How many is too many?

[DivemasterDennis]

I have been involved in a few discussion lately on the ideal number of people to include in a group dive trip. Our local dive shop offers a number of trips per year as do many others in the area. It seems there are a lot of trips posted for 12 people in the group, quite a few for 16, and now and then I see trips where 24 or even 36 people are traveling together. My wife and I once went on a live aboard trip in a group of 18 and it was not our favorite experience. Most of our dive trips are done with either just the two of us, or with another couple who both dive. We were once on Bonaire, as a group of 2, staying at Buddy Dive. Next door at Captain Don's there was a group from California that consisted of 42 souls traveling together. I cannot imagine traveling in/with a group that size. I'll take a group of 4 any day, maybe 6 now and then. Your thoughts? How many is too many?
DivemasterDennis

 

[James R]

Right now I would go on the assumption that the resort or live aboard will most likely be full or nearly full, so I would probably chose my destination with that in mind. I've never been to resort/hotel/dive op/etc that was empty except for me and the gf so you're gonna be dealing with people no matter what. It's just a question of dealing with people you may know (or at least have met ) or a complete unknown. Sometimes the unknown may be better, sometimes maybe not so much.

My next trip has like 26 people on it booked through the shop, so it'll be interesting to see how my outlook changes on this topic.

 

[Jax]

Large groups work well; they self-separate into smaller groups. The number counts only for price reductions or more benefits.

 

[TMHeimer]

I have no experience with shop-run dive trips. When such a large group of 20-40 people get to the destination do they just split up and dive separately like in groups of 4-6? 42 people (adults as they may be) travelling together sounds like a scaled down version of the school band trips I used to run. I would not want to be part of the 42. Likewise, I always wondered why the kids were so excited to go on a band trip when they had to do what we said and be where they were told to be at all times.....I guess it's the comraderie...?

 

[Beowulf]

I agree with Jax and James. There will be many other divers why not have friends/acquaintances along instead of total strangers? Our LDS trips are generally 12-16 people. One advantage is "we own the boat", meaning on boats doing "divers choice" our group is in the majority so we can go where we want to go.

When not diving we may or may not socialize with our group. Sometimes my buddy/gf and I wander off on our own depending on what strikes us at the time. Several of the regulars have become quite good friends through the trips we've been on together and being new to diving it's good for us to meet others that dive. Someday perhaps we'll get together with just another couple or two that we've met through the group trips and plan our own trips, but the group travel is working for us right now.

 

[Tigerman]

I do find that large groups tend to "break up in smaller ones", the only problem for me tend to be that the boat can be too crowded for my liking..

 

[Lead_carrier]

If I'm leading the trip, then 6 maybe 8 are usually the largest that I like to deal with. Even then, it is usually split off into 2 groups. If I"m not leading the trip, I don't care. If I don't agree with a planned dive or where to eat, I'll politely say no thanks and then go and do my thing.

 

[TSandM]

We did a trip to Indonesia with 23, IIRC. We were split up into at least two boats each day; nothing was overcrowded. Having that number of people allowed folks to sort themselves into compatible groups for meals and the like. I've also done several liveaboards with about 20 divers which have worked very well. I have to admit that one of them is a selected group, but the others haven't been.

What I can't imagine is trying to be the coordinator for a 42-person group. Talk about herding cats!

 

[Tigerman]

More like herding herring

 

[scubadobadoo]

More than two is too many unless you can find two more that are compatible travelers and then more than 4 is too many.