No Morning Dive After Flight the Day Before with ProDive Mexico?!?

[Dan]

It sounds like the 10AM dive would be a-typical schedule, specifically made for new customers who want to do a check dive in the shallow in the morning & have enough time to complete the paper work before hand. And the 8AM deep dive schedule would have been fully booked.

 

[Mitch H.]

I would also like to point out that the OP lied about being a divemaster at the time of the conversation .

You are absolutely right. It is a regrettable mistake. I should have said DM in training.

 

[Mitch H.]

It sounds like the 10AM dive would be a-typical schedule, specifically made for new customers who want to do a check dive in the shallow in the morning & have enough time to complete the paper work before hand. And the 8AM deep dive schedule would have been fully booked.

I get that we want to put the stick to the deceased equine for some reason, but how exactly did you come up with THAT?

 

[Mitch H.]

Nevermind. I've stated my position more than once. I've admitted my mistakes as I see them. I suspect some of you just have nothing better to do. Carry on!

 

[Cali_diver]

The real interesting thing to me about ALL of this is we have never been asked to do this before or this issue even been raised. This is our 3rd trip to Cozumel in the last year. In addition, we have dove in the Bahamas, the Florida Keys and the Flower Gardens this year. NEVER did we need to "audition" for a dive op. We offered our C-card and all was good.

At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter. We chose a different dive op that we have dove with before. No auditions required.

Edited to add: The GLARING mistake I made was trying to apply reason to this situation based on my previous experience with other dive ops.

Hey Mitch just an FYI for future trips if you venture farther from home. I have been to many places here on the earth with many more to go. I mostly do LOBs but also a few small resort dive ops. Every LOB (including ones that I have been on numerous times) has the first dive as a check out dive. Always shallow and easy. This isn't just for newbies, it is for everyone. It is to fine tune the diver for a successful week of diving.... Maybe someone has a new wetsuit, BC or that reg that hasn't been used acts up and needs a little tweaking etc. Resorts have been the same deal... they always put you on a boat with other new to the resort divers or send you in a smaller group with a guide etc. You may think that you have never had a check out dive but you have....probably because the op just does it without you knowing it or just doesn't make it obvious. Ultimately, the moral of the story is you get a lot farther in travel by being nice, respectful and patient. I think and hope you might understand that now because I don't think you want to be "that guy". Good luck down the road and have fun! Best of luck to you in your DM training. (seriously, not being sarcastic...)

 

[Lorenzoid]

The real interesting thing to me about ALL of this is we have never been asked to do this before or this issue even been raised. This is our 3rd trip to Cozumel in the last year. In addition, we have dove in the Bahamas, the Florida Keys and the Flower Gardens this year. NEVER did we need to "audition" for a dive op. We offered our C-card and all was good.

From others' comments, it sounds like it is indeed common to get what you were seeking, and ProDive may just have a more risk-averse policy than some (many? most?) Coz ops. Maybe the ops that let anyone show up sight unseen for the 8 am dive as the first dive of their trip are mainly those with enough boats that they can routinely dedicate one to an easy site even in the morning, and ProDive just doesn't do that. Maybe ProDive rigidly adheres to the classic Coz routine of a more challenging dive--somewhat deep, possible strong current, swim-throughs, etc.--in the morning, and the easier dives later.

For what it's worth, requiring a checkout dive at a relatively easy site is not uncommon in many places in the world. Whether you know you are being auditioned or not, the divemasters are sizing you up on the first dive of your trip. I don't mind being subjected to this time-honored procedure at all, but I would not tolerate an op that wants to delay the start of my diving by half a day to do it.

Whether ProDive was actually offering a 10 am option or whether it might have turned out to be a bait-and-switch tactic, as @awap suggested, we may never know.

You mention the Keys, and in my experience, most dive ops there are pretty careful about who they take out to the deeper wrecks. Depending on whether they know you, or how you answered questions like "cert level," "number of dives," "date of last dive," "last dive (or number of dives) over 60 ft," etc., they may suggest you do a shallower dive first or hire a private DM. I don't believe most Keys dive ops will take you out to the Spiegel Grove as your first dive with them based only on your c-card; they always ask some or all of these questions. You were in the midst of this kind of questioning by ProDive, and you gave up.

 

[Mitch H.]

From others' comments, it sounds like it is indeed common to get what you were seeking, and ProDive may just have a more risk-averse policy than some (many? most?) Coz ops. Maybe the ops that let anyone show up sight unseen for the 8 am dive as the first dive of their trip are mainly those with enough boats that they can routinely dedicate one to an easy site even in the morning, and ProDive just doesn't do that. Maybe ProDive rigidly adheres to the classic Coz routine of a more challenging dive--somewhat deep, possible strong current, swim-throughs, etc.--in the morning, and the easier dives later.

For what it's worth, requiring a checkout dive at a relatively easy site is not uncommon in many places in the world. Whether you know you are being auditioned or not, the divemasters are sizing you up on the first dive of your trip. I don't mind being subjected to this time-honored procedure at all, but I would not tolerate an op that wants to delay the start of my diving by half a day to do it.

Whether ProDive was actually offering a 10 am option or whether it might have turned out to be a bait-and-switch tactic, as @awap suggested, we may never know.

You mention the Keys, and in my experience, most dive ops there are pretty careful about who they take out to the deeper wrecks. Depending on whether they know you, or how you answered questions like "cert level," "number of dives," "date of last dive," "last dive (or number of dives) over 60 ft," etc., they may suggest you do a shallower dive first or hire a private DM. I don't believe most Keys dive ops will take you out to the Spiegel Grove as your first dive with them based only on your c-card; they always ask some or all of these questions. You were in the midst of this kind of questioning by ProDive, and you gave up.

Ugh! I said I was done and here I am again! It's funny you specifically use the Keys and the Spiegel Grove. That was our first dive in the Keys in June. They took us based off our C-card. On that trip we dove with three different ops. We dove the Duane, the Spiegel, the Aldophus Busch and the Vandenberg. No shallow dives or proof of skill with any.

Maybe we have only used sketchy dive ops?

 

[Mitch H.]

Hey Mitch just an FYI for future trips if you venture farther from home. I have been to many places here on the earth with many more to go. I mostly do LOBs but also a few small resort dive ops. Every LOB (including ones that I have been on numerous times) has the first dive as a check out dive. Always shallow and easy. This isn't just for newbies, it is for everyone. It is to fine tune the diver for a successful week of diving.... Maybe someone has a new wetsuit, BC or that reg that hasn't been used acts up and needs a little tweaking etc. Resorts have been the same deal... they always put you on a boat with other new to the resort divers or send you in a smaller group with a guide etc. You may think that you have never had a check out dive but you have....probably because the op just does it without you knowing it or just doesn't make it obvious. Ultimately, the moral of the story is you get a lot farther in travel by being nice, respectful and patient. I think and hope you might understand that now because I don't think you want to be "that guy". Good luck down the road and have fun! Best of luck to you in your DM training. (seriously, not being sarcastic...)

I appreciate the tip ma'am.

 

[Lorenzoid]

First dive to Maracaibo would raise a red flag to say the least! My husband and I are experienced, capable divers. However if a boat pulled up and declared that we would be diving such an advanced, deep, and current laden site without truly knowing or assessing our skills and experience would make me turn around and find another dive op that wasn't focused on pleasing the dive jocks.

If boulderjohn's story relates to the dive op I am thinking it does, I got the impression they profile the diver like Israeli airport security when the diver comes into the shop to check in.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Ugh! I said I was done and here I am again! It's funny you specifically use the Keys and the Spiegel Grove. That was our first dive in the Keys in June. They took us based off our C-card. On that trip we dove with three different ops. We dove the Duane, the Spiegel, the Aldophus Busch and the Vandenberg. No shallow dives or proof of skill with any.

Maybe we have only used sketchy dive ops?

Did they not ask you "the questions"? Did they not ask you the number of dives you've done, date of your last dive, depth, or anything like that? Those questions are often spaces on the waiver form that the diver is required to fill in. I am willing to bet they did not just take you solely "based off your C-card."