Decision matrices
Updated
Ten questions of the form \u201cwhich of these fits X\u201d. Each states its criterion, applies it to all seven categories, and shows what it excluded and why. There is no shortlist and no best — a matrix that only prints its winners is a ranking wearing a table\u2019s clothes.
Which of these can be done without the trip's activity budget disappearing?
Included when the format has a genuinely cheaper version — a shared departure, a shorter block, or a cost you control yourself. Excluded when the format is expensive by structure rather than by operator.
If the budget is not the constraint, where does the extra money actually go?
Included when spending more buys something structural — the boat to yourselves, the schedule under your control, a captain absorbing the decisions. Excluded when the expensive version is the same experience with fewer people on it.
We have a couple of hours. What is worth booking?
Included when the standard block is short enough to leave the rest of the day intact. Excluded when the shortest version on offer would still take most of a day.
We have half a day. What fits without being rushed?
Included when a half-day block is either the standard shape or comfortably inside it. Excluded when you would be paying for hours you cannot use, or squeezing something that needs longer.
We have set aside a full day. What actually uses it?
Included when a full-day version genuinely exists. Excluded when the trip is short by nature — booking one of those for a whole day means planning something else alongside it, which is worth knowing in advance.
Which of these are genuinely better early?
Included when the morning is not merely convenient but materially better — flatter water, clearer visibility, quieter decks, or a booking that has to happen before the day's wind arrives.
What is worth doing at the end of the day?
Included when the activity happens in the evening or genuinely runs then. Excluded when the evening version is a compromise rather than the thing itself.
It is a washout. What indoor options do you cover?
None. All seven activities this site publishes happen on or in the water, so the honest answer to this question is that we have nothing to offer and will not pretend otherwise.
Nobody in the group has done any of this. Where should we start?
Included when there is genuinely nothing to be new at — no skill, no confidence threshold and no equipment to get used to. Excluded when the barrier is comfort rather than capability, which is the barrier people underestimate.
We have a week. What improves on a second go, and what does not?
Included when the second trip is genuinely a different day — different conditions, a different brief, or the simple advantage of knowing what you are doing. Excluded when the second one is the first one again.