bad drop: ya pay yer money and take your chances?

[roakey]

Was this the last dive of the day? If so, given that there was a bouy, sounds to me like the crew wanted to get home -- it's a common ploy of sucky operations... Drop the customers downcurrent, they fight upcurrent, burn up their air, have a short dive and the crew makes it home early for beers.

Roak

 

[Cudabait]

Roakey's right.

The current in the channel between Cancun and Isla Mujeres really screams. I have been on trips in the area and have witnessed Dive ops putting in downcurrent from wrecks in 80fsw. Also, on the reef dives they led groups up current the whole dive just to tire then out. No excuse!

Regards,

 

[Jeff Toorish]

Before the actual dive, did the OP give a pre-dive briefing?

I mean, normally there would be a briefing where they would mention current, depth, safety procedures, getting back on the boat. If, during such a briefing, the OP said, "we're going to drop you downstream of the wreck..." I might have been concerned.

As for there being an unused BUOY there, well, that would have absoutely been cause for a discussion once I was back on the boat. Maybe the BUOY was some sort of private thing, only used by specific OPs, although I have never heard of that before.

I understand about not being petty, I'm the same way; but in this case, I would have been truly curious about why these guys made the decisions they made.

Some Caribbean OPs I have been with don't seem to understand the concept of drift diving, and have a very strong view that the beginning of each dive must be into the current. Perhaps that was what was going on here.

It does make me want to always ask about the possible presence of a BUOY, though.

Jeff

 

[Onda]

String wrote:

Can he be sure the dive op knew there were currents? If so, can he be sure they knew the wreck was up current? Did they know the strength?

dogtownmax wrote:

also do these guys not talk to eachother about he conditions using the radio? a quick look at the site or a call ot the boat that was on it would have let them know which side was up current.

maybe people should read the original post before starting to criticize

 

[hvulin]

ok, you didn't know about the buoy but how DID you plan to surface? Or you didn't plan?

Boat captain was probably wrong but I don't think he's the only one to blame...

 

[boulderjohn]

As someone who as dived that part of the world quite a lot, I think the operator was at fault, and the diver has a right to complain.

The DM is supposed to check current conditions and drop you in the proper point. That is his job, and that is what you are paying him for. Whether you will get any satisfaction is up to the policies of the operator, though.

I have had two occasions in taht part of the world where the DM screwed up. In each case, the DM got in the water to ascertain the current, and still got it wrong. We ended up starting a dive into the current. Eventually the DM had to admit the error. We turned around and then drifted over blank sand for most of the dive.

In both cases, I said something to the operator about it, and in both cases I got both an apology and a refund. The operator flat out said their DM's are expected to do it right, and we should not have to pay when they don't.

On the other hand, this fall something like this happened twice in Yap. In one case, we were supposed to cut through the barrier reef through a specific entrance and get into a great area called Yap Caverns. The boat dropped us down current of the gap, though, and we could not get to it. In the other case, the DM was fooled because the wind-driven current at the surface was directly opposite the current at depth, and we missed the section of the reef we were supposed to hit, diving instead on a thoroughly dead and uninteresting location instead.

In the first case, we got nothing more than a mumbled explanation. (All speech in Yap is mumbled because they always have a wad of betel nut in their mouths.) In the second case, there was no admission at all--we figured out he had missed the drop later when we saw that the description of the dive we were supposed to do did not match the one we did. The operator was not at all interested in guaranteeing satisfaction...

...and we are not at all interested in using that operator again. That's the lesson for the operators. Happy divers return and tell their friends. Unhappy divers do not.

 

[String]

String wrote:


dogtownmax wrote:


maybe people should read the original post before starting to criticize

It still doesnt answer my question. Where they aware of a current? Why would every dive boat in the area radio another one to ask about everything? Quite possibly they were unaware of the current or its strength and decided to drop away from a buoy to avoid overcrowding.

Again as it appears there was no brief and the original poster couldnt be bothered to find out he cant make any accusations.

 

[String]

n the other case, the DM was fooled because the wind-driven current at the surface was directly opposite the current at depth, and we missed the section of the reef we were supposed to hit, diving instead on a thoroughly dead and uninteresting location instead.

In the first case, we got nothing more than a mumbled explanation. (All speech in Yap is mumbled because they always have a wad of betel nut in their mouths.) In the second case, there was no admission at all--we figured out he had missed the drop later when we saw that the description of the dive we were supposed to do did not match the one we did. The operator was not at all interested in guaranteeing satisfaction...

I fail to see how the dive masters lack of psychic abilities entitles a diver to a refund there. Its the sea, its not a constant, things change, people no matter how experienced can misjudge. You either accept their best judgment or you do a better job yourself. By following the DM you trust his better judgment and he made a mistake. No big deal - ***** happens. Humans cant control the sea.

 

[Onda]

It still doesnt answer my question. Where they aware of a current? Why would every dive boat in the area radio another one to ask about everything? Quite possibly they were unaware of the current or its strength and decided to drop away from a buoy to avoid overcrowding.

It seems to me that the questions you are asking are the same questions the OP is asking himself.

 

[roakey]

...betel nut...

That took me back (lived in Saipan in the late 70s )!

Roak