Resort's " New Normal " Rule - No AIR 2 or diving your long hose

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Governments are fearful
Governing bodies are fearful
Diving Business are fearful
Insurers are fearful
The Public are fearful
Your buddy might also be fearful. Agree on protocols before you splash.
 
It's my opinion that we, as divers, are going to have to be very flexible in all we do. Truth, mixed with fear will have a huge effect on how we dive from here on out. So be it. Some rules will be wise. Some of them will be less so. I saw the writing on the wall in regards to primary donate at the very beginning. I've had to donate air only a few times and never in a cave, so this won't affect me much, if at all. I'll happily comply with any requests they make whether I agree with them or not. Once in the water, I'll do what I think is appropriate. Maybe it's time to carry a pony on every OW dive?

As many are saying about social distancing...they can tell people what to do, but they can't make them do it...in most cases.

I carry a pony now on every local dive. I wonder about doing that on Bonaire. Not that many pony tanks available there...maybe there should be.
 
I do not grasp all this stuff about risk percentages or increased risk due to different sharing methods.
This is relevant only for the responsible who sets the rules for a resort (or for a country). None of us is in the position to force a change of these rules: we can perhaps politely suggest to change them, but given a set of rules, even if plainly wrong, one has just two choices:
1) comply with them and dive happily in that resort.
2) do not dive there.
The suggestion of violating the rules while diving there is simply unacceptable.
It is selfish and without respect for the other customers and for the professionals working there.
It is perfectly legit for the chief of the organization running scuba operations at the resort to define the safety rules and to enforce them.
A customer must follow them strictly, above and under the surface.
Who does not agree following the rules is not allowed diving in that resort.
 
1) comply with them and dive happily in that resort.
2) do not dive there.

Understanding why a policy is put in place allows for one to make a decision from an informed position. A business that chooses to put a policy in place that increases overall risk in the name of fear leads one to question their overall risk reduction strategies and questions what other decisions they have made that increase risk just for warm fuzzy feelings.
 
The problem is that there are some rules that introduce a higher risk to try to prevent a lower risk.

How does having an AAS rather than not having an AAS introduce more risk?

Having thought about this for a bit I realise that their policy makes me more likely to choose them rather than less. I don’t want to dive with people using Air2s.
 
Fear. Nothing but fear.

Fear is unreasoning.

You're not going to reason with an unreasonable person or rule. That's the nature of it. Agree. Happily agree. Do what you need to do when you're in the water. What happens on the dive stays on the dive. :D :D :D

Fear may be unreasoning, but fear can induce reasoning out how to handle the fear inducing sources.

From Pyschology Today website:
1. Fear is healthy.

Fear is hardwired in your brain, and for good reason: Neuroscientists have identified distinct networks that run from the depths of the limbic system all the way to the prefrontal cortex and back. When these networks are electrically or chemically stimulated, they produce fear, even in the absence of a fearful stimulus. Feeling fear is neither abnormal nor a sign of weakness: The capacity to be afraid is part of normal brain function. In fact, a lack of fear may be a sign of serious brain damage.
 
How does having an AAS rather than not having an AAS introduce more risk?

Having thought about this for a bit I realise that their policy makes me more likely to choose them rather than less. I don’t want to dive with people using Air2s.
The reality is that people dive with them, regardless of how anyone feels about them.

The immediate effect of this policy is that divers that are used to other configurations will be put into configurations they aren't used to. We can talk until we're blue in the face about changing training, eventually getting people used to other configurations, etc, but the reality is that NOW, TODAY, if you're diving at this resort with other divers, these rules will put some of them into configurations that they aren't used to.
 
I do not grasp all this stuff about risk percentages or increased risk due to different sharing methods.
This is relevant only for the responsible who sets the rules for a resort (or for a country). None of us is in the position to force a change of these rules: we can perhaps politely suggest to change them, but given a set of rules, even if plainly wrong, one has just two choices:
1) comply with them and dive happily in that resort.
2) do not dive there.
The suggestion of violating the rules while diving there is simply unacceptable.
It is selfish and without respect for the other customers and for the professionals working there.
It is perfectly legit for the chief of the organization running scuba operations at the resort to define the safety rules and to enforce them.
A customer must follow them strictly, above and under the surface.
Who does not agree following the rules is not allowed diving in that resort.
I have to agree with Angelo. Understand an operator's policies and then choose to dive with them or not.
 
@angelofarina. Out of pure curiosity. Can you please describe the trim position of Italian divers? I am trying to understand the “no frog kick rule” in some Italian caves.
In Italy there are many types of caverns and caves, and different groups of divers going inside them.
Some are similar to other caves you find all around the world..For example I did spend one month at Capo Palinuro, where many caves have a muddy bottom: GUE/DIR methods are correct there.
There are inland carsic caves similar to those in UK, where the speleologic methods developed in UK are the best.
Then there are two very specific cases where I was allowed to dive:
Grotta Giusti in Monsummano Terme, Tuscany. I did dive there only once. The allowed equipment is really minimal. Any sort of suit is forbidden, as water temperature is 37 Centigrades, hence a suit quickly causes overheating.
Fins are not allowed, and kicking is forbidden, for preserving delicate stalactites and stalagmites. You advance pulling yourself with your hands on guidance cables, which are the only thing you are allowed to touch.
In Capo Caccia there are several caverns and a very long cave, Grotta di Nereo, which goes inside the mountain for over 1 km.
Rec divers are entering just for 20-30 meters, for admiring the red coral under the ceiling. The recommended trim is face up, so you see the coral under the ceiling.
The typical trim of US cave divers, with hands partially stretched forward, flexed knees at 90 degrees and fins well above you is totally forbidden there...
 
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