Captain Lost Our Group

[Darol]

When I dove with BlueXTSea, it was the boat captains first day. Was it perfect? No. We dove and it was a day of
diving I will never forget. Pedro, is perhaps the best dive guide I have ever had the pleasure of diving with. If things went south
this is the guy I would want to be with. I don't drink kool-aid, and tell it like it is. I would not hesitate to dive with BXTS again.

 

[firstdive2005]

To the Op-I am grateful the story ended with... he found us later. And I am grateful that there are only mind scars. I hope your friend is ok too. I truly know what it is like to be a long time in the water unexpectedly. Also I am really happy you have the ball$ to eat your anger at Christi and take the olive branch. Very cool. I'd dive with you any day. A lot you have been given with this ordeal. Part of the game. Like anything in life, how you gonna use it? I think you will use it well. That's what good character is. Perseverence in the making. So I hope I can do a tank or two one day on Christies' boat with you.
Christie it's a tough game-you handled it well. Hopefully Pollo will learn too. Pedro, Miguel second to none. (Keep a small flashlight on yourself at all times also.)
July is taking a long time to get here....kevin

 

[Johnoly]

I dove with Blue XT Sea in January again. I like Christi's boat cause her DM's spot for photo op's that other boats don't always get like a school of Eagle rays !!. They know the waters to find you the critters and photos no one else gets like seahorses. But when they say it's time to kick and go, I'd trust the DM's, it's their home waters and they know it better than anyone.

Coz and BXTS. I've done it for years and I'll keep coming back to both. Good OP writeup and Good BXTS Response !!

 

[Zman96]

Are you kidding me? The woman has a great reputation, runs a successful dive op and has for many years, dealt professionally with a bad situation in a public forum and you call it a ruse! I know Christi, we have had dinner on several occasions, have many mutual friends and I have dove with her company on several occasions. Anyone who knows her understands how she cares and takes pride in what happens on her boats. She said she was mortified, I believe that's true. Nobody, including Christi is defending the boat captain. There is no doubt in my mind that any apology or action taken was sincere and heartfelt.
I also it's OK to leave the office at 6pm, smartphone and all and go out to dinner and not return a call until after 9am the next morning.

Thank you!! As somebody who runs a small business sometimes people's expectations of those in charge are unrealistic. There are business hours and people are allowed to enjoy their free time. I think this was handled in a professional way and I am very glad those involved only have a story to tell with a good ending. I for one will choose to ignore Fishndive since they are just trying to stir a pot that has been taken of the heat already.

 

[vlkr]

billiken-
i had a "lost" incident once after surfacing from one of the northern sites. took about a half hour to be found. i have always believed that with all of the other boats around, this is unlikely to be an issue on the southern sites. curious. where were you diving when this occured?

 

[DandyDon]

billiken-
i had a "lost" incident once after surfacing from one of the northern sites. took about a half hour to be found. i have always believed that with all of the other boats around, this is unlikely to be an issue on the southern sites. curious. where were you diving when this occured?

I know that it is a long thread, but it was late in the afternoon. Not so many boats out then, but at least you're drifting towards town. Lost up north would be spooky...!!

 

[ScubaSteve]

Christi did also identify somewhere in here the site.

A surface swim in? where the heck were you guys? So unusual for Cozumel diving to not have been close enough to have another boat see you and help you out.

It was an afternoon dive at Punta Tunich and yes strange, but Pedro and Miguel both said no boats passed! Because it was getting late, Miguel made the decision to start swimming towards shore so that they would not end up floating in the dark with no lights, which would have made it very difficult - a good decision planning for the worst case scenario IMO.

Billiken and his dive partner were with Miguel as a private DM. They surfaced before Pedro and his 3 divers, but Pedro and his divers also floated for 35 minutes - totally unacceptable! Currents were not really unusual for Tunich, but according to the captain, they surfaced earlier than he expected and further north than he expected, still no excuse - he should have been following them the entire time.

 

[Christi]

billiken-
i had a "lost" incident once after surfacing from one of the northern sites. took about a half hour to be found. i have always believed that with all of the other boats around, this is unlikely to be an issue on the southern sites. curious. where were you diving when this occured?

It was late Friday afternoon, so not alot of boats out - both Pedro and Miguel said not one boat passed the whole time, in either direction.

They were at Punta Tunich.

This also supports my argument that one of the reason we don't do night dives further south is that in an emergency, support/assistance is either very limited or non-existent at night the further south you go. The beach clubs are closed, hotel dive shops are closed (unless they happen to have a night dive out, then assistance would be limited), and there are no other boats traveling back and forth. Cell service is also limited depending on where the boat is - if they are too far away from a cell tower, there is no signal out there in every location.

Yesterday was a tough day. No question that I made the right decision, but I had to let an otherwise good employee go - never an easy thing, but it had to be done and all of the final papers were signed yesterday.

 

[nodakdive]

Yesterday was a tough day. No question that I made the right decision, but I had to let an otherwise good employee go - never an easy thing, but it had to be done and all of the final papers were signed yesterday.

Yet another indication of just how high the bar is on Cozumel. Sounds like there were a few mistakes made, but I played "watch the bubbles" with an experienced captain on a 2nd tank one afternoon, and it seemed to be more than just profession but art. Tracking two groups, potential for currents to change direction or speed, etc., you'd better be at the top of your game if you want to be a dive boat captain there, certainly at Chisti's shop, but at many others too no doubt. When I read the first post, my reaction was "55 minutes? No way on earth, not at any shop, but certainly not at BXTC. That'd be like lighting hitting someone that just won the lottery." Well, that's about what happened from what I've seen diving Cozumel for the last 8 years. Thanks for the really fast response/s, all of which have been excellent. I think people that haven't been there, or haven't been there much, don't really realize just how seriously the good shops like yours take this business. It's one of those service industries where so much goes on behind the scenes that nobody sees or knows about. I'm constantly fascinated by Cozumel's dive industry
and the amazing talents there in the shops and on the boats.

Wow, OP, really cool of you to take this in stride so well. As others have pointed out, these were extraordinary events at every level. You picked a really great shop. When you go back and really do some diving for a week with BXTC, you'll have the time of your life.

I've never had the pleasure of diving with BXTC, but I was really close once, and for the record, Christi was extremely responsive and accommodating. This was years ago so you won't probably wouldn't remember it, but Thanks Christi for the great advice and insight you gave me. (didn't dive with you because the group changed drastically before the trip, but I was *really* looking forward to it.)

-Blair

 

[Brules]

Just to clarify, I think the "bar" that Christi and a few select other ops aim for is quite a bit higher than a lot of other ops.......I could name a few, that I have/do dive with, that probably wouldn't have done the above.......