A few scuba notes.

[Mike Boswell]

My wife and I just got back from two wonderful weeks in Fiji, where we dove in Taveuni, in Beqa Lagoon (including the shark dive), and at Volivoli. We had a wonderful time, the diving was excellent, and the dive operators were very professional. There were a couple of things I wanted to share:

First, after every dive, the dive master asked each diver to provide their dive time and max depth, and then each diver had to sign their initials on their entry. At first I supposed that this was a liability protection, but after thinking about it, I realized that this also served as a very good way to make sure all of the divers were back on the boat. I suppose the dive profile information could also be useful if one of the divers later became ill.

The other point I want to share is that on far too many occasions, the tanks provided to the divers had short fills, valve leaks, or bad yoke O-rings. If the leaks were bad enough we could hear it on the boat and we had the O-rings replaced, but on several dives the leak wasn't audible on the boat, and we had the annoying experience of conducting a dive with a leaky, hissing yoke connection. For our next trip I am thinking of taking a spray bottle filled with diluted dish soap, so I can use it as a mask defog and to check my tank connection before each dive.

 

[boulderjohn]

First, after every dive, the dive master asked each diver to provide their dive time and max depth, and then each diver had to sign their initials on their entry. At first I supposed that this was a liability protection, but after thinking about it, I realized that this also served as a very good way to make sure all of the divers were back on the boat.

I had to do this quite a few years ago when I was diving in Australia. We were told that it was a legal reaction to the famed loss of the Lonergan family--the "Lonergan Laws." On that same trip I also dived in Beqa Lagoon, and we did nothing of the sort. Perhaps it took a while for the concept to drift across the Coral Sea. On the other hand, perhaps they had a similar incident.

 

[TSandM]

We did the same thing in Indonesia. One of the things that ended our relationship with our OW instructor was listening to him gloat about falsifying the log. I always thought that, although it was probably primary for liability issues, it would be useful if anyone had symptoms.

 

[scubafanatic]

My wife and I just got back from two wonderful weeks in Fiji, where we dove in Taveuni, in Beqa Lagoon (including the shark dive), and at Volivoli. We had a wonderful time, the diving was excellent, and the dive operators were very professional. There were a couple of things I wanted to share:

First, after every dive, the dive master asked each diver to provide their dive time and max depth, and then each diver had to sign their initials on their entry. At first I supposed that this was a liability protection, but after thinking about it, I realized that this also served as a very good way to make sure all of the divers were back on the boat. I suppose the dive profile information could also be useful if one of the divers later became ill.

The other point I want to share is that on far too many occasions, the tanks provided to the divers had short fills, valve leaks, or bad yoke O-rings. If the leaks were bad enough we could hear it on the boat and we had the O-rings replaced, but on several dives the leak wasn't audible on the boat, and we had the annoying experience of conducting a dive with a leaky, hissing yoke connection. For our next trip I am thinking of taking a spray bottle filled with diluted dish soap, so I can use it as a mask defog and to check my tank connection before each dive.

Thanks for sharing the info about the short fills/defective tanks. Two things that REALLY piss me off are timed dives (especially excessively short dive times) and short fills or leaky tanks.....that right there would immediately cross that dive destination off my list! I consider gas leaks and O-ring blow outs to be a severe safety compromise, moreover, I consider the dive ops sloppiness there, and the short fills to be blatent cheating customers out of $ !!! Two weeks in Fiji can't have been cheap, plus the airfare expenses, so to arrive and be deliberately cheated out of dive time by systematically issuing everyone short fills/leaky tanks would be completely unacceptable....I consider it premeditated theft of my hard earned $ !!! It sounds like they know darn well what they are doing and are hoping quests are too stupid to put two and two together and figure out they're being had!

 

[Mike Boswell]

Thanks for sharing the info about the short fills/defective tanks. Two things that REALLY piss me off are timed dives (especially excessively short dive times) and short fills or leaky tanks.....that right there would immediately cross that dive destination off my list! I consider gas leaks and O-ring blow outs to be a severe safety compromise, moreover, I consider the dive ops sloppiness there, and the short fills to be blatent cheating customers out of $ !!! Two weeks in Fiji can't have been cheap, plus the airfare expenses, so to arrive and be deliberately cheated out of dive time by systematically issuing everyone short fills/leaky tanks would be completely unacceptable....I consider it premeditated theft of my hard earned $ !!! It sounds like they know darn well what they are doing and are hoping quests are too stupid to put two and two together and figure out they're being had!

Hi Scubafanatic,

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that the problem was systematic or deliberate short fills. The problem really was leaky tank valves and worn-out yoke O-rings - just garden-variety maintenance issues.

My point (to new divers in the Basic Forum) is that in Fiji (and everywhere else), it pays to be on your toes when you gear up, listen for leaks when you turn your air on, and check your tank pressure before every dive.

Other than those issues, the trip was absolutely wonderful and I would recommend Fiji to anyone. In fact, I can't wait to return. WITH my soap suds.

 

[Mike Boswell]

We did the same thing in Indonesia. One of the things that ended our relationship with our OW instructor was listening to him gloat about falsifying the log. I always thought that, although it was probably primary for liability issues, it would be useful if anyone had symptoms.

In Roatan they asked for depth and time, and they also asked for our end pressures, which I thought was useful because it gave the Dive Master a pretty good idea about who might need babysitting.

 

[allistoy]

While diving in Bora Bora this year I noticed one day when it was raining that 14 out of 18 bottles on the boat had valve to tank neck leaks so that explained the daily short fills we were getting.

 

[Mike Boswell]

While diving in Bora Bora this year I noticed one day when it was raining that 14 out of 18 bottles on the boat had valve to tank neck leaks so that explained the daily short fills we were getting.

Yes, this was evident in Fiji also. With a shore-based operation where the tanks are filled at the shop each afternoon for the following day's diving, there is plenty of time for a leaky tank to lose lots of air.

 

[diver 85]

We were @ Beqa Lagoon last week(~10th thru the 17th)---part of the 'La. group'.....There was a smaller group from Cal sitting @ the table closest to the tea table---was that ya'll, by chance??.....If so, you do remember what happened on 'our' shark dive Friday???..If not, here's the results......

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/pa...hark-dive-saw-2-tigers-dive-2-4-days-ago.html

 

[Mike Boswell]

We were @ Beqa Lagoon last week(~10th thru the 17th)---part of the 'La. group'.....There was a smaller group from Cal sitting @ the table closest to the tea table---was that ya'll, by chance??.....If so, you do remember what happened on 'our' shark dive Friday???..If not, here's the results......

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/pa...hark-dive-saw-2-tigers-dive-2-4-days-ago.html

We were diving out of Pacific Harbor, so no, that wasn't us. And we missed the tigers on our dives - I guess they had to take the day off. So, Darn it, we will have to go back to Fiji and try again.