Another OOA Diver, this time uncertified! I'll not hold my tongue again.

[BadLatitude]

Its possible he was crash course OW certed at a resort or some out of country back water dive shop. Its a shame that even in this day this still goes on. Truely certified divers should boycott such shops boats ect IMHO.

Hes lucky he didnt get swept off the reef and wind up OOA and clueless

 

[pelan-pelan]

Yes, do speak up. There are those who are ill-trained or inexperienced but who do have good sense and will benefit from your words.

There are those who are pig-ignorant regardless of training or experience - and their reaction to your words will make that apparent.

Overall result - better safety. We all aim for the safest dive possible - and if that means the dive that you decided to abort - then you have achieved the safest dive. Arguably it should be recorded in your log.

Crash/resort course OW divers = bad news. One of my greatest dive regrets is not belting the ill-trained bimbette who snagged my regulator hose and towed me by my teeth as she frantically finned over the top of me. You would have thought after a few yards that she might have noticed the extra resistance. I could have just let go the regulator and gone for my octopus but I was trying to cope with being severely finned around the head. Fortunately the hose unsnagged after a minute or so of struggle. Later on the boat she said "Oooooo did I bump you?" My reply? Said nothing at all - there is no joy in swearing in "British" at someone who only understands "American" - if indeed she understood anything more than single syllable words.

But I should have spoken up.

 

[parrottheaddiver]

If he was certified, he obviously displayed poor judgement in assessing whether or not he was capable to handle a dive with advanced variables. However, by his remark about "not supposed to go below 40 feet" maybe he wasn't fully certified yet either. I remember seeing something about PADI having a rating of "Scuba Diver" that restricted them to 40 feet and having to dive with an instructor. If he was training for his Advanced cert, again he displayed a poor grasp of basic diving protocols.

It is because of morons like that, that i opted to take the time to get some "real world" diving experience in before rushing ahead to get the Advance OW cert. After all, whats the point of having that card if you don't have the experience or skill to back it up?