Recommendation for DPV or sea scooter

[thedeepster]

I'm looking to purchase a DPV, water scooter, sea scooter or whatever. Any recommendations?

[cdavis]

Search DPV or scooter diving for some interesting threads. Jon has much experiance, PM him and ask his opinion.

Connor

[thedeepster]

Originally Posted by cdavis

Search DPV or scooter diving for some interesting threads. Jon has much experiance, PM him and ask his opinion.

Connor

The threads looked pretty old so I thought I'd start up a new conversation. I'm actually looking at these: Sea scooter,seadoo seascooter,water scooter,seascooter,seadoo water scooter and was curious if anyone had any experience with the seadoo sea scooters. I know the Apollos and Makos are awesome but a bit out of my price range. I often hear folks touting the more expensive models but everyone doesn't have thousands of dollars to drop on a water scooter. Just looking for a sea scooter that makes sense for me.

[Delfino]

I had the SeaDoo Explorer DPV for a couple of years. It is has the best propulsion of any of the SeaDoo scooters. It has three speed options. I found the fastest speed to be barely adequate while streamlined on breathhold. The draq created by SCUBA gear would really cut down on the performance. It cost around $750 at a Diver's Direct in Florida two years ago. I think it was rated to 50 meters. The battery would last me about 70 minutes and took around 12 hours to recharge. There is an issue with the batteries though. After the battery is fully charged (green light) remove it from the charger (vertical position) and lay it down horizontally while being stored. I wouldn't recommend going with any other SeaDoo DPV's as they are all underpowered in my opinion.

I have also used Silent Submersion's UV-18 and I highly recommend it even though they are a bit pricey. (http://www.silent-submersion.com/uv/uvprices/Prices.htm)

Hope this helped.

Craig

[octopus]

If money is not an issue...

Seabob | Offshore – off Limits.

[cdavis]

If you have a little time and are willing to take a little risk, ebay might score you a good scooter for what a new Seedoo would cost.

Connor

[Old Man Dave]

There have been some threads lately about using kayaks and swim floats as aids to spearing. I was wondering is anyone has had any good experiences using a scooter, either just to tow you out to a mark, to get you to the bottom more easily or even to use when searching the bottom for flatfish/scallops etc.

Dave

[thedeepster]

Originally Posted by Delfino

I had the SeaDoo Explorer DPV for a couple of years. It is has the best propulsion of any of the SeaDoo scooters. It has three speed options. I found the fastest speed to be barely adequate while streamlined on breathhold. The draq created by SCUBA gear would really cut down on the performance. It cost around $750 at a Diver's Direct in Florida two years ago. I think it was rated to 50 meters. The battery would last me about 70 minutes and took around 12 hours to recharge. There is an issue with the batteries though. After the battery is fully charged (green light) remove it from the charger (vertical position) and lay it down horizontally while being stored. I wouldn't recommend going with any other SeaDoo DPV's as they are all underpowered in my opinion.

I have also used Silent Submersion's UV-18 and I highly recommend it even though they are a bit pricey. (http://www.silent-submersion.com/uv/uvprices/Prices.htm)

Hope this helped.

Craig

Believe me, I'd love to have a Silent Submersions DPV but starting at $3700.00 is over the top for me. For that price I could purchase 6 if these:
Sea Doo Explorer Diver Propulsion Vehicle by Seadoo
Hmmm...Maybe I could just tether 6 Seadoo Explorers together

[thedeepster]

Originally Posted by octopus

If money is not an issue...

Seabob | Offshore – off Limits.

OMG!! I want one!

Though I may need to wait until the price drops closer to the $600 range

[salibandy]

If I had money, I'd buy Jet Boots. I wonder if they go fast though. If not, I'd buy a scooter with tons of speed.

[octopus]

Jet Boots will do 5.6-8km/h (1.5-2.2m/s).
SeaBob 22km/h (6.1 m/s).

It seems you could do >700m on single breath...awesome.
I would just love to have test ride.

[salibandy]

Really?! Then heck with the Jet Boots, I want me a SeaBob!!

[thedeepster]

Originally Posted by cdavis

If you have a little time and are willing to take a little risk, ebay might score you a good scooter for what a new Seedoo would cost.

Connor

I would but some of those knockoffs have a tendency to blow up. Check this out: CSK Auto Recall of Aqua Water Scooters

[thedeepster]

I finally ended up buying the Sea-Doo Explorer
It was a great deal and I really couldn't pass it up.
What I like so far: It feels like a very well thought out DPV with heavy duty construction and quiet operation. Shifting between the 3 speeds is very easy and can be done with one hand. The 3rd speed is very fast-good for getting to your dive spot but way to fast for cruising a reef. I find the 1st and 2nd speed are adequate most of the time. The battery charging system is very simple and convenient: Just pop the nose cone off, pull out the battery and place in charger-no disconnecting leads etc.
What I don't like so far: Now I understand why the sea doo seascooter vs supercharged and seadoo gti seascooter
at 18 pounds are popular with shore divers. The Explorer at 32 pounds may be lighter that most higher end DPVs but it's still pretty heavy to carry if you need to go anything but a short distance to your shore entry point.
Battery indicator light could be larger.
Extra batteries are pricey.
Overall: So far (with only a few dives on it) it has really exceeded my expectations especially at this price

[thedeepster]

Update:
The Sea-Doo Explorer is still running solid. I fashioned a simple harness which allows one hand operation-handy when checking wrist gauges. I would like a different color sequence on the battery life indicator light. Green for charged is fine but the orange and red lights for low and very low are difficult to distinguish on a sunny day. Haven't run out of juice yet tho