What makes your perfect dive site?

[andrewsydenham]

Hi guys, "What elements make up your perfect dive site?"

I am currently doing a research project into diver's motivations to dive and "what makes the perfect dive site", I am hoping to get aound 100 - 150 small questionairres filled out from divers across the globe to make this a statisically significant study.

I would be vvery grateful if you could reply your answers on this post:

1. Favourite type of diving? e.g. Wreck, Coral Reef, Quarry deep etc.

2. Number these least important to most important in choosing your dive site(number 1 being most important), 2, 3, 4 etc

- wildlife
- Water visibility
- Water temperature
- Reputation and organisation of operator (when using)
- Developed Tourist infrastructure (popularity of dive site)

3. How important to you is it the company or operatoor you choose to dive with tries to limit damage to the environment? (Please number):
1. Very Important
2. Important
3. Slightly important
4. Less important
5. Not important

Thank you for all of your feedback, it is very much appreciaited. Any further questions or comments will be very welcome, please contact andrewsydenham@hotmail.com

[Megan]

1. My favorite type of diving would have to be diving in a kelp forest (such as the ones off the coast of California)

2. From most to least important: #1 Water temperature, #2 Reputation of operator (must be a PADI Dive Center or Resort), #3 Visibility #4 Popularity of dive site

3. It is VERY important to me that a dive operator do whatever they can to limit their impact on the environment - given the option I would even pick one dive destination over another if one practiced active conservation (such as the use of mooring balls) as opposed to one that did not.

Good luck with your project

[Tom H]

1.Dives where I can collect lots of live shells and it is permitted and even not frowned upon.
2.Top to bottom on list: 5,4,1,3,2
3.5

[Dirk]

Favorite dive would have to be on a wreck. As an fairly experienced diver it is important to know the people I dive with and perfer to dive with out an operator. If the reef is trashed why dive?

The other consideration you are missing is depth. Some people don't go past 60 feet and others like to go beyond 160.

[scubadiver888]

Greetings and Salutations,

1) My favourite type of diving is coral reef diving. It doesn't have to be deep but a good diversity of marine life is nice. I especially like drift diving a reef wall with all the fish going with the flow around me.

2) Ordered by importance, from most import to less important:

#1) Wildlife
#2) Reputation of dive operator
#3) Visibility
#4) Water temperature
#5) Developed tourist infrastructure

3) It is very important the dive operator I choose limits the damage to the environment. I see a lot of people doing some serious damage to reefs in the Caribbean. I've been to locations that attract a lot of occasional, tourist divers. I see them standing on the reef, dragging their SPG across the reef and grabbing hold of the reef to steady themselves. The reef in these areas are in horrible condition and lack colour and marine life diversity. When I have dive operators who insist no gloves, they do check out dives to make sure everyone has good bouyancy and only when we ALL prove we are good divers do they take us to the pristine reefs. On these reefs are hundreds of different marine life, dozens of different coral and the colours and diversity is amazing. I hate seeing those dead reefs with a skeleton crew of marine life. Often the marine life at the dead reef are there because the tourists feed them.

[craigsmith]

For perfect dive site you need to a long database.
because person need all information about location and conditions.
which is best suitable and also need some good training programs.

[samtihen]

Visibility, water temperature, and then marine life. For me, at least!