Close Call in Bali - know your DM and Dive Operator very well

[BLUESEASONBALI]

In my eyes, bubbletrouble has his the nail on the head with this one. If your an Advanced Open Water diver with 'x' amount of dives, (which im sure the dive operator would have asked a minimum number to take you to these particular sites!) and you still don't understand the responsibility of your own gas pressure then im afraid i believe you should not be diving these challenging sites. There are plenty of great dives around Bali that offer a whole range of different styles of diving that in themselves set a great challenge to you and your dive buddy...Seraya Secrets for example, challenge your self to find the small things like the Harlequin Shrimp or the Boxer Crab....extremely rewarding i can tell you!


Bali Dive Sites | Seraya

Dives dont always have to be deep and dangerous, build yourselves up to this level and don't go running in to fast or you might make the kind of mistakes that you cannot rectify!

Diving Bali | Dive Courses Bali

 

[bowlofpetunias]

I agree that divers need to be responsible for their own gas management and not take on dives beyond their comfort/skill level but I really thing Quero has hit the nail on the head here! There IS a difference in the expectations and roles that DM's play around the world!

Most of the boat dives here have a DM in the water and it is expected that divers will follow the DM. The DM is seen as the dive supervisor and not just the one to point out the pretty fish. I have seen people get reamed out for not following the DM and staying in sight of the DM! I have been at locations where you were not allowed to dive without the DM!

Are we responsible for our own safety.. ultimately yes.. of course we are but I do understand how the expectations of the roles and responsibilities of both divers and DM vary dramatically around the world.

I guess I would suggest that anyone diving in locations they are not familiar with should have a discussion with the DM about what the local roles and expectations are before the dive. Disagreements and solutions for them are best worked out on the surface before potentially life threatening misunderstandings occurr underwater!

I will also confess I have ticked of my share of DM's with my "independent pig headed attitude" by insisting on doing what I felt was safe and responsible for myself and my buddy!

 

[watboy]

A lot of these issues can be avoided by just talking to your DM and asking questions during the pre-dive. DM doesn't cover a topic, raise it up. You don't fully understand something, ask for clarification. You are unfamiliar with the dive conditions, haven't done a drift/wall dive, have other concerns, talk to the DM. You shouldn't go to a new dive site or operator and assume that the DM's going to take the same role every time. All the OP's questions or concerns could have been easily answered by talking with the DM for a few minutes before getting into the water.

 

[Cruisin Home]

I want to salute the OP for his brave posting given the piranha tank this board can become. I am a little more tolerant, in that despite thopusands of dives I can remember when I made mistakes. You now have experience.

My definition of experience: "Experience is what you get when you didnt get what you wanted."

That means that any of these "experienced" divers here on this board have made similar mistakes. Big lesson here is to trust nobody with your air mngt. Air is a requirement for life. Treat it like the scarce and precious commodity it is. Shouldnt matter too much if the gauge is in Bar, Psi, or any other units. You know that when the needle gets to zero, no more air! (Only necessary to confirm that tank is truly full).

I have had bad DMs in tropical locations. Once they put us in water with heavy current and everyone got washed away, took 45 minutes to locate and board everyone. Although I like Solo, I do believe it a good idea to use good old strict buddy practices while at exotic vacation spots.

As for chamber, try and do your homework before traveling to a exotic location.

Thanks for the great post, maybe it will save others from having to learn the hard way. Happy future diving!

 

[srhein]

"generalizable attitudinal differences"? Is this still Scubaboard?

 

[bowlofpetunias]

I want to salute the OP for his brave posting given the piranha tank this board can become. I am a little more tolerant, in that despite thopusands of dives I can remember when I made mistakes. You now have experience.

My definition of experience: "Experience is what you get when you didnt get what you wanted."

That means that any of these "experienced" divers here on this board have made similar mistakes. Big lesson here is to trust nobody with your air mngt. Air is a requirement for life. Treat it like the scarce and precious commodity it is. Shouldnt matter too much if the gauge is in Bar, Psi, or any other units. You know that when the needle gets to zero, no more air! (Only necessary to confirm that tank is truly full).

I have had bad DMs in tropical locations. Once they put us in water with heavy current and everyone got washed away, took 45 minutes to locate and board everyone. Although I like Solo, I do believe it a good idea to use good old strict buddy practices while at exotic vacation spots.

As for chamber, try and do your homework before traveling to a exotic location.

Thanks for the great post, maybe it will save others from having to learn the hard way. Happy future diving!

Boy am I with you on this one. I salute anyone honest enough and brave enough to put their experiences out here to be dissected for the benefit of others. Thanks to the OP for the opportunity to learn. Some people are pretty brutal in the presentation of their opinions hope you can harvest the value and let the rest run off

 

[lxchin]

Hi,
it was unfortunate that you encountered those events. For one, it seems like you were not familiar with the sort of dives that you were goign to encounter, but you did mention that the Dm said if you wanted to do this dive. The DM is there to guide and not there to look after you. In Australia some DMs actually just stay on the boat and you just go out in your buddy pairs. If you have been predominatly diving in Phillipines , places such as Bali and Maldives will be quite an extreme experience.

I have actually dived with atlantis and found them to be a very safe and great company.

 

[Tricia]

My definition of experience: "Experience is what you get when you didnt get what you wanted."

Beautiful! That's it exactly! And the really good divers on this board will admit that no matter how many hundreds of dives they've done, they are still learning. From my several years of reading the Accidents & Incidents Forum, it's become clear to me that It's when you get arrogant and think you know all about diving, that you get into trouble.

Just my 2 cents.

Trish

 

[Tortuga68]

It is best to swim away and up from the reef / drop off or other natural feature the water is cascading over , (trying not to exhaust your self) drop you weight belt if if feel that your descent is going to take you beyond the recreational limits, if you are still being taken down then inflate you BCD but be ready to dump you air as soon as you start to rise up and be prepared to flare your body if your ascent starts to be faster than normal.

You'd ditch your weight belt before inflating your BCD?

 

[Wayan]

In this situation yes.