Personal Dive Boat SCUBA Yacht Charters
Let’s talk about casual diving on your Personal Dive Boat SCUBA Yacht Charters
What is Casual Diving on your yacht charter vacation?
Casual diving means you only want to do between 1-4 or so dives during your week-long charter vacation.
The majority of crewed charter yachts that offer diving would sit in this sweet spot. Casual Diving leaves plenty of time for other fun activities such as Kayaking, Fishing, Sailing, Eating, Bobbing in the water, and maybe just a beverage or three.
How do the air tanks get filled onboard a casual SCUBA yacht?
A Casual diving yacht charter probably will not have an air compressor on board and carries one tank per person, which they would refill onshore in between dives usually, while you are enjoying lunch at a beach restaurant.
Often though, it means the yacht will need to detour while traveling between anchorages to have tanks filled.
These boats rarely offer night diving. This type of charter is ok for the mixed groups. The trips ashore for air fills can be a time for some shopping or taking in the local ambiance.
If you are looking to get in a few dives, then casual SCUBA diving yachts are for you. You can also take a boat that does dedicated dive charters as well. Just because they can cope with specialized diving does not mean that they do not do casual diving.
What is Rendezvous Diving?
This type of diving is for the person who may only want a dive or two in a week and has found the perfect boat that they want to charter, but the yacht does not have dive facilities.
Rendez Vous Diving is also a good option for those who have rented a bareboat to drive themselves and would like to do a dive or two but do not want to rent the gear and go by themselves.
Call up one of the local dive shops and arrange for them to take you out for a dive. The Dive Professional will come out to your boat, pick you up, take you to the dive site then return you to your ship. How convenient is that!
The rest of your group can go to the beach, or you can often arrange to be dropped off in a different spot from where you were picked up.
Alternatively, the dive shop boat will meet your boat at the dive site then pull up alongside and raft up to you. This way, the non-divers can see what goes on. At many dive sites, it’s possible for the non-divers to snorkel above the divers and watch them in the water.
Can I rent gear to SCUBA dive on a bareboat?
If you are bareboating and want to dive, there is the option of certified divers renting gear and going it alone. When you are trained to Divemaster or Instructor level, it is even a better option!
The personal service and local knowledge are missing by doing this. The people who dive the sites regularly know the lay of the land. They know where the octopus lives, the eels hiding spot and where the lobsters are.
All gear, including compressors, is available for rent in many places in the world.
You can usually have it all delivered to your boat at the same time as you board.
Many times you can get them to sit down with you for a half-hour and answer your questions.
Many areas have dedicated dive moorings installed at the dive sites, which makes finding the sites easier then it used to be by lining up landmarks!
If you are planning on heading to the British Virgin Islands, check out Bluewater Divings SCUBA rental rates to get an idea of the costs.
Can I bring my SCUBA dive gear on the yacht?
Fewer people are bringing their gear these days, because of the hefty baggage charges and also the hassle factor of dragging around a large dive bag, it often seems more natural to rent gear for casual diving.
If you have a mask, regulator, and dive computer, do not leave them at home as these items are somewhat personal.
Nothing will make you madder than if you have your favorite mask at home, and all the ones you try on the boat don’t quite fit right. I have a large nose and a flat forehead (think neanderthal), so I know all about it.
If you are bringing regulators and computers, do not check them as they have been known to not be in dive bags when they reach their destination, especially if you transfer through Puerto Rico and are going to the Caribbean!
Can I bring a pony bottle or spare air?
If airline staff or customs detect extra small tanks, they will require the valve is not attached so they can see inside the bottle. If the valve is on the bottle, they may confiscate it!
I recommend leaving it at home for your diving vacation if it entails a luxury yacht charter.
Why should you use H2O Luxury Yachts to book your SCUBA Yacht Charter?
SCUBA Diving in the British Virgin Islands(Opens in a new browser tab)Our team of charter yacht brokers has 2 SCUBA Instructors and one Divemaster, qualified in both PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) and NAUI (National Association of Underwater Instructors) and we have completed upwards of probably 5000 dives off charter yachts.
Our qualifications and experience make us uniquely qualified to offer practical and correct information for any dive travelers in your group who are looking for motor yachts, sailing yachts, and yacht charter offers.
Scuba Diving On Board