I too have been looking for several months at kayaks suitable for diving - scuba and snorkeling. I have to buy 3, 1 for myself and 1 for each of my 2 sons, ages 10 and 13, both certified bubble blowers. We are Keys divers mostly, living 4 hours away in Sarasota. I have decided that the new Ocean Kayak model for 2008, the Trident, is damn near perfect. Length = speed, and this one is 15'7", with a capacity of 550 lbs. Not real wide, and much faster than the other 15 footer they make, the Prowler Big Game (too slow), but stable and tracks well, and faster than nearly all other boats suitable for diving. All the guys I have talked to about a dive yak, which is a shitload, including Daryl Wong of Wong spearguns and Steve Veros of Posiedonsub Spearguns, tell me to go for speed above all else. A slow boat is no fun, and a kayak will change forever the way I dive and how much I dive. This boat, the Trident, has a special hatch for a depth finder and one of the scuppers is enlarged to receive a transducer, which can be installed by factory, dealer, or yourself. Has a long narrow hatch in center that you could use to store fishing rods or large spearguns, which is why I really like it. Don't want to lose my new Wong hybrid to stupidity on my part. I truly have looked at boats for months - demos, dealers, websites, called companies, etc, etc, and this one appears to be the best one ever for kayak diving. I am having a trailer fabricated to hold 3 boats, + 10 tanks or so down low, accessible w/out removing the boats, and a storage locker for the rest of the junk that goes with diving. Scupper Pro's are not made anymore, and finding 3 used ones would be a tough task, so I am going with the the new Trident (no pictures on Ocean Kayak website yet, but if you google-it you can find plenty. Pretty close to perfect for a diver, at least as far as I have been able to figure out with what's out there on the market. Keep in touch and I'll let you know how they do when I come back from my next trip in mid-Feb.
Will in Sarasota, the Ancient Mariner
Life is Good.