Advice on Guided Dives

[Goingforsound]

Hi Bowers,
Thanks for the reply. We were trucked onto the dive boat in a very hasty fashion, there was a basic dive brief, location direction, depth etc. and only a quick point, "Remember to let me know half-tank" I think he meant 100 bar as that would equate to half a tank. Not what I would consider a good briefing at all.
Personally I would consider my last 50 Bar (500 psi) as sacrosanct, only for emergencies such as gear failure while at safety stop or a possible extension of the safety stop as indicated by my computer. I also understand that SPG's are not really as accurate as the could be so I like to leave room for SPG errors also. So in short, surface with 50 bar.

50 bars is roughly 750 psi.

 

[Chilly_Diver]

You and your buddy, not the dive guide, are responsible for the safety of both of you.

This sums up my 2 cents. I understand your concern, especially as you are a newer diver, though he is a dive guide, not a dive nanny. He is there assist in navigation and point out local flora and fauna, unless other arraignments were made to the contrary.

 

[Steve_C]

I avoid group led dives as much as possible but have done a few. On a number of occasions I have hired a private DM. We have a lengthy discussion and plan the dive together first. Utilizing their expertise and my intertests. I explain that I like to go slow and poke around. I am not interested in shooting off so they can show me X. If we see X fine. If not, fine. About half the time they get it. The other half the time it takes about half the dive and they get it. About the third time they come back for me they slow down. Invariably they later tell me it was fun for them too because once they slowed down it turned into just a dive for them.

On some of the led dives I have been on, I have seen them put somebody on the DM's octo. I appreciated the longer dive.

There is another kind of semi-led dive that is enjoyable. On the east side of Cayman we had a DM that just drifted along once in a while pointing out something. The divers spread out and did our thing. As long as she was visible we were free to roam. Once we go to the vicinity of the boat it was come up when you have to and explore the area around the boat. Nice dives.

With a private DM in Greece once turned out she had grabbed a partially full tank and she went onto my spare octo for a while to lengthen my dive.

 

[TMHeimer]

Yeah, Once on that same tropical trip I did, it was just me and the DM. He was outstanding. He did grab an empty tank for himself once and used my octo to surface, thanking me for saving his life. Well, he could`ve CESAd from 40`.

 

[The Chairman]

FWIW, there are a number of threads, current ones even, that discuss strategies to extend your dive by reducing your sac. Good reads and will enable you to not be the one who calls the dive.