A good diving platform with a lot of room makes life much easier, especially when many people, all doing different things, are on board.  Moss Landing’s Baja Spring 2011 class had connections with people living in Bahia Concepcion and were able to use a panga, pronounced ponga, to get around among the islands.  This boat had about 2-3 feet of draft, how deep the boat sinks into the water, and at high tide the boat could go all the way up to shore.  This is much easier on the back when moving heavy SCUBA cylinders!