Scary bad Advanced diver.

[Frosty]

Hey Guys Im just checking to see how you would deal with this scenario.
Advanced open water diver 200 plus logged dives and recent dives.who had dived only tropical.
Wanted a checkout dive in a 7mm suit.
First issue. They had no idea of how to set up their gear.-Literally not a clue.
Second issue No idea how to put a weight belt on.
Third No clue how to do a calm water beach entry.
Fourth no apparent knowledge on how to empty a BC or how to do a weight check.
fifth No indication of situational awareness ie what was going on around them.
The dive site was of the VERY safe type but this person wants to dive a fair bit more challenging dive site.

 

[underH2Oman]

If bells are going off there is probably a good reason for them. If he can not set up his own gear, does not kn ow how to put a weight belt on and has no idea of how to empty a BC or do a weight check he is not a diver. after all thee are skills we need to complete for each dive. If he tells me he has 200 dives and demonstrates that lack of knowledge I would have to wonder if he is the person who is listed on the card, and let him know I am wondering. I would have been asking him a lot of questions which would need to be answered correctly before I would take him in the water.

 

[redacted]

Good to see you are trying to help him.

 

[JohnnyC]

Remember, "Advanced" doesn't actually mean they are advanced divers, it's just a marketing term. 200 dives at one of those hand-holding resorts where they do everything for you but breathe doesn't do much to encourage actual skill development. You can go from being a non-diver to AOW in 10 dives through PADI, and with dives like Fish ID and Underwater Naturalist, it's not like many of those dives mean much of anything.

At some point, someone either needs to approach him about his lack of skill, or he's going to find out the hard way. For you, either you can approach him and he'll be receptive, approach him and he won't be, potentially losing him as a customer, say nothing and hope for the best, or say nothing and deal with whatever happens. It's a rock and a hard place situation, but you've gotta watch out for yourself.

 

[TMHeimer]

Wow. Describes someone you might meet poolside before CF water dive one. I don't know what to say. Most of the students I've helped seemed to have most of this stuff together after a pool session or two. JohnnyC makes a good point, but it's still hard to believe such a diver has 200 dives. How many of you experienced divers/instructors have met someone like this? Well OK, maybe the diver got certified in a locale where a weight belt wasn't needed, so he'd need the one minute instruction on how to put it on....

 

[AdivingBel]

Wow, quite a conundrum. I guess you could assist the guy on his check out dive like he asked. You could refuse to take his money for the checkout dive and offer him a refresher course.

 

[Frosty]

To be clear the checkout dive happened. It went badly enough that I wanted to ask opinions as to how to approach the issue

 

[DevonDiver]

I'm not sure from the post why the 'checkout' dive occurred? Was this at the behest of the dive center (shop policy) or a request by the diver? Was it to permit/assess prior to a course, or to prove competency for fun diving with the center?

I see three possibles:

1. At the request of the diver. Conduct the checkout dive, assess the student. Provide feedback, counselling and advice as appropriate. In this instance, either a refresher or a re-take of training seems appropriate.

2. Shop Policy - Course. Conduct the assessment and provide feedback on performance. Advise that refresher/re-training is required, IF it is required. If the diver has satisfactory performance, enroll them on the course. Most agencies actually direct this approach in their standards, if you read closely enough.

3. Shop Policy - Fun Diving. Conduct the assessment and provide feedback on performance. Advise that refresher/re-training is recommended, IF it is needed. If the diver declines a refresher/re-training, then conduct a prudent risk assessment that you would be satisfied to rely upon in court - the risk assessment determines the divers' safety and competency to undertake a given dive.

 

[tstormdiver]

Well OK, maybe the diver got certified in a locale where a weight belt wasn't needed, so he'd need the one minute instruction on how to put it on....

.....learn to put the weights in the proper place for better trim, learn how to properly ditch it.... A little more than 1 min,.... but if only going 1/2 way floats your boat, go for it.

 

[Rich Keller]

Are you sure the AOW card is his? Even just watching someone else putting your gear together 200 times you would know more then this guy seems to know. I would never put someone like that in the water for their own good.