what vehicle do you use to travel to dive sites?

[deepdave]

The time has come to change the family car and, as it'll now also be used for business travel, I'm looking to downsize from our current 4x4 to take advantage of tax breaks as well as fuel economy.


As the dealers aren't keen on me rocking up to the showroom with my rig and bashing it about their pristine motors to see if I can get it in, I'm interested to hear what you transport your kit around in, how you pack it in [pictures would be excellent] and any pro's/con's in your choice.


DD

[Vanny]

I switched to using a VW transporter kombi. 6 seats massive boot space. Easily takes 4 divers. Equally useful for me and kids cycling, complete bikes in no wheels off. Nice and comfy to drive , economical for what they are. And you get to be a surf dude. took 4 of us up to scapa with dive kit and normal luggage no probs.

[Dacmirc]

I have a transit connect that I love for diving but before that I used a people carrier that had a flat boot to sit up and kit up and removable back seats so it was basically a van


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[Nubium]

Renault trafic, 6 seats and so much room for gear.

[Jeff Pack]

Hyundai Santa Fe. Big enough I can pack my rebreather, 2 BO bottles, long nose scooter, additional Pelican Case for spares.

Downside, rear suspension wasnt enough and I had to add air bags inside the coils, but was only a few hundred bucks in the bags and labor

[diverchris]

I'm on my second Lexus RX- lots of room for two CCRs, sorb kegs, 4 BO, spares, dry suits and camera gear all fit in the rear cargo area without putting items on the leather seats.
In Europe I believe the RX's have a diesel option that is not available in North America.

[Captain Starfish]

A Toyota Landcruiser personnel carrier (aka troopy) gets me to the shoreline, and is handy for towing a boat to get me the rest of the way to site.

Four of us loaded bereavers, bailouts and all the paraphernalia and still had room for two to drive / two to sleep on an 750km overnighter to get to a wreck charter then the same coming home when we got off the boat at the end of the day. Worked out pretty well.

But it ain't downsizing.

[moose_grunt]

The time has come to change the family car and, as it'll now also be used for business travel, I'm looking to downsize from our current 4x4 to take advantage of tax breaks as well as fuel economy.


As the dealers aren't keen on me rocking up to the showroom with my rig and bashing it about their pristine motors to see if I can get it in, I'm interested to hear what you transport your kit around in, how you pack it in [pictures would be excellent] and any pro's/con's in your choice.


DD

One of the first questions to answer would be how many divers and gear will you be transporting? I've gotten rebreather, bailouts, a scooter, drysuit, and spares into a newer VW beetle, but that was with the rear seats folded and stuff in the passenger seat and floor. It was fine for me, and I did it for three years, but there was no way I could take anyone with me.

I've also had two divers and tech gear in a regular Prius, with the seats folded down.

I've not been able to fit four people and their tanks/rebreathers/dive gear into anything smaller than a fill-sized SUV.

A second point to consider is how you dive. Putting bulky and heavy gear over a bumper then down into a trunk is doable, but it doesn't give you any platform to gear up from. If you gear up from your vehicle, then it's really nice to have a hatchback where the floor is even with the bumper.

FWIW, there was a similar thread a year or two ago over on the cave divers forum.

Jim

[Chett.L]

So I guess the new Maserati SUV is out.

[michael-fisch]

I posted this a while back:

"I remember hanging out at the parking lot next to little devils almost 20 years ago. A red Ferrari slowly drives down the hill and parks next to me and my buddies. The car doors open and very long, tanned and beautiful legs start coming out on the drivers side. Hot Pants, Halter top, beautiful slim body, big breasts, a face that I would kill for to be able to kiss and hip length blond hair competes the rest of the driver's body. On the passenger side an old, almost bald geezer with a Rolex on his arm, wearing a short sleeved shirt with buttons , bermudas and sandals with socks climbs out, and they slowly walk together towards the stairs with her helping him over the rough spots on the long 50M walk.
I'm looking at the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, wondering what the old geezer has that I don't until I realize that it is money. My buddys are staring at the woman and the car, and I hear one of them say "shitty car for cave diving".
I learned then, from my buddies, that you really need to set your priorities. European cars are not built to haul around a weekends worth of cave diving gear including multiple scooters for 2 divers.

That woman, with a white econoline van would have been irresistable."

Michael