Bad weekend in Indonesia

[Valwood1]

My condolences to the family and friends of the lady who was lost.

I've been to Crystal Bay a couple of times, and faced heavy but not terrible current both trips. In Alor, I was caught in a ripping downcurrent that tore me off a wall and sent me from 40' to 144' in less time than I like to think about. When my grip was lost, I immediately began to swim out from the wall to get out of the current. But, there's no training that replicates the chaos of free-fall, with bubbles all around so you cannot read a gauge or your computer, or really even tell where you are headed -- it's one of those situations that one must experience to appreciate. And having a buddy would have been no help whatsoever during that experience -- the person would have been just something else to worry about.

I have no problem at all seeing a diver, even with 70 dives, react very badly to a ferocious downcurrent, and it doesn't take much of a mistake in that circumstance to produce very unfortunate results.

 

[divewench1]

News in this morning that another diver died at Crystal Bay yesterday, diving out of a Sanur based dive centre. Details are very sketchy at the moment.

Sad, sad news for all involved.

 

[idivethesea]

My condolences to the family and friends of the lady who was lost.

I've been to Crystal Bay a couple of times, and faced heavy but not terrible current both trips. In Alor, I was caught in a ripping downcurrent that tore me off a wall and sent me from 40' to 144' in less time than I like to think about. When my grip was lost, I immediately began to swim out from the wall to get out of the current. But, there's no training that replicates the chaos of free-fall, with bubbles all around so you cannot read a gauge or your computer, or really even tell where you are headed -- it's one of those situations that one must experience to appreciate. And having a buddy would have been no help whatsoever during that experience -- the person would have been just something else to worry about.

I have no problem at all seeing a diver, even with 70 dives, react very badly to a ferocious downcurrent, and it doesn't take much of a mistake in that circumstance to produce very unfortunate results.

I couldn't have said it better, its these very situations and their recovery that builds confidence and experience.

 

[idivethesea]

Well, for what its worth I'll through in my controversial two cents: (One of my close friends was friends with the girls in the accident so I know a least some of the detail 2nd hand)

The problem starts with the training received. I had a friend go through PADI certification at a popular dive center here in Thailand, I bit my tongue while I observed the entire program, it was poor at best and I told her she would not be able to dive until we did numerous dives together learning diving physics, buoyancy control and gaining confidence etc. She was taught to pass the test and that was about it, she had no idea WHY she had to breathe while surfacing. We used a balloon at depth to demonstrate the effects of pressure etc. I was furious with the dive center for not teaching basics but not much that I could do but wait until she finished. I shudder to think what would have happened if she attempted to dive alone after certification!

The diver in this story had but 50 dives and none were in even marginal conditions, she did not belong on that dive site. I believe strongly that divers should be taught the same as pilots: You and only you are in charge of your safety, this must be drilled in during training. I don't care what the DM or the boat crew tell you....you and only you make the decision on the dive site. Further a new diver should always dive with a very experienced diver, NOT including the DM of a group, until they reach a point of intermediate level diver and then dive only locations that meet their level of experience. All of this should be repeatedly drilled in during training. Her sister was equally inexperienced and could not possibly function as a buddy in time of a genuine emergency. This was an accident waiting to happen. IMHO, we place far to much responsibility/accountability on the DM and staff, they cannot possibly insure the safety of the countless poorly trained new divers entering the water these days.

Myself and many of my very experienced diving friends have and still do on occasion sit out a dive because we don't like something about the conditions or the way the DM and crew are approaching the pre-dive etc. You do not ever let the DM override your sense of judgement about your skills matched with the conditions......ever.

I'm not going to debate the merits of the buddy system but I think it is used far to much as a crutch. My daughter started diving with me when she was 12, what good was she to me as a buddy? She was certified but that was about it, certainly incapable of bailing me out of a serious safety situation. Btw, she did 100+ dives with me in all types of conditions and we did fun drills on most of our dives, only then could she be out of a 10 foot range of me while diving.

I think that all divers that intend on making diving a lifelong passion should go through a solo diving certification course. This does not mean you should necessarily dive solo, it just means that you are adequately trained to get yourself out of a bad situation, or should I say better prepared not to get into that situation in the first place.

Just another 2 cents......

I'm new to the forums here and did what I think is a poor (ranting) job of getting my point across regarding this incident and training in general. Here is a posting that says it so much better and more professional than I could, every diver should read and understand this, IMO it is critical to safe diving....

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ne...ering-diving/283566-who-responsible-what.html

 

[diver_doug]

I wonder if the snorkeler was swimming after a mermaid when he got eaten by the clam...too bad Prince Dolphin wasn't there to save him.

 

[Quero]

News in this morning that another diver died at Crystal Bay yesterday, diving out of a Sanur based dive centre. Details are very sketchy at the moment.

Sad, sad news for all involved.

absoluteamanda, any updates on this?