Scuba police

[BDSC]

Internet experts on what is safe and what is not. You get internet experts on everything. Spend too long on SB and you would assume you would drop dead instantly if you descended below 100 feet on air, or allowed your ppO2 to climb above 1.4 on the bottom, or took a certification class from PADI, or did about 1,000 other things that divers do safely every day. Fortunately, almost nobody cares what internet experts think.

No truer words ever spoken! How dare someone go 10 or 20 ft. beyond their training! What were they thinking? Don't these people know they could and probably should have died with that kind of reckless behavior. What? You're going to do a wreck dive and you don't have wreck diver training? Hope you make it back. That person must like living on the edge.

I'm surprised all the folks who learned to dive maybe 30 or 40 years ago when there wasn't a training course for every type of dive imaginable is still with us. You would have thought by now their "blind luck" would have run out with their "risky behavior".

 

[DCBC]

I recently noticed one of the more expensive ops in Cozumel has added a new "rule" requiring 500 psi in the tank when a diver returns to the surface. That silly rule made me go find another op for my trip last month.

Sorry you feel that way. I know that this isn't a popular position (from what I've read so far), but I think it's an excellent rule.

From my experience owning a dive charter business, the competency of divers has taken a dump over the years. Personally I wouldn't let many of them out of the pool, let alone give them a certification.

The majority of the divers here on SB are not "Rookies." If you were the charter operator and had to effect a rescue on a newbie who couldn't inflate his BC on the surface because he was out-of-air, how many times would this happen to you before you started to set some guidelines?

For those who think that it's up to the diver; the "we're big boys and can make our own decisions" crowd. I'd say go for it; just not on my boat. That's why operators have to pay the insurance rates that they do.

That said, I think that diver's who act responsibly should be treated accordingly. But if you're diving with a bunch of newbies with questionable skill-sets, that too must be considered.

New divers in warm clear water have a tendency to dive too deep. Air consumption of new divers is generally poor. If they have to be out of the water at 500 psi, there will be fewer situations. This translates in my mind to fewer accidents.

This may disappoint several of the older more experienced divers, but it's good business. If it was my boat, I wouldn't be caring too much about your pressure gauge if you were competent. For those that are questionable, 500 psi is good policy.

 

[redacted]

I do understand the rational. I agree, it is an excellent rule for new divers until they have a good handle on gas planning and management. If you are going to design your dive business around new divers, then you need to be prepared to handle all the newbie problems they may bring. But as an operator implementing such a rule across the board, you are telling me that your operation caters to new divers and is overrestrictive of experienced divers. It tells me that I would probably be happier finding a more appropriate operation that caters to more experienced divers. And, in the case of Cozumel, it is the only dive op that I know of with such a rule. Most others seem to have no problem with beginning their ascent with 700 psi and taking long rest stops for an added safety margin.

Sorry you feel that way. I know that this isn't a popular position (from what I've read so far), but I think it's an excellent rule.

From my experience owning a dive charter business, the competency of divers has taken a dump over the years. Personally I wouldn't let many of them out of the pool, let alone give them a certification.

The majority of the divers here on SB are not "Rookies." If you were the charter operator and had to effect a rescue on a newbie who couldn't inflate his BC on the surface because he was out-of-air, how many times would this happen to you before you started to set some guidelines?

For those who think that it's up to the diver; the "we're big boys and can make our own decisions" crowd. I'd say go for it; just not on my boat. That's why operators have to pay the insurance rates that they do.

That said, I think that diver's who act responsibly should be treated accordingly. But if you're diving with a bunch of newbies with questionable skill-sets, that too must be considered.

New divers in warm clear water have a tendency to dive too deep. Air consumption of new divers is generally poor. If they have to be out of the water at 500 psi, there will be fewer situations. This translates in my mind to fewer accidents.

This may disappoint several of the older more experienced divers, but it's good business. If it was my boat, I wouldn't be caring too much about your pressure gauge if you were competent. For those that are questionable, 500 psi is good policy.

 

[reo]

I recently noticed one of the more expensive ops in Cozumel has added a new "rule" requiring 500 psi in the tank when a diver returns to the surface. That silly rule made me go find another op for my trip last month.

If that's the case, they better have at least 3000 psi in the tank when I start. I hate short fills!

Ron

 

[DCBC]

I do understand the rational. I agree, it is an excellent rule for new divers until they have a good handle on gas planning and management. If you are going to design your dive business around new divers, then you need to be prepared to handle all the newbie problems they may bring. But as an operator implementing such a rule across the board, you are telling me that your operation caters to new divers and is overrestrictive of experienced divers. It tells me that I would probably be happier finding a more appropriate operation that caters to more experienced divers. And, in the case of Cozumel, it is the only dive op that I know of with such a rule. Most others seem to have no problem with beginning their ascent with 700 psi and taking long rest stops for an added safety margin.

Yes, I understand the message it sends. Unfortunately the diving industry largely survives on new divers. An operator may have the luxury to specialize in some locations, but not all can.

I restricted many dives to "Advanced Divers," but it was largely the same problem. I still found divers who were poorly trained. Personally I believe this to be the result of PADI and other organizations splitting the original diving program into numerous parts. Divers are just not trained as they once were.

I take vacations as well. Many of the dive boats I've been on treat me like this is my first ocean dive (I make my living diving/supervising commercial deep saturation). I'm aware that my decompression times last year are probably longer than most of the DMs on the charter have in overall dive time. I don't like being treated like a child anymore than the next guy. I do however understand the reasons.

 

[Doc Harry]

I love it! Nice work!!