Aldora Divers Review: Two Tank Solo New Diver Experience Coming off a Cruise Ship

[Dave Dillehay]

I'm going to go out on a limb as well. The best bet for novice cruise ship divers is Dive with Martin. They are on the Cruise ship pier, there is no need for a taxi and they are reputable and set up for cruisers. You will have no chance of going to the wrong dock or pier, miss the office or suffer many of the self inflicted wrongs.

Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

 

[Skittl1321]

The criticism of putting a diver on the DM's octo is a bit overblown in most cases. I have seen this done numerous times with a variety of different dive ops, and the diver was put on the DM's octo, not because of an OOA situation, but because the diver was significantly lower on air than the other divers in the group. This was done to avoid thumbing the dive earlier than desired. So, if another diver had a problem requiring the DM's assistance, the diver on the octo could go back on his/her own air, the DM could assist another diver as needed, and everyone would surface together. I prefer that scenario over everyone ascending when one diver's air gets too far below the rest of the crowd, especially on a drift dive in Coz. But that is just my perference.

To each their own- we prefer to shoot up an SMB when we are ready to end our dive and not worry about whether other divers have surfaced or are still continuing. The ops we dive with will shoot an SMB for us; but we carry our own.

And I think you are right that in an emergency, the diver would go back to their own air; but it does slow reaction time, as they need to be signaled to switch back, and that eats time. If it were an out of air emergency, the diver would also be with their buddy and use that octo; I'm thinking more of a "DM needs to move quick" situation. But I don't think Aldora has ever had a problem with the way they do things, so it is really personal preference on which way to do this. \

Either system seems preferable to "sorry that guy you've never met blew his air, so we are going up. Sorry your tank is 95% full still."

 

[Dave Dillehay]

The cost would be $50, that is what we pay for "Known Quality" DMs (that don't just happen to be on the street). But as of now we are no longer going to accept cruise ship passengers between Dec15 and April 1. There are just too many complications when we are otherwise very busy. WE have 7 boats and an appropriate number of quality DMs and do all we can to provide every possible service.

If you request one and we confirm it you will have a private DM--unless you bring another surprise person along who wants to do a discover scuba…then you have to make your choice.

Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

 

[Skittl1321]

I'm going to go out on a limb as well. The best bet for novice cruise ship divers is Dive with Martin. They are on the Cruise ship pier, there is no need for a taxi and they are reputable and set up for cruisers. You will have no chance of going to the wrong dock or pier, miss the office or suffer many of the self inflicted wrongs.

Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

Which pier is DWM on? Or do they have offices at all the places cruise ships dock? I've only come in on Carnival, and can't ever recall seeing them.



We used Scuba with Alison when diving off a ship (also for a land vacation). She has been super accommodating to cruisers. When on our land vacation we had a few days of delayed starts because she waits for ships to dock. (She only has one boat.) You do need to take a taxi to the marina. That's super easy to do.

 

[gotdogs?]

The poster in question was just one of three divers with one DM to share.

Confused. In your initial response you referred to "the busiest time of year" for your dive op. Now you are saying there were only three divers with one DM? Pointing out that there were only 3 divers on the boat is not germane to the original post. A ratio of 20:1 or 2:1 really isn't of relevance. The customer asked for and was told that he would have his own private DM. That was the plan. This was in no way a catastrophe or deal breaker. However, the blase and glib response did nothing to address legitimate concerns.

 

[outofofficebrb]

The criticism of putting a diver on the DM's octo is a bit overblown in most cases. I have seen this done numerous times with a variety of different dive ops, and the diver was put on the DM's octo, not because of an OOA situation, but because the diver was significantly lower on air than the other divers in the group. This was done to avoid thumbing the dive earlier than desired. So, if another diver had a problem requiring the DM's assistance, the diver on the octo could go back on his/her own air, the DM could assist another diver as needed, and everyone would surface together. I prefer that scenario over everyone ascending when one diver's air gets too far below the rest of the crowd, especially on a drift dive in Coz. But that is just my perference.

I dived with an op in Coz a few years back whose policy on low air is that each buddy group went up separately. That was really ideal and eliminated the need for the situation you describe altogether. To manage the situation better, I would try to group this diver with a buddy or group with similar air consumption. If that were not possible, I would have given them larger tanks to minimize interrupting other divers’ experiences if it meant everyone had to come up together when one was low on air. I’m not saying Dave at Aldora didn’t do this - just a response on how to even avoid having to do an air share under those circumstances.

I also worry that it sends new/newer/inexperienced divers the wrong message that this is okay and an accepted procedure. Let’s be honest, while you can do that for the reasons you describe, that really isn’t what an octo is for....but I understand if in the moment it’s a surprise to everyone and the DM is the only one there and options are limited, that’s what you have to do.

 

[Skittl1321]

but I understand if in the moment it’s a surprise to everyone and the DM is the only one there and options are limited, that’s what you have to do.

I may be speaking out of turn, as I have not dove with Aldora, but from what I've read on this board; that is their procedure for the first low on air (not out of air, as was pointed out) diver. It is part of the dive briefing, and everyone expects this to happen. The first person low on air signals that they are, and shares air with the DM so as to extend everyones dive.

 

[Dave Dillehay]

Yes, we just do not put novice divers on a boat with advanced no matter how busy. That day we had only three novice divers and one of the three asked for a Resort Dive with a friend they brought along—that is where our last DM went.

This is my last response to this issue

Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

 

[Skittl1321]

(never mind)

 

[DevilEyeDog]

This is ridiculous.
Honestly, I don't even know what to say that is appropriate.

Dave:. I booked two things with Aldora.
1) Two tank dive with a private DAM.
2) Discover scuba for a friend.

So I gave your business more money for the day.

I am happy to post every email that I sent to your company with the confirmations including their reply.

You are 100% in the wrong Dave. And at this point I have been trying to support you, the business owner, who threw the customer under the bus. I've chalked it up to you I just having a bad day. I've continued to say what a great company you have.

You could have privately messaged me and apologize for the tirade under my post yesterday. You could have acknowledged you made a mistake.

So, Dave, this sounds like fun. Your company made a very small mistake. I'm happy to send the trail of emails through scubaboard if that's what you want.

You are 100% in the wrong. And, the little respect that I had for you is completely gone. Not that that matters to you because it's your personality that has come out in these emails shows that you don't really care about your customers.

If you want to continue I'll go ahead and post every single email with the confirmations. Just say the word.