"That" diver

[freewillie]

Of all of my 80 dives so far I finally encountered "that" diver. While on vacation with the family I was going out on a two tank charter. The boat was fairly full and when my nephew and I set our gear near some open tanks he was the two tanks in between us. I tried to be polite and say hello. He responded with a "no entiendo" as in I don't speak English. Not a big problem and we set up our tanks but I don't know how much of the dive briefing he heard. Certainly not the stay off the reef part.

On first dive he was using (or trying to use) a GoPro video. The problem was that he had absolutely no buoyancy control and kept falling into the coral every time he tried to get close to video something on the reef. Then on the safety stop he actually ran out of air and went up sharing air with the dive master. Second dive he again kept damaging the reef trying to get pictures/video. At least he didn't run out of air.

At some point during the dive I kept thinking the DM should take his GoPro away. Then I got to thinking that PADI should have a restriction on diving with cameras. Similar to the depth restrictions. But I guess that is no guarantee either that someone would be a courteous and conscientious diver. It's just frustrating watching someone damage the reefs like that.

Don't be "that" diver. Please.

 

[tstormdiver]

One thing I strongly encourage my students,... is not to worry about a camera until they have their buoyancy down & are comfortable with it. Not that my suggestion would stop everyone from trying to handle a camera before they are ready, but most seem to get the idea that it is just fine to just enjoy the reef & get good enough with their buoyancy to handle another skill set (photography) without any issues.

 

[Nemrod]

PADI is not a legal entity and cannot place restrictions on anything. However, for what it is worth, it pains me as well and I have no idea what to do about it other than try to set a good example of staying off the reef and still getting my pictures. Maybe like air marshals, there could be dive marshals hiding behind the reef outcrops ready to leap out on "that guy" but more likely "that guy" would continue to smash the reef and they would give me a ticket for not having a snorkel because PADI says I need one. So maybe that will not work either.

I would prefer that sensitive dive sites require, by actual law, certain rating or experience, and perhaps even a demonstration of competence before being given the arm band or medallion or whatever that says you are allowed to be there.

Did you report the devastation to the captain/crew?

I dunno.

N

 

[boulderjohn]

Then I got to thinking that PADI should have a restriction on diving with cameras. Similar to the depth restrictions. But I guess that is no guarantee either that someone would be a courteous and conscientious diver. It's just frustrating watching someone damage the reefs like that.

Neither PADI nor any other agency has any auhority to set any rules on the dives you do. Rules can be set by local governments, and they can be set by the dive operator running the dives you are doing. That's it.

I have been on many a dive when divers cause problems like this, and the DM ignores it so as not to offend a paying customer. I have been on other dives in which the DM will actively intervene when a diver is harming the reef. Guess which kind of operator I prefer.

You can do your part by talking to the operator and letting the operator know that you expect that the DM will step in and help protect the reef. It may do some good. It may not. In the past I have left dive operators and gone to a competitor when I have seen things like this, and I made sure the operator knew.

 

[uncfnp]

I read posts often enough about bad dive photographers that I know it must be true. But as someone that had a camera from almost dive one, I have to wonder if the problem is the camera or the diver. If perhaps, camera or not, these would still be bad divers and uncaring of the reef and their impact on it. I don't think the camera will turn a conscientious diver into a careless diver but rather it's a careless, self centered diver that just happens to have a camera.

 

[freewillie]

PADI is not a legal entity and cannot place restrictions on anything. However, for what it is worth, it pains me as well and I have no idea what to do about it other than try to set a good example of staying off the reef and still getting my pictures. Maybe like air marshals, there could be dive marshals hiding behind the reef outcrops ready to leap out on "that guy" but more likely "that guy" would continue to smash the reef and they would give me a ticket for not having a snorkel because PADI says I need one. So maybe that will not work either.

I would prefer that sensitive dive sites require, by actual law, certain rating or experience, and perhaps even a demonstration of competence before being given the arm band or medallion or whatever that says you are allowed to be there.

Did you report the devastation to the captain/crew?

I dunno.

N

I tried diplomatically asking the DM when the other diver wasn't nearby what's the sign for "stay the f^&#k off the reef" but just some laughter. I didn't want to try shaming him either because I don't think he really knew what he was doing was so bad for the reef and coral. He was just ignorant.

 

[Frosty]

My view is that if you can't understand the dive brief you shouldn't dive. Pretty simple really. Then any issue with regards to the coral are hammered home.

 

[Nemrod]

I tried diplomatically asking the DM when the other diver wasn't nearby what's the sign for "stay the f^&#k off the reef" but just some laughter. I didn't want to try shaming him either because I don't think he really knew what he was doing was so bad for the reef and coral. He was just ignorant.

That is unfortunate. You probably did right not to confront him. But sometimes you can get a brief moment, fleeting, where you can provide a positive suggestion. Otherwise, probably best left to the crew and if they will do nothing, then, it is what it is.

I got teamed with this young lady in Cayman some years back. The DMs told me she was a good diver. Well, she walked, bicycled all over the reef, smashing everything and kicking up silt, ruining the reef and my shots. On the second dive I requested another buddy or just let me go alone. Oh, no, she is a GOOD diver! I point blank told them, "no, no, she is not and I will dive with somebody else or alone, thank you please."

I may not can do anything about it but darned if I have to participate.

N

 

[boulderjohn]

I read posts often enough about bad dive photographers that I know it must be true. But as someone that had a camera from almost dive one, I have to wonder if the problem is the camera or the diver. If perhaps, camera or not, these would still be bad divers and uncaring of the reef and their impact on it. I don't think the camera will turn a conscientious diver into a careless diver but rather it's a careless, self centered diver that just happens to have a camera.

I dived in a Puerto Galera in the Philippines last fall, a place tha attracts a lot of divers with cameras. I am talking mostly huge rigs, not little GoPros. Everyone had to watch a video before we could dive, a video about protecting the reef. The video centered on poor photographer practices. It did no good as far as I could see. After one dive, I talked with the DM about it. I said it seemed to me that these divers went around negatively buoyant, using their kicking to keep them at depth, and then when they had to hold still to take a picture, they rapidly sank, using the metal sticks they carried to hold their upper bodies in place. The DM said I had just described 90% of them. On the dive that led up to the conversation, the DM had grabbed the legs of a photographer and held them up off of the coral formation he had been beating to death with his fins while he took his pictures.

 

[Altamira]

My wife, I, and grandson recently did a two tank dive at Turneffe Atoll in Belize and got to see not one, but two "that diver" in our group of eight divers. An Asian couple, both with GoPros and zero buoyancy control, were banging into, finning, climbing over and actually laying down on the coral trying to get shots of who knows what. My getting their attention and giving them a signal to swim higher above the reef was a wasted effort, not because they did not understand what I was asking them to do, but they were incapable of maintaining any buoyancy control. I kept hoping that each of them would grap something that would give them a very painful reminder to stay off the coral. But I guess God watches over fools too. While that was bad enough, I really got irritated that the DM did nothing to stop them, or say anything to them on the SI. I guess the DM was hoping for a tip from them, but I think he did not know tipping is not customary in their culture, so he got the reward he deserved for that dive.