Advantages of Boat Diving

What are five advantages of diving from a boat?

Diving from a boat gives you opportunities to dive in areas you could not otherwise reach. Many excellent dive sites lie well beyond a reasonable swim from shore access – sometimes many kilometres/miles from it. Without a boat, you’ll never get to these sites. In other areas, dive sites are within reach of shore, but you don’t have access to that shore, either due to logistics (an excessive walk, dense growth, etc.) or legal access (private property, restricted area, etc.). In these cases as well, it’s either dive from a boat or never see them.

Boat diving allows you to seek out the calmest and clearest waters. You can do this shore diving, too, but when conditions are poor at your primary dive site, it’s often much easier to find decent conditions via boat. When you’re shore diving in most places, the same stretch of coast will have similar conditions. With a boat, however, you can check out an offshore reef if you’re inshore or vice versa. You may be able to cruise to the lee side of an island or other obstacle that provides cover from a rough sea. In addition, when looking for better conditions, you can easily evaluate as you go, whereas this isn’t so easy by automobile.

Boat diving is typically easier than shore diving. While there are certainly many very convenient shore dives, it’s hard to beat boat diving for convenience. The longest walk you have in your gear on a boat dive is never more than a few steps, and your entry typically consists of a single giant stride or a back roll. After the dive, you usually climb a short ladder or slip out of your gear and hop up on the boat’s side. Because the boat’s usually over the dive site, or at least very close, long surface swims are seldom necessary.

Less wear and tear on your equipment. Compared to most (but certainly not all) shore diving, boat diving causes less wear, especially regarding your wet suit boots and exposure suit knees. This is because you’re walking or on your knees much less when boat diving than when diving from shore.

Boat diving is fun because there’s social interaction. Probably the best reason to boat dive is that it’s fun. It’s a great way to spend time with your friends in a setting that’s both adventurous and relaxing at the same time. Diving from charter dive boats is also an excellent way to meet new dive buddies and make new friends.