Land-based diving holidays - how many dives per day?

[SharkEsq]

So I've done most of my diving in the Keys, and it seems that the standard there is a 2-tank dive in the morning, and a 2-tank dive in the afternoon. Not that you have to do both trips, but things are scheduled so that you can (and even have time to grab a quick lunch in between). But I've been a couple other places where you can only get in 2 dives in per day. It would seem that, as long as you don't have go go more than 30 minutes to a dive site, that you should be able to get in 2 1-hour dives with a 1-hour surface interval in about 4 hours, so an 8 to noon and 1 to 5 schedule seems like a perfectly doable one.

Is it just a question of how close the dive sites are (and, does it turn out that not many places are within 30 minutes of good dive sites)? Or are there some places that cater to people that want to get in as much diving as possible, and others that cater to more casual diving?

And, as a more practical matter, if I'm looking to do some destination diving, where can I go that has good diving and where its easy to get in 4 dives a day? I know a live aboard is the real answer for people that want to maximize diving, but I don't think I can get away from the family for that long, so i'm usually limited to about 2 or 3 days of diving. I only get out about once or twice a year, so I want to get as much bottom time in as possible...

Thanks!

 

[Oldbear]

I wish I could say go "here" or go "there" but dive operators vary so much. It sounds like you are looking for more of a dive provider rather than a dive guide leader. The difference being a guided dive might be based on such limiting parameters as 30 minute bottom time per dive group or dive a specific route during the dive guided by a tour leader.

I think you are looking for a dive provider who takes you to a general area and says, "go blow bubbles, I'll be right here when you are finished." This type of dive operator lets the divers set their own bottom time based on each diver's abilities and planning. Or you are looking for dive opportunities where you don't have a guide at all. Bonaire comes to mind real quick for those types of dives.

As far as the number of dive you can do in a day it depends on your Nitrogen Loading, dive(s) depth, surface intervals and O2% (air or EAN/Nitrox). I have done as many as six dive per day and did not come close to exceeding my NDLs; so if you plan for multiple dives or longer bottom times it is possible.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Bonaire's probably the easiest answer ... shore diving there's a simple matter of driving around the island looking for a yellow rock by the side of the road with a name painted on it. Pull over, gear up, get in the water. The reef's almost always just a couple minutes swim out, and the diving's good. It's easy to get in four or five dives a day.

I've been to CocoView in Roatan and done six dives a day there. The lagoon's pretty good diving, with walls on either side, and the boat will take you out each day for a couple of dives elsewhere. It's nothing fancy, but you're there to dive, eat and sleep anyway ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[SharkEsq]

I dive nitrox, but if I'm diving more than one day in a row, I think 4 dives a day is enough for me. I always end up zonked after dinner anyways, so I don't know that another would add to the fun. As for the kind of operator, I'm not looking for hand-holding, but the model that most of the keys operators I've been with seems to work well - Find a buddy and be back in an hour, or maybe join the DM for a guided tour if you want. Shore diving sounds like a bit more of a chore than I think I'm looking for on a holiday - though maybe I'm wrong. But I like a boat that takes me to the site, has water for me for the ride to the 2nd site, and takes care of my tanks and what-not. I'll pay a little extra for that luxury. So it is really just a question of whether the good sites are all within 15 or 30 minutes of the dock? Or is there something else about a location that determines whether the operators try to squeeze two 2-tank trips a day in, versus a single 2-tank (or maybe an extended 3-tank) trip in? For instance, in the Andamans, all I could find were single 2-tank trips. And when I was recently looking at the Maldives, Phuket and Oman, the first few operators didn't seem to have a schedule that would allow for 4 dives a day (ignoring night dives). There, at least, it seems you need to do a live aboard to get 4 (or more) dives in a day. Or have I just not looked hard enough?

 

[Manneca]

I dived with Atlantis in Puerta Galera in the Philippines. 4 dives a day. Two Fish in Bunaken and Lembeh (Indonesia) were 3 dives a day (you could I think do a night dive too). Seaventures in Mabul was 3 dives a day, plus the possibility of a dive under the rig (it's an oil exploratory rig). If you went to Sipadan there was the possibility of 5 dives a day (dives were limited to 45 minutes). Wakatobi (Indonesia and expensive) was three dives a day with the possibility of a 4th. Layang Layang was 3 dives plus the option of a shore dive after the 3rd dive (45 minute time limit).

---------- Post added July 7th, 2015 at 07:12 AM ----------

I've dived at the Conrad Rangali in the Maldives and they had 3 dives a day. They've changed operators, so I don't know if they have the same schedule.

 

[b1llyb00b]

I live on Guam, and four boat dives a day is totally possible with several dive ops on the island. If you want to shore dive, there are multiple dive sites within driving distance of each other (its a small island). I personally dive 5-6 times every Saturday and have no scheduling issues or nitrogen loading issues.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

A diver can get in multiple shore dives at great dive sites at Bonaire. Maui is goos d too. If you follow your tables or computer, and dive safely, you can still get in 4 or 5 dives a day.
DivemasterDennis

 

[RJP]

Bonaire's probably the easiest answer ... shore diving there's a simple matter of driving around the island looking for a yellow rock by the side of the road with a name painted on it. Pull over, gear up, get in the water. The reef's almost always just a couple minutes swim out, and the diving's good. It's easy to get in four or five dives a day.

As a dive traveler who has a non-diving family I would suggest Curacao over Bonaire. Far more to do topside.

Nearly all the nice beaches have dive ops on site. Easy to hook up with a buddy and get a shore dive in and only be away from the family for the sum total of your dive time. Contrast that with boat diving in Hawaii where a two-tank morning dive means leaving the hotel before the family wakes up and not being back until after they've had lunch.

We stay at the Curacao Marriott which has a nice house reef and their dive op has two boats. Depending on the daily dive schedule their boats even stop back at the hotel beach for the surface interval. I can typically get 12-15 dives in during a 7-day Curacao trip without my wife and kids really even noticing.

"Hey honey, I'm going to do a quick dive. Want me to grab you a pina colada on the way back?"

I've even done dives while the family was showering and getting ready for dinner without missing a beat.

 

[drbill]

At Club Ocellaris in the Philippines (Anilao) we were doing four dives a day off bangkas based at the Club. Many of the dives were in the 90-150 min range so all you did was eat, dive and sleep. Perfect!

Several have pointed to Bonaire as an excellent place to do 4-5 shore-based dives a day.

A few years back I would do 4-7 dives a day in our local dive park. Today I'm happy with 1-2.

 

[TSandM]

I think there are places (Hawaii, for example) where the conditions for diving in the afternoon are often not very good, so operators only take people out in the mornings. In addition, places where there are a lot of touristy things to do (like Hawaii) probably attract a lot of folks who are there for more than diving, or who are there with family who don't dive, so operators may have found it doesn't pay to operate boats in the afternoon, because they don't fill.