53 replies to this topic

[dive_sail_etc]

I want to be on the list too.

Morning dives or all day is good.

Thank you Monthakan, for being flexible with your dive preferences. you are on the list!

[WreckWench]

QUESTION:

The plan is to have 2 am dives and 2 pm dives starting in Delray Beach for 3 days and then Jupiter for 3 days for 6 days of diving.

My thought was to do 2 dives in the am and 2 in the pm so that if you wanted to do both...you could feasibly do 4 boat dives.

I have had some requests for 3 boat dives in the am and the pm... or 2 per am & pm in Delray and 3 per am and pm in Jupiter.

So what do YOU all prefer?

p.s. Keep in mind that if we do not get enough to fill the boat for both am and pm we'll have to combine into one am track.

[WreckWench]

Hey gang...time to wake this trip up...

We are finalizing rooms and we have 2 options.

1. We can stay in Deerfield Beach again @ DoubleTree Hotel with FULL breakfast included (a $29 value) and be about 10 minutes from the Starfish for 3 days and we can stay in Palm Gardens again @ DoubleTree Hotel with FULL breakfast included (a $29 value) and be about 10 minutes from the Emerald Charters for 3 days.

or

2. We can stay on Singer Island which is almost halfway between the two and have a slightly longer commute each day but not have to change hotels. The property is very nice and there is local diving there. We will pay approx $30 a day/room or $15 per person more to stay on Singer Island.

Do you have any preferences? If so please let us know!

We could if everyone wanted to stay in one hotel ...stay at Palm Gardens and go north for Emerald an go south for Starfish. While its not exactly in the middle...its doable if we want to keep only one hotel and the price is $30/day lower or $15 per person lower and we do not have to move during our stay. We will drive a tad longer for Starfish but the same for Jupiter meaning only 3 days will the ride be a tad longer approx 20-30 mins depending on traffic.

For those who do not live in S. Florida... Boynton Beach and Jupiter are 30 mins from each other without traffic and we are looking to either stay close to each diver spot or find a spot more or less in the middle.

Please give us your thoughts!

[Resqdew]

Prefer to have the shortest commute to the dive boat as possible since we will always have to deal with local traffic. However, no problem if the vote is to stay in one location.

I wouldn't mind changing hotels to be closer to the dive operation, but does the dive schedule allow enough time for an easy move to the different hotel, or will we be rushed when moving? I'm flexible to either option.

Excellent idea to have full breakfast included at both hotels. Is there free parking?

My plan is to drive to Florida for this dive trip so I'll have some extra space in my vehicle (suburban) to help transport gear &/or people. I would arrive the afternoon of Aug 21.

Thanks!

Edited by Resqdew, 25 June 2014 - 03:16 PM.

[WreckWench]

Yes we are working on free parking and no matter what we decide we'll have that. We agree closer to dive sites is great which is why the Palm Garden option is very attractive...the same price as the hotel South of Starfish but only a few minutes later and we don't change hotels.

There is enough time in the schedule but its creative use of time that makes it work. I'll look at it again from last year and be sure that it will work ok this year.

Thanks for the quick input.

[Diver Ed]

I seem to recall both of those drives being quite a bit longer than 10 minutes. Definitely the second one.

Hey gang...time to wake this trip up...

We are finalizing rooms and we have 2 options.

1. We can stay in Deerfield Beach again @ DoubleTree Hotel with FULL breakfast included (a $29 value) and be about 10 minutes from the Starfish for 3 days and we can stay in Palm Gardens again @ DoubleTree Hotel with FULL breakfast included (a $29 value) and be about 10 minutes from the Emerald Charters for 3 days.

or

2. We can stay on Singer Island which is almost halfway between the two and have a slightly longer commute each day but not have to change hotels. The property is very nice and there is local diving there. We will pay approx $30 a day/room or $15 per person more to stay on Singer Island.

Do you have any preferences? If so please let us know!

We could if everyone wanted to stay in one hotel ...stay at Palm Gardens and go north for Emerald an go south for Starfish. While its not exactly in the middle...its doable if we want to keep only one hotel and the price is $30/day lower or $15 per person lower and we do not have to move during our stay. We will drive a tad longer for Starfish but the same for Jupiter meaning only 3 days will the ride be a tad longer approx 20-30 mins depending on traffic.

For those who do not live in S. Florida... Boynton Beach and Jupiter are 30 mins from each other without traffic and we are looking to either stay close to each diver spot or find a spot more or less in the middle.

Please give us your thoughts! />

[WreckWench]

Thanks Ed. The 2nd Hotel is the closest we can find to Jupiter and still work a contract with. Its between the two operators so I was hoping it might be a single hotel option.

I have also worked out a deal for the tanks to be picked up and filled and returned to us at the dock...no more schlepping of tanks!

Some of the driving time was detouring for tanks...at least that is how I recall it but then I was not driving so that recollection can be quite construed.

[Diver Ed]

In the second destination, we had to test and mark all tanks, then schlep them to the boat. As it was my truck, that meant multiple trips while others were still testing. It was a time consuming process.

Thanks Ed. The 2nd Hotel is the closest we can find to Jupiter and still work a contract with. Its between the two operators so I was hoping it might be a single hotel option.

I have also worked out a deal for the tanks to be picked up and filled and returned to us at the dock...no more schlepping of tanks! />

Some of the driving time was detouring for tanks...at least that is how I recall it but then I was not driving so that recollection can be quite construed.

[WreckWench]

In the second destination, we had to test and mark all tanks, then schlep them to the boat. As it was my truck, that meant multiple trips while others were still testing. It was a time consuming process.

Part of why we are growing the trip is we need to have a certain number of people and tank rentals/fills and we can arrange for them to handle them for us. Its a few bucks but spread over many..its nothing. But to get enough people I need to either change operators to a larger boat and I like our operators so we need to fill more spots and doing a morning and pm option with the ability to do both for a percentage of people going should get us to the numbers we need to have someone else schlep our tanks!

[WreckWench]

SO...ONE HOTEL VS TWO....

Do people prefer one hotel and driving approx 5-10 mins more (no more than 25-30min total to the first hotel) and less then that to the second hotel ESPECIALLY if we can get the tanks delivered so all we focus on is driving to/from the boat and not the dive shop

or

Two hotels ...each as close as we can get to the boat operator but again with a 15-20 min drive and then changing hotels mid week? Again we will focus on getting enough people to have the dive shop pick up an deliver the tanks

[Diver Ed]

That makes a lot of sense.

In the second destination, we had to test and mark all tanks, then schlep them to the boat. As it was my truck, that meant multiple trips while others were still testing. It was a time consuming process.

Part of why we are growing the trip is we need to have a certain number of people and tank rentals/fills and we can arrange for them to handle them for us. Its a few bucks but spread over many..its nothing. But to get enough people I need to either change operators to a larger boat and I like our operators so we need to fill more spots and doing a morning and pm option with the ability to do both for a percentage of people going should get us to the numbers we need to have someone else schlep our tanks!

[Diver Ed]

As I will not know if I am joining this trip until I figure out things with a Roatan trip, my thoughts are more of an assessment from last year than a vote for this trip. Last year involved some driving to the boats from each hotel. The second hotel was more of an in between location. It would have added some daily driving to the first boat, I am guessing about an additional 15-20 minutes. On the transition day, we checked out of the first place, found the second hotel, and went through the check in process. It was then loading back into the vehicles to head to the dive shop to fill out paperwork, get tanks, and head to the boat. At the time, most people felt that it would have been easier and smoother had we stayed at the second hotel for the whole trip. The additional drive time was not much compared to the inconvenience of having to move mid trip, and do it while not missing a day of diving. Also, by staying in the second hotel for the whole trip, it could be arranged to get all of the check in paperwork done a day or so in advance with the second dive shop, as they will be 15 or so minutes away. That would help things along for the first day of diving on the second part of the trip.

SO...ONE HOTEL VS TWO....

Do people prefer one hotel and driving approx 5-10 mins more (no more than 25-30min total to the first hotel) and less then that to the second hotel ESPECIALLY if we can get the tanks delivered so all we focus on is driving to/from the boat and not the dive shop

or

Two hotels ...each as close as we can get to the boat operator but again with a 15-20 min drive and then changing hotels mid week? Again we will focus on getting enough people to have the dive shop pick up an deliver the tanks

[WreckWench]

Thanks Ed... that assessment is what I heard from several people last time. AND its why we need to grow the event to be able to do at least 12 rooms or 20 people which is either a lot of single occupancies or a lot of people!

Either way our goal is 20 people and 12 rooms!

[Resqdew]

Thanks for the extra effort to make this work!

One hotel sounds like a better option, but I'll go with the group decision.

[WreckWench]

Thanks for the extra effort to make this work!

One hotel sounds like a better option, but I'll go with the group decision.

In theory one hotel sounds better but being close to dive shops/boat is important. If we settle on the one hotel ...it was the default hotel for the 2nd dive op anyway so that means a slightly longer drive for 3 days only AND it puts us closer to Blue Heron Bridge for those who want to dive the bridge all they can!

And of course we only pack up and move once...when we are done!