No gloves..but

[scubawife]

I often get stings. No idea from what as I don't touch anything and never actually see what zaps me, but I feel it and get the red bumps to prove it. Still don't wear gloves. A little cortisone cream or Benadryl gel and it's fine. Nothing I can't live with. (I get them on my face and neck too... not much I can do about it) If it's jelly season I take an antihistamine morning and night. That seems to help reduce the severity if I do get stung.

If you're getting such a severe reaction that you need to wear gloves you might want to see a doctor who's familiar with marine organisms and stings. Find out if you are allergic and if so, possibly an Rx for a good antihistamine pill and/or topical treatment would be worthwhile. Gloves aren't going to protect your face and neck which could also be susceptible to the stings.

 

[FishOutUvH2O]

How do you get that he puts no stock in dive park rules here? It appears he is just being reasonable.... keeping the spirit of the rule intact...

Fair enough! Then all we need to do is apply our individual standards of reasonable and what we think is in "keeping with the spirit of the rule" to justify not following them. You can imagine how that can get out of hand quickly.

Or, how about this. If you're a diver or dive shop that believes an exception to the rules is warranted, you keep it on the down-low and do it in person. Not advertise the fact that you're choosing to ignore or make exceptions to the rules on a public internet forum. Where all it takes is one petty person to read it and start whining to the authorities, wreaking havoc on the rest of us. Am I being silly and paranoid?!?! Maybe! But let me tell you what happened a couple of months ago. The airport taxi union saw foreign plated vehicles picking people up at the airport. They told the authorities that it was the foreigner owned dive shops picking up their clients. A no-no. Next thing you know, foreign plated vehicles, not just at the airport, but all over the island are being stopped and their papers checked. This resulted in at least one person sitting in jail for a couple of days and spending a good deal of money for a lawyer, even though they were previously told by the authorities that they were legal. For the rest of us it meant parking vehicles and one giant PITA. Not because we thought we were "illegal", but because interpreting the law seemed to be an individual event and varied from cop-to-cop and it wasn't worth the risk. So each time I read posts where people openly admit to not following the rules (for whatever reason) or that their dive shops don't enforce them, I cringe. Because I've experienced the heavy handed tactics that the authorities will use when they feel that people don't respect their rules and regulations. Especially, when it's coming from "non-natives".

As far as Hydroid stings go, putting vinegar (some boats carry it, but you might want to bring your own) on the sting sites as soon as you can will help prevent any of the "stingers" that haven't yet released their venom from firing. And then the hydrocortisone cream peopled mentioned does seem to work the best for helping to control the itching.

 

[5615mike]

I know several women that get cold very easily that wear gloves every time they dive in Coz with no problems.

My wife has been using her gloves in Coz for about 10 years. It has never been an issue. (she wears them to protect her nail polish and says its easier to keep a good grip on her light)

 

[5615mike]

I don't think any responsible dive op is going to take your dive gloves off. We do know that many divers get cold hands and we consider that. But if they finding you touching or beating on the reef, you should be thrown off the boat.


Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

Absolutely. Our last trip to coz we dove Barracuda and San Juan. This couple that only dove with us for one day had no business on the dive. Yes, the current was ripping but you know that going in. The young woman was flippin and flyin around. My wife and I did our best to stay away from them both.......until they both crashed into me from behind. Next I saw her holding on to the reef with both hands like it was life threatening. Edgar saw her and gave her a piece of his mind. They both ascended about 15 minutes prior to us and thats when the party really started. Neadless to say they did not dive with us........possibly Aldora.......again.

 

[scubawife]

Absolutely. Our last trip to coz we dove Barracuda and San Juan. This couple that only dove with us for one day had no business on the dive. Yes, the current was ripping but you know that going in. The young woman was flippin and flyin around. My wife and I did our best to stay away from them both.......until they both crashed into me from behind. Next I saw her holding on to the reef with both hands like it was life threatening. Edgar saw her and gave her a piece of his mind. They both ascended about 15 minutes prior to us and thats when the party really started. Neadless to say they did not dive with us........possibly Aldora.......again.

It's unfortunate for the others on the boat, but if a DM is taking divers they don't know to those sites then I don't think they have any businesses getting mad at them if they don't have the skills and confidence level to manage the dive.

My wife has been using her gloves in Coz for about 10 years. It has never been an issue. (she wears them to protect her nail polish and says its easier to keep a good grip on her light)

Breaking the "no gloves" rule to save a manicure? Sounds more diva then diver. :blinking:

 

[5615mike]

It's unfortunate for the others on the boat, but if a DM is taking divers they don't know to those sites then I don't think they have any businesses getting mad at them if they don't have the skills and confidence level to manage the dive.

Breaking the "no gloves" rule to save a manicure? Sounds more diva then diver. :blinking:

yes, definately a diva but also a pretty darn good diver.

As for the DM taking unknown divers. At that point you are at the mercy of people being truthful. I dont care how many dives you have logged, it does not make you a diver who should be on one of the most advanced sites in Coz (due to current not depth). People can show you all the cards, dive logs they can muster but the proof is in the actions. DM typically dont make the call regarding who is on their boats either.

 

[Christi]

yes, definately a diva but also a pretty darn good diver.

As for the DM taking unknown divers. At that point you are at the mercy of people being truthful. I dont care how many dives you have logged, it does not make you a diver who should be on one of the most advanced sites in Coz (due to current not depth). People can show you all the cards, dive logs they can muster but the proof is in the actions. DM typically dont make the call regarding who is on their boats either.

I don't usually disagree with you Mike, but I do respectfully here.

Yes, people lie/exaggerate their skill levels ALL the time - we (all working DM's) see it every week. It is the responsibility of the DM to know the skill level of the divers on his boat and select sites accordingly. I've seen divemaster card holders that blow through their air in 30 minutes, can't hold a safety stop and can't follow a dive plan. And then there are those divers that think they are expert divers all of a sudden with less than 15 logged dives and wonder why they aren't offered advanced dives.

That's precisely why we don't take divers to these sites until we've had them in the water for a day or two and can assess their skills for ourselves. No, the DM's typically don't make the boat schedule - but they can (and should) communicate to the person that does make the schedule if a diver(s) is or is not up to snuff for a particular dive - in fact, it is the responsibility of the DM's to communicate this to the office staff - because otherwise, the office staff has no idea! If the DM sees that he has divers on the boat that he doens't know or that he knows aren't qualified for a dive, it's also his responsibility to change the dive plan to something more appropriate.

 

[Dave Dillehay]

gloves is gloves... if one really wants to use them we don't ask why. But we do not tolerate ANY abuse of the reef. BTW, we have noticed quite a few more hydroid stings (little blisters) lately but have not seen any on hands.

Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

 

[5615mike]

I don't usually disagree with you Mike, but I do respectfully here.

Yes, people lie/exaggerate their skill levels ALL the time - we (all working DM's) see it every week. It is the responsibility of the DM to know the skill level of the divers on his boat and select sites accordingly. I've seen divemaster card holders that blow through their air in 30 minutes, can't hold a safety stop and can't follow a dive plan. And then there are those divers that think they are expert divers all of a sudden with less than 15 logged dives and wonder why they aren't offered advanced dives.

That's precisely why we don't take divers to these sites until we've had them in the water for a day or two and can assess their skills for ourselves. No, the DM's typically don't make the boat schedule - but they can (and should) communicate to the person that does make the schedule if a diver(s) is or is not up to snuff for a particular dive - in fact, it is the responsibility of the DM's to communicate this to the office staff - because otherwise, the office staff has no idea! If the DM sees that he has divers on the boat that he doens't know or that he knows aren't qualified for a dive, it's also his responsibility to change the dive plan to something more appropriate.

Well I “believe” that there are a number of assumptions made here. If I am wrong, well, then I am wrong but I certainly won’t make assumptions of how this particular DO makes decisions regarding divers. I don’t have any facts about whether they ever dove with this DO previously or if they were new to the shop. I never inquired about the situation after the dive.

I have personally used 4 different DO’s in Cozumel over the last 10 years but the vast majority of my dives in Coz are with this particular DO. All operations provided quality service but as we all know, we all have our preferred DO for one reason or another. This “mistake” or whatever name one wishes to use was unusual from my experience with them as they have always done a good job in grouping divers with similar experience.

Yes, I agree that DM’s have a responsibility to know the experience of those in their care. Again, they only have the info given to them that is provided by the divers. Should these divers in question have been on the dive, no. But the office running interference and providing info to DM for the following day does not always have the truth. Obviously, lying divers who lie about their experience can and have caused a number of problems in the past and will do so in the future. Those who do it can put themselves in danger as well as those they dive with. That is going to a bit of the extreme but when your dealing especially with advanced dives, people can get into serious trouble. When divers show up at the boat in the morning 5 minutes prior to departure how is a DM supposed to have adequate knowledge of the diver’s actual experience to “communicate” to the office staff? I am being frank with that question and not a SA….lol. A DM can’t make that call by looking at the divers or their gear. Talking to someone for 5 minutes can provide data but not everything. Obviously not all protocols are infallible. That’s my point.

If after that we are still on opposing sides then we just are and thats part of having an opinion. I certainly have no hard feelings of those who disagree with me as I am not one who expects others to always agree with my thought process. I certainly enjoy reading your posts from time to time Christi. You provide a great deal of information to those looking for information about Cozumel and diving there. Oh, and I am just a bit jealous that you "escaped" the grind of the States and live in the paradise called Cozumel.

 

[MMM]

I have seen this play out many times like this: an op gets divers who say they have a bazillion dives and certs up the wazoo. Op send them out to a generally easy dive. Then decides on where they go from there. Sometimes they do advanced sites and sometimes not. All dives are fun in my books but profiles differ depending on what the op has assessed divers' abilites. NO ONE - regardless of certs or # of dives - determines advanced dive site w/o a visual assessment by DMs.