Sorry I didn't see this one earlier but here it goes. My old roommate and I pooled together some cash and got a sweet deal off of ebay. For $2,000 plus shipping, we managed to get an 11.5 foot Zodiac with a 15 hp 2 stroke Mercury outboard. It inflates in about 10 minutes and rolls up small enough that the Zodiac, outboard and 3 guys dive gear fit in the bed of my Tacoma. My only gripe is that it has an inflatable floor which we really have to careful with. They do sell palstic roll up floors which we will probably get later. Overall, the Zodiac is awesome! It has handled some conditions that were down right scary. I guess because it is small, maueverable, unsinkable unless punctered repeatedly, and flexes while going over the waves, it can handle the rough seas. Speed wise, with two guys plus gear you can get this thing to plane really nice. Any more people and the 15 hp Mercury pushes the boat no problem but it is a bit slow. The thing is so fuel efficient that a 5 gallon tank usually lasts us 3-4 dive trips before refueling. We don't go 30 miles one way but there have gone on 10 or more miles round trip. The boat can be towed while drfit diving or anchored/tied down with a relatively light anchor. I highly recommend an inflatable boat. As far as kayaks go, I don't have much experience with them. All I know is that I could have won one in a fishing contest a few weeks ago. There were four categories all of which required using a Kayak. The winning fish in the dive category was an 8 pound parrotfish. I refuse to say when or where this tournament is because I am a greedy guy and want to win a Kayak for myself. That's right, the guy that shot an 8 pound parrotfish went home with a Kayak. My friend still reminds me of this almost everytime I see him. Hope this helps.
Brad