Advanced dives for beginners?

[Mossman]

I took this out of the March rollcall thread for general discussion.

Having a great time down here so far! Day one (Saturday) was pretty hectic with the overnight flight, check in to the Villa, trip to the Mega, check in with the dive shop and then a great fish dinner at Casa Denis. After all that we were pretty whipped out, so it was off to bed early. Day two they put me on the bigboy boat and I got to dive Maricaibo and Paseo de Cedral. Other than a few buoyancy issues with the new gear and always being the first one low on air ( kind of a recurring theme for me) the dives were awesome! Then it was back to the Villa to watch my wife finish up her confined water dives and then into town to Kellys for the St. Patricks day party followed by dinner at El Pique. What a great day! Today I was back on the bigboy boat and we got to dive Punta Sur Sur and Delilah ( still the first low on air but getting better) and when I got back to the Villa we found out my wife was going out on an afternoon boat to do her first open water dives. She was a little nervous, but Ernesto is a great instructor so she will be fine. It will be great to get her certified so we can finally dive together. Still have five more full days here, I expect they will all be as great as the ones so far!

Is it the usual case that someone with less than 24 dives (according to the profile) goes to Maracaibo for their first dives of the trip? Especially with new gear and buoyancy issues?

For instance, divecozumel.net says "An exposed location with unpredictable currents. Only the most experienced of divers should consider diving this location."

Does fewer than 24 dives qualify one as "the most experienced of divers"? Should even the most experienced of divers do Maracaibo on their first day of a dive trip and with unfamiliar gear.

No offense to heldresm, I'm sure you were just going with the flow. I just can't imagine any dive shop taking a beginner to an "expert" dive on the first day of a trip when they haven't even seen you in the water.

 

[ggunn]

I took this out of the March rollcall thread for general discussion.



Is it the usual case that someone with less than 24 dives (according to the profile) goes to Maracaibo for their first dives of the trip? Especially with new gear and buoyancy issues?

For instance, divecozumel.net says "An exposed location with unpredictable currents. Only the most experienced of divers should consider diving this location."

Does fewer than 24 dives qualify one as "the most experienced of divers"? Should even the most experienced of divers do Maracaibo on their first day of a dive trip and with unfamiliar gear.

No offense to heldresm, I'm sure you were just going with the flow. I just can't imagine any dive shop taking a beginner to an "expert" dive on the first day of a trip when they haven't even seen you in the water.

I can't either, but maybe he was mistaken about the name of the reef, or maybe it was Maracaibo Shallows. When I was new to diving and on one of my first trips to Cozumel, the DM asked me where I wanted to go one morning. I knew next to nothing about the reefs there and had only heard the names of most of them, so I said, "How about Maracaibo?" He busted out laughing and said, "No way, gringo."

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Depends on how much cash he flashed maybe?

 

[Woodiver]

Is he a big tipper? Many DM's will look the other way if the client gives big tips. I doubt if Dave or Memo would approve of bringing a beginner diver to an advanced site unless they had a privite DM.

 

[Dave Dillehay]

No, Aldora Divers would never take anyone to Maricaibo Deep without previous knowledge of their skills. To say other wise is unfair,...or worse. WE have plenty of boats to segregate divers. What is your point in dragging this post here?


dave dillehay
Aldora Divers

 

[Mossman]

My point was to discuss why/how a new diver went to Maracaibo on his first dives of the trip. Isn't the purpose of Scubaboard to discuss stuff like that? We could also discuss how he went to Punta Sur Sur on his second day. Is Punta Sur Sur less advanced than Punta Sur? I've never done it.

So it was likely Maracaibo Shallows for a first dive, not Maracaibo Deep? I guess that makes more sense.

 

[MMM]

I can't either, but maybe he was mistaken about the name of the reef, or maybe it was Maracaibo Shallows.

That was my first thought. When I was a brand new diver, I had difficulty with site names and navigation of them. Maracaibo Shallows is usually a fairly benign dive with mild current albeit it, a lot better done on nitrox than air IMHO.

 

[firstdive2005]

There isnt a reef south that does not have 60fsw or less that cant be dove on, even the walls. Sure where the walls begin to the abiss they are at 80*90*100fsw but a new diver can stay up on top of the reef easily. Maybe he did that. When my wife is with me and the others want to dive the deep I stay with her on top. Lots to see there. So blasting this dude for going way south is uncalled for until he states he was deep. Mossman I agree on a lot of things you put out but you are too early on this call. Also it's none of your business what he does as far as a diver is concerned. Unless he gets you into trouble. It's his call and the guides call to lead him. Why are you in his stuff anyway? But it is discussion i suppose or idle chatter, not sure.

 

[ggunn]

There isnt a reef south that does not have 60fsw or less that cant be dove on, even the walls. Sure where the walls begin to the abiss they are at 80*90*100fsw but a new diver can stay up on top of the reef easily. Maybe he did that. When my wife is with me and the others want to dive the deep I stay with her on top. Lots to see there. So blasting this dude for going way south is uncalled for until he states he was deep. Mossman I agree on a lot of things you put out but you are too early on this call. Also it's none of your business what he does as far as a diver is concerned. Unless he gets you into trouble. It's his call and the guides call to lead him. Why are you in his stuff anyway? But it is discussion i suppose or idle chatter, not sure.

FWIW, if a diver with 20 or so dives under his belt told me that his first dive of the trip was Maracaibo, it would raise my eyebrows a bit, too, but I think it's more likely the diver was mistaken about where he went than that an op took him on a very deep and quite possibly planned deco dive.

 

[Ron Lee]

I have gone to Maracaibo a few times with Aldora and the dive was not planned nor did it become a deco dive. That it was a non-deco dive even with my very conservative Suunto dive computers means that it was even further from deco for most everyone else.

They seem to start out at some arch formation then head shallower to a nice area. Obviously someone could go as deep as they choose at that site but that applies to many sites on Cozumel, including Palancar.

It is a nice dive and not that challenging in my opinion (yes I may be wrong). Barracuda would rank higher on the challenge scale.