Baaaah! fits equally as well 
verlord:
verlord:
Who loves "Cattle Boats?"
- Thread starter No Fish
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
A sheep shape ship so to speak.
I avoid the big crowds and time sensitive operations....
I did my check outs down in Key Largo w/ the Aquanuts - was fine for checkouts, but now that I have more experience I would hate it. DM stayed on the boat and barked be back on the boat in 45 minutes from when the first person hits. Their website boasts they can hold 32 divers w/o becoming a cattle boat... geesh comon' I'd say there were about 18-24 folks on board and it was kinda hectic.
Down in the Cayman's we dove off a cattle style pontoon boat. Easily coulda held 20+ divers and we loved it. There were only 2-5 other divers on the boat the whole week. There were 2-3 DM's in the water on every dive and once we did the "tour" of the site we were allowed to explore on our own. Of note is that the water conditions in the Caymans were placid, zero waves, no boat rocking - extremely stable, I think that plus avoiding a v-hull helped with the experience.
Recently down in Key Largo w/ Rainbow Reef, six-pack style boats one day, slightly bigger the next, had an awesome time. We were advised to be back in an hour - not unrealistic and a good laid-back atmosphere...
I did my check outs down in Key Largo w/ the Aquanuts - was fine for checkouts, but now that I have more experience I would hate it. DM stayed on the boat and barked be back on the boat in 45 minutes from when the first person hits. Their website boasts they can hold 32 divers w/o becoming a cattle boat... geesh comon' I'd say there were about 18-24 folks on board and it was kinda hectic.
Down in the Cayman's we dove off a cattle style pontoon boat. Easily coulda held 20+ divers and we loved it. There were only 2-5 other divers on the boat the whole week. There were 2-3 DM's in the water on every dive and once we did the "tour" of the site we were allowed to explore on our own. Of note is that the water conditions in the Caymans were placid, zero waves, no boat rocking - extremely stable, I think that plus avoiding a v-hull helped with the experience.
Recently down in Key Largo w/ Rainbow Reef, six-pack style boats one day, slightly bigger the next, had an awesome time. We were advised to be back in an hour - not unrealistic and a good laid-back atmosphere...
CAPT HOOK
Contributor
mind "cattle boats" most of the time.
Meet lots of interesting people, and some I wish I would never have met, but for the most part it's fun.
Of course we dive off our own boat whenever we can!
Meet lots of interesting people, and some I wish I would never have met, but for the most part it's fun.
Of course we dive off our own boat whenever we can!
very well putd33ps1x:
caymaniac
Contributor
deepbluetech:very well put
Although I generally agree that cattle boats are not that much fun, although it might depend on who you meet (this could be good or bad), sometimes there are no other choices. So then what, for those who on the poll choose to avoid at all cost, this may involve not diving which would entirely for me, be the point of where I am.
Diving is fun,
Caymaniac
caymaniac:
Absolutely I agree one hundred percent! This is why you always do a little research before you go anywhere. You can always make the best of a bad deal, but you are on your holiday and you should be enjoying yourself. With all the resources available today you can find exactly what you need before you commit.
Damselfish
Contributor
I'd say there's 2 traits that make a true cattle boat. One is simply a big boat with a crowd. The other is a dive op that insists on follow the leader diving for no good reason, sets restrictive limits on time, caters to the lowest common denominator, etc.
Given a choice between a good dive op with a crowded boat, vs. a crappy dive op with lots of room - I'd rather go with the first. I'd certainly rather be on a uncrowded boat with a good dive op, but a good op with the right herd can be alot of fun.
Given a choice between a good dive op with a crowded boat, vs. a crappy dive op with lots of room - I'd rather go with the first. I'd certainly rather be on a uncrowded boat with a good dive op, but a good op with the right herd can be alot of fun.
I did a Discover Scuba on a cattle boat while on a cruise. Luckily for me I was part of the last 3 or 4 divers and we got one DM as opposed to the several other bigger herds that we diving with DM's. I watched the other groups and it looked like a real nightmare. This was a discover scuba dive so it may not be fair to compare to a dive trip but was enough to scare me off.
My last dives were with Fisheye in G. Cayman and they were definately not a cattle op. Very nice, relaxing, no pressure to get in and out, run your own dive profiles after the deep part of the first deep dives and on the second 60 footer. If you want a DM you got it. If not go on your own. Pretty laid back and flexible. We did however go out with another group on a slow day and there were 10 of us but it was still a great group. I'm spoiled so look for smaller boats 6 - 10 divers unless I hear otherwise that a bigger boat is OK.
My last dives were with Fisheye in G. Cayman and they were definately not a cattle op. Very nice, relaxing, no pressure to get in and out, run your own dive profiles after the deep part of the first deep dives and on the second 60 footer. If you want a DM you got it. If not go on your own. Pretty laid back and flexible. We did however go out with another group on a slow day and there were 10 of us but it was still a great group. I'm spoiled so look for smaller boats 6 - 10 divers unless I hear otherwise that a bigger boat is OK.
Similar threads
