|
pupdive posted:"How is it even slightly possible that divers fail to check their tank pressure?" is a question that makes sense to everyone except those who have some pretty serious experience being in charge of divers. Very, very few divers check their gauges until they think they are likely running low. It's hard to understand this, until you understand just how much perceptual narrowing defines what divers do underwater. I'll admit to doing this now, but not when I was an early diver. I used to check the gauge and then computer once we bought one religiously. Now I check it after putting my gear together, on descent and then I check it a few times in the first 10-15 minutes to make sure consumption is what i expect. After that I just check it occasionally.
|
#
?
May 17, 2016 03:12
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 11, 2024 14:23 |
|
|
I analyze and investigate incidents involving people and equipment as part of my job. I was not passing judgement on anyone. I was trying to see how I felt about the situation and the scissors that lead up to the incident. I would like to see more analysis, and published results, for the incidents that do occur. I pick my partners and the people whom my life may depend on. Currently that is narrowed down to my wife and a couple of associates. If one of us had been unable to dive we wait, happened for a couple days in Bonaire this year, but I see where that option may not always exist.
|
|
#
?
May 17, 2016 03:53
|
|
|
Ropes4u posted:I analyze and investigate incidents involving people and equipment as part of my job. I was not passing judgement on anyone. I was trying to see how I felt about the situation and the scissors that lead up to the incident. I would like to see more analysis, and published results, for the incidents that do occur. your life depends on you. Your buddy should be your guaranteed support resource and vice versa but don't look at your buddy as your life guarantee.
|
|
#
?
May 17, 2016 04:27
|
|
|
Ropes4u posted:I analyze and investigate incidents involving people and equipment as part of my job. I was not passing judgement on anyone. I was trying to see how I felt about the situation and the scissors that lead up to the incident. I would like to see more analysis, and published results, for the incidents that do occur. I was not calling you out (in case you felt that way.) I was just saying it's simply a fact that if divers are assigned buddies, they have to be done on some grounds, and experience (which is self-reported, and thus likely to be unreliable) is likely to be the grounds. (There is a reason why I would never assign buddies outside of actual classes where I am evaluating buddy activity as part of the class, personally.) What would you do if your choice was not diving, or diving with an odd duck as a buddy, if you were already on the boat?
|
|
#
?
May 17, 2016 08:45
|
|
|
jackyl posted:I'll admit to doing this now, but not when I was an early diver. I used to check the gauge and then computer once we bought one religiously. Now I check it after putting my gear together, on descent and then I check it a few times in the first 10-15 minutes to make sure consumption is what i expect. After that I just check it occasionally. This is actually a major problem. Failing to follow safety protocols after one has gained experience without running into problems is the usual root cause for the most spectacular disasters. The reason you checked when you started is the exact same you should never stop checking. It's just you have gotten away with being sloppy about safety, so you have redefined unsafe behavior as safe behavior simply because you have happened to get away with it. It's really hard to explain this in a way that people understand, because its human nature to think about safety the same way: If you get away with it, you come to think of it as safe. And the people writing about the topic of the "Normalization of Deviance" with regards to diving are all bad writers. My guess is the best presentation of it is in the videos about it on YouTube, talking about the Shuttle Disasters
|
|
#
?
May 17, 2016 08:57
|
|
|
Ropes4u posted:I am asking in order to learn from your adventure. Is it normal for strangers to be assigned as teams by the DM. Because if he didn't ask me and get my approval - nope. It doesn't really work that way. I haven't had a regular dive partner since I did my OW back in 1993, so I'm used to getting paired with whomever, I've just never ended up with a partner that was such a hazard. Red_Fred posted:I had an OOA situation in one of my first dives after doing my Open Water. Since then and getting older and respecting the environment more I basically have a mantra of you can't check your gauges too often. There is no harm in taking 5 seconds to just have a look. Yeah, this is me. I still check my gauges every few minutes. But then again, I'm one of those weirdos that actively scans his mirrors while driving, so... pupdive posted:I was just saying it's simply a fact that if divers are assigned buddies, they have to be done on some grounds, and experience (which is self-reported, and thus likely to be unreliable) is likely to be the grounds. (There is a reason why I would never assign buddies outside of actual classes where I am evaluating buddy activity as part of the class, personally.) I'm not sure how much assessing of Mick they did; M&A came as a buddy pair, so I had been the odd man out all week. It really wasn't a problem until that day. pupdive posted:Since Trivia is the one heading for his DMC work, he could use this as a dry run. But the problem with problems as described from the diver's side, and not the people on the job side, is that it is far more common than divers think to lose track of what is happening. In fact there is this line in the original description Ok, I understand that my perspective cannot possibly 100% correct, and that I suffer from the same perceptual narrowing as everyone else, but I think you missed the point of the line you quoted, which was sort of the opposite. Him taking us back down seems so crazy that I would have otherwise doubted my own recollection, except that the chart in my dive log software clearly shows both safety stops, and the descent/assent between them.
|
|
#
?
May 17, 2016 12:55
|
|
|
Speaking of dive log software... So far I've liked my Cressi Giotto dive computer, but there is ZERO documentation for the PC software. Not even any context sensitive help! I've figured most of it out, but what do the red dots mean? There is a button to turn them off and on, but I don't know what that tells me.
|
|
#
?
May 17, 2016 13:12
|
|
|
Did you guys do an assessment dive with Mick before the fuckup dive? By that I mean a nice easy dive where the guide sizes you up, sees just how good / bad / rusty you are. Thats pretty much par for the course at every place I've gone, and I kinda feel that some of those fuckups could've been outright avoided, or they'd have outed themselves sooner rather than later.
|
|
#
?
May 17, 2016 13:51
|
|
|
Squashy Nipples posted:Ok, I understand that my perspective cannot possibly 100% correct, and that I suffer from the same perceptual narrowing as everyone else, but I think you missed the point of the line you quoted, which was sort of the opposite. Him taking us back down seems so crazy that I would have otherwise doubted my own recollection, except that the chart in my dive log software clearly shows both safety stops, and the descent/assent between them. I did! I did! I thought you meant checking your written log! Yeah one of the cool things about the computer downloads is finding out things that happened during dives. FWIW, I often clear the safety stop at an interesting point, and then swim back to the exit/boat at whatever depth is practical, and then re-do safety stops if needed. One thing to keep in mind about safety stops is that they were just not really done before computers started requiring them (at first) and then later just built a skipped safety stop into the algorithms. We are just so much safer about diving in ascent rates/safety stops (basically the same thing, those two) than we were before computers.
|
|
#
?
May 17, 2016 15:35
|
|
|
Trivia posted:Did you guys do an assessment dive with Mick before the fuckup dive? One thing you will start to learn in the DM course is that all things are negotiable in the real world. Agency standards, Coast Guard rules seem like things that simply cannot be negotiated since either one can result in licenses being revoked. And yet, until you have the cache/power/financial freedom to say no, saying no just means someone else will be doing the job you used to do soon enough. The number of instructor in my position (from my experience, language skills, instructor ratings, owning my own company, having connections) to be able to tell an operation that "it's not happening that way" and have it not result in problems is pretty drat small to non-existent. And I have still had to walk out on customers on no notice on several occasion because the operation whose flag I was working under on that day, was not willing to do things the right way. It's not be an emotional decision from my side, just a practical one. Check out dives would be great, and even better would be always doing the shallower lower risk dive first on a two tank outing. These are two things that would be ideal, and are rarely done. The only part of the above long story that jumped out at me is not having two people on the boat when divers are in the water. This is just basic ocean safety. People get hurt on boats and diving off boats all the time. But that's always going to be an issue outside of water under US Coast Guard jurisdiction. Coast Guard enforcement, include seizing whole boats on the scene, is sometimes the only thing keeping boat operations safe. Because when the Coast Guard does not have boats in the water no one behaves responsibly, unfortunately.
|
|
#
?
May 17, 2016 15:53
|
|
|
pupdive posted:I was not calling you out (in case you felt that way.) Not at all, I just wanted to make sure I didn't rattle anyone's feelings. I have been debating that since reading the post. My wife was offered a free day of diving with one of the dive shop girls who wanted a partner, and she declined. I would have taken the dives, but I am not positive that would have been the right choice since I don't know what her skill level is and what risk level she is comfortable with.
|
|
#
?
May 17, 2016 16:01
|
|
|
Trivia posted:Did you guys do an assessment dive with Mick before the fuckup dive? I don't know. I dove every day Monday-Thursday, and they made me do a skills check in the pool on Sunday. They also watched me pretty closely on the first dive, but I'm sure that R's panic storm made me look a lot better by comparison. After that, they took me on all the dangerous dives without question. Mick arrived Wednesday. I don't know if they made him do a pool check, but to PupDive's point, he was super insistent about EVERYTHING. The guy just loved pitching fits and throwing tantrums. I don't think they wanted to take him on the deep dive for his first dive, but he demanded it and made a scene. Seriously, on Friday morning at breakfast he was sitting with his teenaged daughter when he pitched yet another fit, this time they kept him waiting too long before seating him. He didn't even eat, just walked out. His poor kid, she looked mortified... but at the same time not surprised in the least. Some people are just jerks.  pupdive posted:I did! I did! I thought you meant checking your written log! Ok, that makes more sense.  I haven't touched my paper dive log since I got the computer, everything is on my PC. I've been meaning to scan my old paper logs so that I have everything in one file. Ropes4u posted:Not at all, I just wanted to make sure I didn't rattle anyone's feelings. No offense, but this sounds insane to me; I would have gone diving. Like I said, I haven't had a regular dive buddy in ages, so I'm used to just getting assigned to strangers. Never been a problem before Mick; most sport divers that I have met can take care of their own poo poo. If someone who works at dive shop wanted to dive with me, I would take that as a statement of their confidence in me as a diver. pupdive posted:And I have still had to walk out on customers on no notice on several occasion because the operation whose flag I was working under on that day, was not willing to do things the right way. Yeah, I don't think that they guys working at the dive shop at a Hilton really have that choice. Kinda sucks, but they have to balance happy customers with not letting them die. pupdive posted:The only part of the above long story that jumped out at me is not having two people on the boat when divers are in the water. This is just basic ocean safety. People get hurt on boats and diving off boats all the time. But that's always going to be an issue outside of water under US Coast Guard jurisdiction. Coast Guard enforcement, include seizing whole boats on the scene, is sometimes the only thing keeping boat operations safe. Because when the Coast Guard does not have boats in the water no one behaves responsibly, unfortunately. Wait... TWO people waiting on the boat? I can understand having at least one... all week long it was 5 people on the boat, three divers and two DMs. The DMs would switch off dives, while the other waited on board/drove the boat. That seemed fine to me. I could tell that they really didn't want to leave the boat unnamed, but they didn't have a third DM, they had talked up this particular wreck and didn't want to disappoint M&A, and Mick made such a colossal scene in front of the cruise ship folks before we left.
|
|
#
?
May 17, 2016 21:17
|
|
|
Squashy Nipples posted:IYeah, I don't think that they guys working at the dive shop at a Hilton really have that choice. Kinda sucks, but they have to balance happy customers with not letting them die. Addressing both parts in one answer, because hey why not? First, I hated leaving people who just wanted to dive hanging. But both times it had been an issue I had made very clear was not safe in my judgment, took meetings with the several layers of decision makers to explain exactly what my reasoning was, and made it very clear that continuing to get away with trying cut corners was not something that I would be a part of. Because saving a few bucks on a few random days is just silly when a lawsuit can cost very penny a company/instructor has ever made. There is no way to defend some things in court. And one of them is that it's simply hard to argue that a dive operation is being run "Safety Job One" when only a single person is on board a dive boat. Who is watching for the missing divers while the captain is piloting and communicate with search and rescue personnel? Who's at the wheel when the person with the gaff is grabbing the mooring line, or helping an injured diver into the boat, or administering First Aid/CPR? Can you imagine how much punitive damages will be awarded if simple questions like these result in it being obvious that an outcome would undoubtedly have been better if the operation had simply paid a deck hand on a given day? Punitive damages awards are have insane dollar amounts to make it clear that it will never be financially responsible to trade safety for saving a deck hand (or additional instructor's) daily wages. It is of course not necessarily unsafe to have only one person on the boat. At this point in my experience, I judge it as less than ideal, and a real point of potential liability. This is an arrived at point though. I used to dive every day on boats that did not have deck hands and did not see an issue with it then. I just do now. The thing is diving is safe enough (now with the gear quality) that it is hard for people to understand the risk points, because it's so easy to get away with not acting safely. And again, that Normalization of Deviance thing where getting away with it encourages people to think of things as safe simply because there are have not yet been repercussions. When the bad things happen, and they will happen in operations that cut safety to save money (and even in operations that do everything right), it is the job of the tort system to make an clear example out of an operation that cut corners, and it is something that juries take seriously (and responsible people in the dive industry do, as well). We want ridiculous judgments awarded that make it clear that "getting away with something" will never be smart business in the long run. So when someone asks me why me our OW courses are twice or three times the going rate (and boat dives and beach dives etc etc.), I have simply learned that all I can say is you are paying for our experience and knowledge (and enthusiasm and fun). Yeah it would be cheaper for us to use boats that don't use both deckhands and a captain. But... I'm good with what we do, and I am also fine with what others choose to do. It's just not what I choose to do anymore. I am also not going to say that anyone else is doing it wrong, or being unsafe. I just want to keep doing this (and I have been doing this) for longer than most. I am quite sure early in my 'career' I would have made mostly the same choices as other people generally do. But when the unexpected (but entirely forseeable in retropect) thing happens, it moves me to a more conservative position. pupdive fucked around with this message at 10:30 on May 18, 2016 |
|
#
?
May 18, 2016 10:27
|
|
|
Awesome, thank you for your perspective. By the way, out of curiosity, where do you work? Here, have some pics from my vacation that I didn't take.  Isn't he cute! I want to pet him and love him and call him George.  This is Russell, one of the DMs from the shop. He is pretty bad rear end with a speargun! On one dive, he got three of those spiky bastards.
|
|
#
?
May 18, 2016 12:26
|
|
|
I'm doing my open water dives this weekend, and I'm really not happy with my dive shop. I'm wondering if what I've experienced is typical because a lot of dive shops seem to be not make a lot of money, or if I really should avoid this place. I feel that the instructions are very rushed, and some things are getting missed. In the pool sessions, the instructor didn't make sure that we all understood the exercise before we went under. He'd explain something and then immediately head under, so if anyone had a question or didn't hear something, they went under confused. I wasn't clear on some things and didn't get a chance to ask until we were out of the pool at the end. On the first dive today I was having problems getting my weights on right, and he and everyone else had already gone into the water (including my buddy, but that's another problem). I think it was pretty clear that I was struggling, but he yelled to hurry up so I went in the water without my weight belt on. He made a scene about me not being fully prepared before I went into the water, and huffed and puffed while he helped me get it on. The second problem is that the gear they give us is very crappy. Some of the wetsuits are just plain ratty. A few at the pool had several tears in them. They're a little better for the open water dives, at least no holes. People got a busted reg and an empty tank in the pool. My BCD was leaking, but the instructor told me to ignore it because it was a small leak. He didn't mark it to be looked at later. Today my BCD was leaking again (it was a different one) and again he told me it was fine. The connector for someone's BCD inflater hose fell off and we had to cut the dive short for everyone. I think at least every person has had an equipment problem of some kind. I know the shop doesn't have money to spend on getting all new gear for students, but it seems like if things are only minorly broken they're keeping them in circulation. I would think that you'd want to ensure all the gear is in good working order when you're introducing students to a new sport and your dive shop. The owner doesn't seem to be too helpful either, he seems incredibly uninterested in everything and snapped at me today when I returned my tanks to get refilled because I didn't put them in the right place. Am I being overly sensitive, or are these hiccups to be expected?
|
|
#
?
May 22, 2016 01:26
|
|
|
Raere posted:I'm doing my open water dives this weekend, and I'm really not happy with my dive shop. I'm wondering if what I've experienced is typical because a lot of dive shops seem to be not make a lot of money, or if I really should avoid this place. I am not even close to the most experienced person on here, but that shop and likely the instructor are idiots. There is no excuse for poor instruction, and lovely gear would be unacceptable to me.
|
|
#
?
May 22, 2016 02:11
|
|
|
Raere posted:I'm doing my open water dives this weekend, and I'm really not happy with my dive shop. I'm wondering if what I've experienced is typical because a lot of dive shops seem to be not make a lot of money, or if I really should avoid this place. My experience has been the opposite of that. I recently started taking some classes at a local dive shop, and they've been great, too. How much are you paying? Crappy old equipment is fine for the pool, as chlorine can be brutal. Definitely not OK for real dives. I've been watching Sea Hunt on YouTube, the entire series is up. Kind of fascinating what they knew about diving then. No BCs! Tiny little fins! Hoods shaped like Smurf hats! It's fun to spot the technical errors, most of which I'm sure were made for dramatic license. Like when he repurposed the O2 tank from an oxi-acetylene welding set-up in the mine disaster to use as a scuba tank: I hope that flooded mineshaft wasn't more then 20 feet deep.
|
|
#
?
May 24, 2016 12:25
|
|
|
Navy rebreather divers (100% O2) used to operate shallow but were cleared to excursion depths to 60 ft. (roughly 3.0 PPo2) The common modern limits are conservative to take into account a lot of variables, including the fact that no one does Ox-Tox susceptibility tests outside of chambers, and few people ride in chambers.
|
|
#
?
May 24, 2016 13:37
|
|
|
pupdive posted:Navy rebreather divers (100% O2) used to operate shallow but were cleared to excursion depths to 60 ft. (roughly 3.0 PPo2) Wow! My Nitrox teacher implied that going beyond 1.6 PPO2 was an immediate death sentence, so I'm shocked to know that there is that much wiggle room.
|
|
#
?
May 24, 2016 15:57
|
|
|
Well one thing to keep in mind is that Navy Divers are soldiers who in a real sense have pledged their lives to do their jobs, and protect their fellow soldiers. And there might be a time when not risking their lives by exceeding normal operational parameters might put others at risk. It's a cold calculation but not too different than rushing a firing gun position. 100% O2 rebreathers can run nearly completely silent (no bubbles) because the scrubbers removes the CO2, and the rest of the gas can be metabolized. Any other rebreather is going to have to make bubbles on ascent because the diluent needs to be dumped. SO there is a reason for the 100% O2, and in a certain sense OxTox be damned. Also full face 100% rebreather divers can survive an OxTox event, because full-face. pupdive fucked around with this message at 23:37 on May 24, 2016 |
|
#
?
May 24, 2016 19:40
|
|
|
I'm thinking about getting a drysuit. The water is loving cold around here, and I'd like to do some winter diving, too. A custom made suit is my only real option, as I'm built weird: short arms and legs, very broad shoulders. I'm considering the DUI FLX. Questions for DUI owners: -Did you get the Rockboots or the Turboboots, and why? -Did you get the redundant donut seals on the wrists?
|
|
#
?
May 26, 2016 16:13
|
|
|
Squashy Nipples posted:I'm thinking about getting a drysuit. The water is loving cold around here, and I'd like to do some winter diving, too. I got a custom Santi eMotion. I love it, got it with flex soles, which have been great. I know you asked about DUI, but Santi have a great product at a similar price point you may want to take a look at.
|
|
#
?
May 27, 2016 01:13
|
|
|
Mandibular Fiasco posted:I got a custom Santi eMotion. I love it, got it with flex soles, which have been great. I know you asked about DUI, but Santi have a great product at a similar price point you may want to take a look at. I'll see if I can find a dealer around here. My local dive shop is a DUI dealer, and that makes a big difference.
|
|
#
?
May 27, 2016 04:18
|
|
|
Squashy Nipples posted:I'll see if I can find a dealer around here. My local dive shop is a DUI dealer, and that makes a big difference. That's a good idea. Santi is now affiliated in the US with Halcyon, so if you can find a Halcyon dealer they will likely offer Santi gear as well.
|
|
#
?
May 27, 2016 16:51
|
|
|
I bought a Rofos drysuit from DRIS. Its made much like a Santi drysuit but for a lot less cost. Boots are identical to the Santi flex soles. The pockets are better IMO due to an integrated no open wetnotes pocket. I bought the Kevlar lined cave version and it's quite comfortable and I feel like it is indestructible. I also spent the extra cash for the lifetime worry from DRIS, it's been back for a new set of seals and a leak test and all I paid was shipping both ways. 10/10 would buy again
|
|
#
?
May 28, 2016 05:32
|
|
|
Just watched Diving into the Unknown (great documentary by the way!). What I wonder though is how were they communicating underwater? Sounds like talking into the regs. Does that work in fresh water? Also are their drysuit with built in hoods that seal on your face? It looked that way. Does that work well?
|
|
#
?
May 28, 2016 06:35
|
|
|
Red_Fred posted:Just watched Diving into the Unknown (great documentary by the way!). What I wonder though is how were they communicating underwater? Sounds like talking into the regs. Does that work in fresh water? We did the Denver aquarium dive a few years back when we went back for a Broncos game and they make you use all their gear because of water chemistry. Anyway part of their gear is exactly that - there is a mic in the DM reg and earpieces in your hood. we looked at getting this for us but it was stupidly expensive and it wasn't a ton better than hand signals
|
|
#
?
May 29, 2016 05:31
|
|
|
New diver, did my open water dives 1 and 2 on Monday and I hosed up equalizing my ears slightly. Doc prescribed me Claritin for the sinuses, but about how long should I expect the fluid in my ears to hang around? It was a blast other than that.
|
|
#
?
Jun 3, 2016 18:50
|
|
|
Shalhavet posted:New diver, did my open water dives 1 and 2 on Monday and I hosed up equalizing my ears slightly. Doc prescribed me Claritin for the sinuses, but about how long should I expect the fluid in my ears to hang around? It was a blast other than that. We put alcohol in our ears to help them dry out.
|
|
#
?
Jun 3, 2016 20:14
|
|
|
Putting straight alcohol in your ears probably isn't the best idea. Get specific drops which contain some alcohol. However I don't think this relates to the question. Are you talking about fluid buildup in the inner ear? This happens from trauma and for me usually goes away within a day or two.
|
|
#
?
Jun 3, 2016 21:30
|
|
|
Yeah, a cursory Googling pointed me to middle ear barotrauma. The doctor who saw me said the eardrums were red but not perforated. I'm mostly just curious how long I can expect to be stuck dry before finishing my open water cert.
|
|
#
?
Jun 3, 2016 21:42
|
|
|
My wife said its actually an equal part alcohol and white vinegar. But maybe we are killing ourselves being cheap.
|
|
#
?
Jun 4, 2016 00:30
|
|
|
Ear beer I make is half vinegar half alcohol. Don't gently caress around with your ears... If u think you might have barotrauma postpone dives 3 and 4 until you are fully healed. You only get one sense of hearing. Can't be replaced....
|
|
#
?
Jun 4, 2016 01:37
|
|
|
Trust me, I am. The original plan was to do them tomorrow but that's on hold indefinitely. I have another month and a half though so I should be fine before I have to leave. I had a blast on the ones I did get done though!
|
|
#
?
Jun 4, 2016 06:13
|
|
|
IANAD but having suffered barotrauma twice, it healed up after a couple weeks. Do not gently caress around with it, or you have a high probability of getting random splitting headaches and losing your sense of balance for a couple days. Definitely not something to push, especially if you're doing your first checkout dives. Don't want to put in the effort of getting certed only to never be able to dive again.
|
|
#
?
Jun 4, 2016 16:32
|
|
|
Anyone dived Grand Cayman? Recommend me a dive shop and/or dive site. Just got here today and only staying a week. Probably do a normal dive and a night dive, if it's really awesome maybe even a 3rd dive. I've dived about 8 times. Got my open water and advanced (night, wreck, computer dive) with big blue on Koh Tao, Thailand and loved it. Also did a discovery dive a few years ago in Roatan, Honduras which was amazing. How will cayman compare to those? Everyone is saying it's some of the best diving in the world here- true?
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2016 16:08
|
|
|
Computer dive counts as an exclusive dive for PADI now?
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2016 20:55
|
|
|
I didn't get certified through padi, I did SSI. They pushed it hard at big blue and said padi forced you to purchase the book and was a little more strict on how things had to be taught. Whereas SSI would let you use an old used book and the instructors had more freedom in the lesson plan and could go at any pace, as long as the skills were covered. They basically trashed PADI and told us they were great at advertising and reaping money from book sales, and that SSI or any other certifying body were all equal to PADI and all under the same 'umbrella' so to speak. So yeah. Fwiw I had a great instructor and am very confident in the water. Steve at Big Blue was great and taught us well, and was careful to correct any bad habits we exhibited. Was a fun dude and is actually the manager there. But anyways; We've been talking to divers/tourists around Grand Cayman and apparently you can just rent all the gear for $150 a week and shore dive all you want ($10 per tank fill). Whereas guided diving is going to run us about $120 for 2 dives. I've never done a shore dive but I'm sure I'd be fine. And being able to get in as many dives as I want sounds amazing- even if I have to pay some dude in a dingy $20 to bring me out to a good spot. Does this sound like a terrible idea? My cousins are a little iffy about diving without a dive master, but I'm perfectly fine as long as all my equipment is in good working order. The random guy with a boat idea could be dumb/dangerous/sketchy but I'm just throwing around ideas here. Definitely won't do a night dive without a divemaster or guide though. I'm not that crazy
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2016 22:27
|
|
|
MrNemo posted:Computer dive counts as an exclusive dive for PADI now? It's one of the optional dives for the Advanced class, meant to update (replace) the Multi-Level Dive since PADI no longer sells or makes The Wheel. A well planned AOW course would put that one on the third dive, where you can show little changes in depths swing the NDL pretty wildly around, and you can have people see their buddy has a wildly different NDL range, despite diving 'right next to them" the whole time. This is info we show in OW as well, but in OW class the main thing an OW student is thinking is "When is he going to make me take my mask off again?"
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2016 06:30
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 11, 2024 14:23 |
|
|
I LIKE COOKIE posted:. Does this sound like a terrible idea? My cousins are a little iffy about diving without a dive master, but I'm perfectly fine as long as all my equipment is in good working order. The random guy with a boat idea could be dumb/dangerous/sketchy but I'm just throwing around ideas here. Coming from a club diving environment where diving without a dive guide is the norm, there's no problem with that providing you are all qualified and relatively experienced. You also should really have some planning and idea about the site you'll be diving (especially tides, potential hazards, currents etc.) Shore cover is also a must, if there's a chance you'll get in trouble you need someone who can get help. There are people who will do shore dives by themselves without really worrying but typically they'll be experienced, confident divers who know the area. You don't sound like that. The random guy in a boat idea, if you get a reasonable word of mouth recommendation would actually probably be better. What you want is someone who knows the area, can give you some kind of site brief and timing for the dive and will be able to sound the alarm if anything goes wrong. Ideally I'd suggest going with a dive operator and seeing if they'll let you dive unguided for a bit less. From experience most will want you with a guide though because they're probably paying the guide anyway and they want to minimise their liability.
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2016 07:23
|
|