Trip Report: Cozumel May 2008 Sand Dollar Sports

[Christi]

Last year my son-in-law asked the DM why he didn't use a computer. He said he couldn't use one...with as much diving as he did it would lock out on him.

That's faulty logic!!!!!!!!! If a computer is going to lock him out, then what are the tables telling him?

He apparently doesn't know how to profile dives correctly if that's REALLY his reason and IMO, completely irresponsible behavior on the part of the DM and a horrible example to be setting!

My crew gets at least one day off, two if possible and if they're doing more than 2 dives a day or if they dive more than five days in a row...they get nitrox...period!

 

[Rodive]

That's faulty logic!!!!!!!!! ...period!

Well said Christi...All our DM dive with computers and we also supply them with Nitrox when they are diving with a group which means many times that they are diving everyday.

Rod at Wyndham

 

[ggunn]

That's faulty logic!!!!!!!!! If a computer is going to lock him out, then what are the tables telling him?

He apparently doesn't know how to profile dives correctly if that's REALLY his reason and IMO, completely irresponsible behavior on the part of the DM and a horrible example to be setting!

My crew gets at least one day off, two if possible and if they're doing more than 2 dives a day or if they dive more than five days in a row...they get nitrox...period!

I once was on an afternoon dive where on the second tank, the DM sent up his buoy from depth very early in the dive, which I thought was a bit out of the ordinary. At the end of the dive just as we got to the surface, I saw him take his computer off the bottom of the buoy and put it back on his wrist.

I didn't call him on it, but my take on it is that it was his fourth tank of the day and on the last dive his computer would have sent him so far into deco that he would have had to call the dive at 15 minutes or not dive the next day because he would have been locked out, so he sent his computer up early. It was a dilemma for him, since the current was ripping; if he'd have tried to watch us from a shallower depth he would have been swept away from us in no time.

We hadn't been diving that morning, so we didn't have the the problem that he did, and I didn't know that he had got himself into in that situation until the dives were done. If he'd have told me ahead of time what was going on we could have done two shallow dives.

 

[Christi]

I once was on an afternoon dive where on the second tank, the DM sent up his buoy from depth very early in the dive, which I thought was a bit out of the ordinary. At the end of the dive just as we got to the surface, I saw him take his computer off the bottom of the buoy and put it back on his wrist.

I didn't call him on it, but my take on it is that it was his fourth tank of the day and on the last dive his computer would have sent him so far into deco that he would have had to call the dive at 15 minutes or not dive the next day because he would have been locked out, so he sent his computer up early. It was a dilemma for him, since the current was ripping; if he'd have tried to watch us from a shallower depth he would have been swept away from us in no time.

We hadn't been diving that morning, so we didn't have the the problem that he did, and I didn't know that he had got himself into in that situation until the dives were done. If he'd have told me ahead of time what was going on we could have done two shallow dives.

Once again, completely irresponsible behavior. DM's are supposed to be dive professionals and KNOW how to keep themselves out of these situations. Sending his computer up did not absolve his deco obligations.

If they ARE in a deco situation, then they need to complete their deco obligations and/or take a day off, do shallower dives, do longer SI's, dive nitrox or a combination of all of the above.

There's no excuse for a dive professional to be pulling that crap...and if he didn't want to give the trip up, how is he going to feel when he gets so bent one day that he is out of the water for a year? It's DM's like this that give resort ops a bad name...irresponsible cowboy diving!

 

[ggunn]

Once again, completely irresponsible behavior. DM's are supposed to be dive professionals and KNOW how to keep themselves out of these situations. Sending his computer up did not absolve his deco obligations.

If they ARE in a deco situation, then they need to complete their deco obligations and/or take a day off, do shallower dives, do longer SI's, dive nitrox or a combination of all of the above.

There's no excuse for a dive professional to be pulling that crap...and if he didn't want to give the trip up, how is he going to feel when he gets so bent one day that he is out of the water for a year? It's DM's like this that give resort ops a bad name...irresponsible cowboy diving!

Oh, I agree completely. I wish he'd told me his situation and I'd have been glad to dive shallow on both dives.

 

[PARADISE HUNTER]

I've also seen DM's switch wrist computers between the 2nd and third dives. Same type of wrong answer to an avoidable problem.

I think these dangerous quick fixes happen more often than people realize.

 

[Christi]

I've also seen DM's switch wrist computers between the 2nd and third dives. Same type of wrong answer to an avoidable problem.

I think these dangerous quick fixes happen more often than people realize.

I would suspend a DM and force him to clear his computer for these actions. A GOOD responsible DM knows how to avoid/prevent and/or satisfy deco obligations...there are too many correct ways as I stated previously for them to "cheat" themselves. If he can't watch out for himself, how can I trust him to keep the divers safety in mind?

 

[mruseless]

Thanks for the write-up...you got any photos to share!?

Unfortunately I'm not a photographer. However, some people we met on the trip did take some photos, even a few of my wife and I in the water. If I can get them from him, I'll post them.

Yeah, I've seen that a few times. Works, huh?

Yup, worked like a charm. I'm scared to try it myself though! Give me old-fashioned toothpaste.

Last year my son-in-law asked the DM why he didn't use a computer. He said he couldn't use one...with as much diving as he did it would lock out on him.

Hello, where's the common sense??

Well said Christi...All our DM dive with computers and we also supply them with Nitrox when they are diving with a group which means many times that they are diving everyday.

Rod at Wyndham

Rod, are you with Sand Dollar? I can tell you very few of the DM's we were with used computers nor Nitrox.

I once was on an afternoon dive where on the second tank, the DM sent up his buoy from depth very early in the dive, which I thought was a bit out of the ordinary. At the end of the dive just as we got to the surface, I saw him take his computer off the bottom of the buoy and put it back on his wrist.

Holy crap... never seen that. Seems like he's begging to get bent.

 

[Winterpeg]

I just posted my very first message a couple of days ago inquiring about taking scuba courses in Cozumel because I had a bad experience a couple of years ago in Puerto Vallarta with instructors who cut corners. I felt reassured by the responses from ScubaBoard, but now I am reading about DM's who "cheat" their computers, and it is making me nervous. We are tentatively planning to dive next winter with SCC - please reassure me that this is not one of the ops you are referring to in these posts.

 

[mruseless]

I just posted my very first message a couple of days ago inquiring about taking scuba courses in Cozumel because I had a bad experience a couple of years ago in Puerto Vallarta with instructors who cut corners. I felt reassured by the responses from ScubaBoard, but now I am reading about DM's who "cheat" their computers, and it is making me nervous. We are tentatively planning to dive next winter with SCC - please reassure me that this is not one of the ops you are referring to in these posts.

I recommend that you take classes through your local dive shop, and find a class where your class and the instructor go do your open water dives somewhere warm. That way you are using your local people, and you can trust them at your destination.