Diving off tandem

[DiverDarren]

I am looking for a kayak right now and was hoping for some input from everyone... in your opionins what would be a good yak for taking two divers with 4 bottles and gear in salt water??

[flamencoguru]

I don't know of any kayak that could take that kind of weight.... you might want to really consider 1 single kayak.

I freedive and I have a tandem. With two people and all of our gear (guns, fins, cooler, etc...) it's doable but kind of crowded.

Check out the hobie kayaks, both the paddle and peddle ones. You pay a little more but they have all of the bells and whistles.

http://www.hobiecat.com/kayaking/index.html

I have the paddle Hobie Kona. It's a tandem but works great as a single. It has a 450lbs. capacity. Definitely enough for a diver. Also make sure to check out Craigslist.com and any other online auction sites for a used one. You can save a lot of money!!

here is a helpful video on picking a kayak for diving.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_byhRW4m_U

Good luck.

Peace, Errol

[DiverDarren]

hey thanks alot those hobiecat yaks are great. I guess l will start looking for a single one it because it would be a mess with all that gear on one. i was trying to be cheap..

[LunkerBuster]

i have a huge tandem...the Ocean Kayak zuma two..it is the older platform that the current zest two was based on...it can handle a crazy amount of weight, like 650-700 lbs, but it still only has two tank wells and if you used them for tanks, it would really be lacking in area..


I have seen folks use a tandem and a single but they rode in the tandem and towed the single loaded with gear....it seemed to work very well

I second craigslist. lots of people buy kayaks without trying a kayak and they fail to realize just how amazing it is and they resell it at a huge loss to them

[blingcod]

I have a Sevylor 2 person diveyak (inflatable). Its the black one shaped like an oversized surf board. Its discontinued but I think leisurepro.com still sells them. I got mine cheap on eBay.

While I never used it with scuba, I'll done plenty of freediving while tandem. In my opinion, it would handle the load of two divers and 4 tanks, but it'll be severely over crowded. Paddling the beast would be a pain.

Another option (inflatable too) is the SOAR 14,
http://www.soar1.com/soar_14.htm.

It would take the load fine, and you can buy the bigger one if its still too small. I've never owned or used one. But you can try out any of their kayaks at their headquarters.

There's a testimonial on their website from a couple divers in Monterey. They had rebreathers instead of tanks, and the kayak worked good with them.

[Squawk7500]

I just bought a Malibu Pro 2 but I havent had the opportunity to take it out for a dive yet. Too much rain/swell lately. It has plenty of storage space for spearguns, fins, and even fishing rods in the hull through the big center hatch. Im dying to take it out to the kelp already.

[1000ft2TheBeach]

I have a cobra fish n dive (single) I think the capacity is 600 lbs it is big and sturdy/stable I can stand up on it to get a better angle on the water also big center hatch and a smaller lap hatch and alot of room to put stuff inside and on top

[CharlieC]

I just bought a Malibu Pro 2 but I havent had the opportunity to take it out for a dive yet. Too much rain/swell lately. It has plenty of storage space for spearguns, fins, and even fishing rods in the hull through the big center hatch. Im dying to take it out to the kelp already.

So how do you like it? I’m looking at buying the same Kayak and wondering how its working for ya.

[yakfisher]

I have a Cobra Triple. It carries two 200 pound guys and all gear. It is rated for 900 pounds. They show up on craigslist every once in a while (usually in San Diego). Cobra even makes a quad unless they discontinued it.

[CharlieC]

My deal is I need to be able to paddle it single often so I don’t want something too big. The Malibu Pro 2 seems to be perfect size for me but I can't find one to try out.

[LunkerBuster]

if you are looking for a tandem that is managable as a single get the hobie Kona...Errol kills that thing solo

[CharlieC]

if you are looking for a tandem that is managable as a single get the hobie Kona...Errol kills that thing solo


Interesting I haven't looked at that one too closely. The price is about the same but its heavier, shorter and wider than the Pro 2. I'd think it would be harder to paddle single for those reasons alone. Out of curiosity how tall and heavy is Errol? I’m 6'2" 220.
Thanks for the help.

[teambarlar]

hey lunker buster when are you heading out again.