April 2009    Download the Entire Issue (PDF)

Vol. 24, No. 4   What's this?

Creating One Big Happy Group Dive Trip

from the April, 2009 issue of Undercurrent  

Subscriber Content Preview
Only active subscribers can view the whole article

Getting a group together for a dive trip can make a vacation more fun, memorable and even less expensive as there are more people to split costs. But it’s not as easy as it might seem, especially if you decide to be the point person and handle logistics. There inevitably will be a few people who bail out early when they hear the total trip cost, or late, when their investment portfolio goes south or they hurt their back. There’s the diver who forgot to mention he’s vegetarian and another who wasn’t expecting so much current.

If you’re the trip leader, expect to be blamed for problems you never even expected, as one of our subscribers Greg Mac Pherson (Carrollton, TX) pointed out. “Like when TSA removed a knife one group member accidentally left attached to his regulator he was carrying onboard, and he wants to know why you did not warn him.” Regardless, many Undercurrent readers who have organized group trips say it’s worth the effort.

Use Dive Travel Pros or Do It Yourself?

But first you need to decide how big a role you want to play in the trip planning. Do you have a small group? Do you have organizational and negotiating skills? Do you want to save yourself some extra money by doing the grunt work? Then you can volunteer to be the trip leader and handle the bookings for everyone. If you don’t have the time or the inclination to handle every single detail, then go to a trip-planning pro like a dive travel agent, dive shop owner who offers trips (make sure he has a track record), or a professional trip leader. It’s also a good idea to get assistance when your group is in double-digits, as handling special requests and flight arrangements for multiple divers can overwhelm even the most enthusiastic trip planner....