked. You have to book a year in advance to secure a place. They take around 40 guests at a time

They don't have a great deal of competition for quality of diving they offer - and people are prepared to pay. I'm about to visit for a second time.

My point here is, the average of divers has increased and they have more disposable income (or many do) - so you can choose whether to be really unique and higher end, rather than being budget - I suspect you'd still get similar amount of bookings. So lots of interesting choices as to your market segment

 

[NCG8R]

I’d like to echo some previous comments. I just returned from my first LiveAboard vacation on Belize Agressor IV. The things I remember most are the crew and food. There were some minor incidents with a traveler that the captain addressed directly and were corrected. Food and support of the staff were excellent. Accommodations were cabins, total 20 divers. I chose this boat because the cabins had twin beds vs. bunk bends on BA III. Total 20 divers which appeared just about right.

Two particular comments:
1. Average age of travelers was probably over 50. As stated previously, older divers are less likely to go camping at sea, and can afford to pay for that luxury. I’m not talking about the Ritz, but twin beds (no single supplement for shared room), great food and snacks, relatively larger staterooms and salon will create full boats and repeat customers.

2. When things go wrong (and they do on boats) support your captain and crew. An excellent trip ended on a sour note when AC was taken out on last day (in port) for repair and remained down overnight. Travelers slept on deck in the heat, captain requested payment for rooms at hotel at head of dock ($100 US) and was denied by ownership. Guess how happy the trip home was.

As an experienced executive I learned the secret to success is to hire good people and trust them to do the right thing!!

 

[Dogbowl]

I’d like to echo some previous comments. I just returned from my first LiveAboard vacation on Belize Agressor IV. The things I remember most are the crew and food. There were some minor incidents with a traveler that the captain addressed directly and were corrected. Food and support of the staff were excellent. Accommodations were cabins, total 20 divers. I chose this boat because the cabins had twin beds vs. bunk bends on BA III. Total 20 divers which appeared just about right.

Two particular comments:
1. Average age of travelers was probably over 50. As stated previously, older divers are less likely to go camping at sea, and can afford to pay for that luxury. I’m not talking about the Ritz, but twin beds (no single supplement for shared room), great food and snacks, relatively larger staterooms and salon will create full boats and repeat customers.

2. When things go wrong (and they do on boats) support your captain and crew. An excellent trip ended on a sour note when AC was taken out on last day (in port) for repair and remained down overnight. Travelers slept on deck in the heat, captain requested payment for rooms at hotel at head of dock ($100 US) and was denied by ownership. Guess how happy the trip home was.

As an experienced executive I learned the secret to success is to hire good people and trust them to do the right thing!!

This is exactly what I referred to in an earlier post about how Aggressor head office doesn’t handle customer issues/complaints well. It is rather short sighted to not accommodate the passengers for that one night when air con is down.