Cave Diving Trailer

Howdy everyone,


I am thinking about cave diving transportation. Seven-hour drives from NC are a bit tiring, and I want to add some comfort. Currently, there are two ideas: upgrade to a more comfortable full size truck or get an SUV with a trailer. If you faced these choices, what did you choose and why?

Most of my diving is cave, so long term comfort is a priority. I like clean car interiors, so buying a large SUV and dumping all tanks + a DPV inside is not appealing.


Thank you!


P.S. There is also an option of renting storage and leaving most of the items in Cave Country, but I still have to get to dive sites, so having a storage does not fully solve my problem.

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Originally Posted by mr_v

SUV with a trailer.

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I presume this is being set up as a gear trailer. I've seen some pretty nice setups at the quarries over the years. Tank racks on the side are wonderful.

Have hauled a 5x8 down and back to cave country a few times, and it tows like a dream. I'd never want to haul one to an actual site.

For a third option, maybe consider a minivan? Lower gate than a truck, and fully enclosed. Enough room for two divers double staging + deco with three scooters.

With mine, yanked the rear seats and replaced with a plywood shelf for backgas rigs; the fold down rear row in dodges cant take the misuse of dropping two sets of 104s on it on the regular. Fold down the middle row, throw down a first layer of moving blankets, and then a layer of washable incontinence bed pads. Chuck all the gear on top. When done with the trip; stow gear, and chuck the pads into the wash. Biggest cleanup I have to deal with is the sand in the front row. Spend the money for the heavy duty Weathertech pads.

Biggest downside of a minivan vs a truck, with a truck there's a lot more steel between kit and the human fleshy bits when an accident occurs.

Between the two options, I'd opt for a truck over a X + trailer option.

After diving out of an suv (yukon) for 10 years I moved to a truck (sierra). I had my suv all tricked out for diving and thought i had it perfect. Then I got the truck and wished I?d had ones years earlier. Crew cab and a nice quality bed cover are important. I went back and forth on folding vs rolling bed covers and couldnt be happier with my rolling cover. Its the rolling type the cover rolls into a canister. I thought the canister would be a hindrance and its not. I can easily fit two peoples ccrs, bailout, stages, and scooters in the truck.
I believe tbone on here had his trailer and all
Of his gear stolen. One of the reasons I?ve been putting off getting a trailer.

Edit: if you like a clean car the suv shouldne even be considered. The back was a mess no matter what you due.

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+1 for the pickup. I used a rented Ford Excursion for an extended cave trip once. In the end, I was glad it was rented although the rental place didn’t appreciate the distinct odor in the cab. With a pickup the wet gear stays out of the people compartment. I’ve had 3 divers and gear in a Ram 1500. That was a bit cramped, but doable. Perfect for two cave divers with 2 sets of sidemount and deco tanks. Driving down from the Carolina’s as well. Near Charlotte, NC. How about you?

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Originally Posted by Arctic Mike

+1 for the pickup. I used a rented Ford Excursion for an extended cave trip once. In the end, I was glad it was rented although the rental place didn?t appreciate the distinct odor in the cab. With a pickup the wet gear stays out of the people compartment. I?ve had 3 divers and gear in a Ram 1500. That was a bit cramped, but doable. Perfect for two cave divers with 2 sets of sidemount and deco tanks. Driving down from the Carolina?s as well. Near Charlotte, NC. How about you?

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Hi Mike,


I am in Charlotte. Currently, I have a Taco but the Taco is a bit too small inside and spartan for my usual rides. I am in Cave Country often and go to Great Lakes in the summer. By the time I am 2-3 hours into a drive, I want a bigger, more comfortable car. A Great Lakes trip turns into a comfort management exercise past WV.



"Unfortunately" the Taco is good everywhere else and is super reliable. I can reach anywhere in the bed without getting in the bed, I can step into the bed without any difficulty. The truck is at the perfect high for suiting up and getting into the rebreather. Thus, if I am to get something new, it better be exceptional compared to what I have now.


I wish BMW made trucks with that wonderful inline twin-turbo 6 cylinder engine that spoils me when I am not in a Taco, but that's not going to happen. Therefore, I started looking at either new full size truck or SUV+trailer combos. I don't think I'll dive out of an SUV ever again.

I havw a dive trailer. I'm going to be selling. I have out grown it for what I do. Its a great trailer. AC and a lot of E-track. 386-299-8671 if interested.

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Originally Posted by Reddiver

I havw a dive trailer. I'm going to be selling. I have out grown it for what I do. Its a great trailer. AC and a lot of E-track. 386-299-8671 if interested.

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Check your messages from unknown senders. I sent you a txt.

Keep the Taco and get a trailer. Buy a good ass pillow for the Taco. My 04 Taco has 506,000 miles and still going.

My neighbor has just bought a 2025 F-150 crew cab 4wd roiling lounge chair. Its very nice. He traded in a 2019 version of the same truck on it. His car payment is $1400 per month. Over a 5 year loan, that's $84000 plus insurance. He claims its a tax write off, don't know.

Most cave divers dive for 5 or so years, and move on. Life changes, new jobs, families, a bad dive, whatever. One constant is that you get 2 choices, you get old or die. I have friends and relatives that are in their mid/late 70's, and running out of money. When I think about the metric ass load of money I pissed away on cars, boats and airplanes over the years, while I had fun, it was not a good investment. I should have thought about one day having to afford a big boobed drool nurse to feed me pudding and wipe my chin. Banana is my favorite.

There are a number of driver seat mods on the internet for the Tacoma, look over a few. Get a trailer and drive the Taco until it stops, get a new engine, and keep going.

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Originally Posted by OFG-1

Keep the Taco and get a trailer. Buy a good ass pillow for the Taco. My 04 Taco has 506,000 miles and still going.

My neighbor has just bought a 2025 F-150 crew cab 4wd roiling lounge chair. Its very nice. He traded in a 2019 version of the same truck on it. His car payment is $1400 per month. Over a 5 year loan, that's $84000 plus insurance. He claims its a tax write off, don't know.

Most cave divers dive for 5 or so years, and move on. Life changes, new jobs, families, a bad dive, whatever. One constant is that you get 2 choices, you get old or die. I have friends and relatives that are in their mid/late 70's, and running out of money. When I think about the metric ass load of money I pissed away on cars, boats and airplanes over the years, while I had fun, it was not a good investment. I should have thought about one day having to afford a big boobed drool nurse to feed me pudding and wipe my chin. Banana is my favorite.

There are a number of driver seat mods on the internet for the Tacoma, look over a few. Get a trailer and drive the Taco until it stops, get a new engine, and keep going.

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You speak the truth, and I started this thread a bit too soon without realizing how things have changed since I got my truck.

Yesterday, I looked at new full sized trucks. It is a price slaughterhouse there - the dealers can't move cars because they are expensive and banks are more selective about giving out loans. There are trucks that were going for $5-10K on top of MSRP that are heavily discounted now. Toyota, GMC, Chevy, Ford - all dealers have good deals. But the cars are still expensive. EV trucks aren't moving at all. Ram Laramie with good options is still ~$65K.

I'm mostly settled in life and see diving as one of the few hobbies that will go on. My other hobby is no debt, so I'll keep looking for a trailer.

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Originally Posted by mr_v

You speak the truth, and I started this thread a bit too soon without realizing how things have changed since I got my truck.

Yesterday, I looked at new full sized trucks. It is a price slaughterhouse there - the dealers can't move cars because they are expensive and banks are more selective about giving out loans. There are trucks that were going for $5-10K on top of MSRP that are heavily discounted now. Toyota, GMC, Chevy, Ford - all dealers have good deals. But the cars are still expensive. EV trucks aren't moving at all. Ram Laramie with good options is still ~$65K.

I'm mostly settled in life and see diving as one of the few hobbies that will go on. My other hobby is no debt, so I'll keep looking for a trailer.

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New auto prices are definitely insane and the interest rates are nuts. I bought my new truck at the beginning of the year and eventhough I have excellent credit, my interest rate was higher than I?ve ever paid before. But it was through gm and it netted me a $7500 rebate. I refinanced at 8 months to a much lower rate, so I didnt lose any of that rebate.
My yukon was at the point that repairs were more costly than keeping it and in florida state farrm is nuts with insurance annoyances. I was notified in january of last year that I?d have to find new insurance because they would insure me but the value of my 10 year old yukon was so low it wasnt worth the risk of insuring it. So I went to another insurer and the prices were astronomical. That combined with repair costs led it to being more cost effective to buy something new. The auto industry is in a weird place right now as is insurance.
The one lucky spot in all of it is we have the largest volume gm dealer in the country located in tampa (Rivard). I shopped around alot and no one could come within $6000 of their price. They sell so many trucks 85% of them are sold before they arrive at the dealership. Everything can easily be done through their website and email and if youre not local you never even hve to step foot on their lot other than to pick up your truck if you want to avoid the delivery fee. The trade in value was also higher than anyone else would give me and they literally didnt even look at the yukon (which had issues). My salesman said about 40-50% of his sales are from outside of florida since pretty much no one can touch their prices. They are a no haggle place where the price on the website is what you pay. It was so much cheaper than everywhere else and so much easier it felt too good to be true. But I have tons of friends who referred me and vouched for them. Easiest and best car deal I?ve ever had.


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I looked up Rivard. It is hard for me to say this... but may be a trip to Tampa is worth it. $63K for a Denali? That is a fantastic price.

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Originally Posted by mr_v

I looked up Rivard. It is hard for me to say this... but may be a trip to Tampa is worth it. $63K for a Denali? That is a fantastic price.

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I was looking at the levels below denail and once I saw their prices, went into the store and met the salespeople and realized they werent full of sh-t, I upped what I wanted and went Denali. Their deals are hard to beat. I took their price to 3 other local dealers, including one I bought 3 different vehicles from and do all my service with. Everyone said they couldnt even come close.
When I see such good prices I get skeptical, so I really went in believing there were hidden fees and tricks. But they had the best price and trade value hands down.
The only car buying experience that was easier wss my wifes tesla because that just gets done in an app. 4 friends have bought from rivard based on my recommendation and all had a similar experience to mine.


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Having owned both a pickup (F-150) and an SUV (4Runner), I prefer the pickup for diving purposes. Mine wasn't an ideal setup, as it was a single cab, no rolling/locking tonneau or bed cover, and had a drop-in bedliner so stuff slid around easily without being tied down... but the 4Runner fills up quick with the gear containers required to keep the wet stuff off my carpet, and as noted before, it usually requires being aired out where the truck did not.

The main downside of having a trailer that I can think of is parking at most sites in CC is fairly limited for larger vehicles, and/or fills up quickly, making entry/exit a pain. I towed my 6x10 utility trailer to a dive site exactly two times and decided I was never doing it again unless I had to. Plus you have the added risk of damage/loss of gear through theft and blowouts that would probably be more easily managed if it were a vehicle tire blowing out at highway speed, with gear secured in the truck bed.

Just my 2 cents

One of the dumbest things I ever did was sell my cave diving trailer. Sure, I don't cave dive much any more, but I really miss my trailer.

Someone came to Ginnie with a trailer and parked in the usual spot where most trucks/cars back in. The parking job was good, but the car still stuck out too much. I don't think I'll make too many friends by parking trailers at dive sites... The fate is sealed - truck it is... Will go with a full-sized truck next time.

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Originally Posted by mr_v

Someone came to Ginnie with a trailer and parked in the usual spot where most trucks/cars back in. The parking job was good, but the car still stuck out too much. I don't think I'll make too many friends by parking trailers at dive sites... The fate is sealed - truck it is... Will go with a full-sized truck next time.

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I looked at tundras before going with a sierra. The toyotas last forever but for less money I got so many nicer features and a better ride than the tundras i test drove. And the toyota is way way louder on the road which is important on long drives. My last gm suv lasted over 10 years and 250k miles before i said it was getting too pricey to keep repairing. Im not the type to drive a toyota to 500k miles for 15 years so comfort and features won out


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Originally Posted by OFG-1

Most cave divers dive for 5 or so years, and move on. Life changes, new jobs, families, a bad dive, whatever. One constant is that you get 2 choices, you get old or die.

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Yeap. It's a demanding sport/hobby. Seems like most don't stick to it after certification (or not for long).

I have been diving caves for 20 years and still going. Realize I am amongst the lucky few. But yes, everything has to come to full stop eventually one way or another.

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Originally Posted by OFG-1

I have friends and relatives that are in their mid/late 70's, and running out of money. When I think about the metric ass load of money I pissed away on cars, boats and airplanes over the years, while I had fun, it was not a good investment.

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Good retrospection! Then again, no one knows how much longer they will be walking the planet. So, spend on what you love... in moderation.

I have a scuba trailer I built using a 6x10. I trailed it a couple times and it used too much gas so I just stick with my F150. I still have the trailer since it was way cheaper than building a bigger garage. I like that all the wet and sandy stuff can stay in back of the truck. I'm cave diving maybe 3-5x a year. The rest in my local quarry.

Well, I am too late to the party. Don't think the GMC/Chevy route will happen due to the tariffs. Please, don't make this a political thread.

I am sticking with my Taco for now. Will build out the back to safely haul the scooter (currently it is in the back seat). I will also consider renting a shack/space at CCDS to minimize gear hauling. I guess the Taco would be awesome with a 6' bed, but with a 5' bed it is hard to justify a rolling metal truck bed cover, as it will eat some space.