Choosing the best boat in Cocos

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divingdawn

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Can anyone help .. my husband and I - how like the queen i sound! are looking to book a 10 dayer in Cocos in 2010. But who to choose. We both like comfort these days, the hubby travels with more camera kit that clothes. We have done other PH boats, not yet an agressor and is the hunters worth the extra money - the website doesn't help much on the state of the cabins etc. You guys must have done both?.. any help gratefully recieved
 
We have dove Cocos and Malpelo twice both with Undersea Hunter. The deciding factors for us boiled down to 1. A crew/dms that really knew the area. 2. Night dives even if only one person wants to go, Aggressor wanted 3 divers minimum. 3. (And this turned out to be a big one) Undersea Hunters large hard bottom pangas. There where many times when we saw the Aggressor zodiacs struggling along in the rough water. Trip reports, photos and video/slide shows at our site.
 
I just got back from cocos on sunday. i went on the argo which is one of the undersea hunter boats. you absolutely to no want to have a ride out to those dive sites in those zodiac/pangas on the okeanos. you can't go wrong with the undersea hunter boats. i've been on the argo and the undersea hunter. the argo is bigger, and the cabins are slightly larger. there was also more room for camera gear on the argo. but, the undersea hunter is awesome!! i'll be going back ,and i wouldn't consider any boats except the undersea hunter, the sea hunter, and the argo.
 
I will second the Sea Hunter. It was desgined for diving Cocos from day one so to speak. The pongas are the only way to deal with the surface conditions you may experience in Cocos. I do have one question. I know the Argo is now in operation but is it worth the extra $ they charge. I see they have put the costs of the two boats more or less equal but the Argo still is a bit higher.
 
Two other considerations: I did my first trip on the Sea Hunter and have since done my next three on the Undersea.

(1) Both of them issue either EPRBs(sp?) or more recently, a GPS-based locating device for the unforeseeable event that you get blown away. I'm sure the Argo does too. My guess is that the Aggressor does too, but I don't know that for a fact.

(2) the Argo is 12-passenger, Undersea Hunter is 14, and Sea Hunter is 18, while the Okeanos is 22. Given a choice, I'm willing to pay more to be less crowded, especially while on the panga and underwater.
 
thanks guys what else is good.. is the food enough. 6' 4'' hubby and i prefer a drink in the evening after diving. We were last in May in the red sea and hanging out watching DVDs and drinking a few glasses of wine made the hols. I have been on boats that all are in bed by 9 - thats not very european... We were grativating towards the most expensive - rather like handbags and horses you often get what you pay for. However we had great hol on Komodo Dancer and it is tempting as they have moved a boat but will the guides be good enough.. especially if they are planning only 10 trip in 2010. Let me know about the cabins which are the best..
 
Food is never lacking on either the Undersea Hunter or the Sea Hunter. Alcohol is available but it is not free. I would imagine Argo is at least as good, who knows, maybe even better given the higher price.

Cabins are about the same - Undersea vs. Sea - but I'd give Undersea a slight edge based on storage space. Argo is definitely better, based on what I've seen in the pictures at their website, and as Matt215 pointed out, they are larger. On the other hand, Sea Hunter has a huge lounge and a separate dining area, whereas Undersea's much smaller lounge also doubles as its dining area.

As for how social people are after dinner, chartering is the only way you will get 10 other passengers to think alike in this regard. Otherwise, it's pot luck.
 
the argo is identical to the other boats except the rooms are a little larger, and it is "newer". i really liked it, but not a whole lot more than the undersea hunter. the food on the argo was good but not better than the undersea hunter. the large rooms are nice, but when i'm in the room i'm usually asleep so it doesn't matter.
 
I was on the trip with Matt. I liked the Argo because there was a lot more room, in my opinion, but this also led to less comorardie (sorry for the misspelling). We also had a film crew on board and I could not have imagined all that gear and people on the Undersea Hunter. On the Undersea Hunter there's only so much room and you all end up bonding because you are kind of forced to. The Argo is so large that you can pretty much find several areas where you can be by yourself if you like. There is so much food you might get tired of eating. I am generally one of the social people who stays awake after 9pm, but it just depends on the other guests.
I also took a visit to the Sea Hunter to visit a crew friend and the deck was a lot larger than the Undersea Hunter. However, like someone else noted, the SH has 18 divers. In my opinion, I like the smaller guest lists. And as a final comment, there is no way I would be bouncing out to some of those dive sites in the inflatable. Hard bottom boat is the only way to go!
 
I would recommend Undersea Hunter for comfort, food and guides. They have the best in the business. Most of the guides have worked for over 6+ years there. Edward and Ronald are two of the hardest working guides at Cocos!
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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