CoCo View, Roatan, Honduras--

[citydiver]

This is so sad, my heart goes out to that family. I have also done many front yard dives at cocoview and have enjoyed every moment I have spent there. Its so sad that sometimes our desire and sense of invincability overcomes our better judgement. I think most of us as divers have had that dive where we are walking back and think wow, that was to close. I am always the "over conservative" one according to my husband, I am the first to thumb a dive for reasons that seem minor at first...but in the end the littlest things can make a dive go from bad to tragic. My thoughts and prayer go out to the family.
I heard from someone who was there that the dock master told them they should not go out due to conditions, but they decided to go anyway.

 

[LAJim]

The front yard at CoCo is one of my favorite all time dive sites. I am stunned to hear that a diver with only 25 dives went out there under red flag conditions. Red flag, per my recollection, implies waves actually breaking over the outer reef. I've only got one week at CoCo, and I've never seen red flag there, but I can imagine a lot of current and greatly reduced viz - at least for someone with 25 dives.

A lot of questions. At what point and under what circumstances did the team separate? Did the survivor not realize she was surfacing with 200 psi? Was she instead aware of her gas and conducting a search for the missing diver until forced to surface? What was her experience level? Were those 25 dives recent or was it something like 20 dives last year and 5 dives this year?

I don't see any reason at all to imply any responsibilty on the part of CoCo. I thought their operation was very safe.

Jim

 

[parrotheaddiver]

Everything can only be speculation at this point....and I really don't see any point in that....I don't think anyone has implied any fault toward CCV.....it was a terrible accident and that is all anyone knows at this time....

 

[k8brandt]

We were there that week, here is the link to my husband Bruce's response posted on Coco Chat...http://www.websitetoolbox.com/tool/post/ccv/vpost?id=1748204

 

[Bratface]

I love CCV and have been there many times. I am so sorry to hear about this tragedy.

 

[pennypue]

Condolences to the family, especially the daughter. I do hope she finds peace.

 

[Ocean One]

k8brandt, thanks for the connect to CoCo Chat room, very informative. I only have one week of experience with Roatan from FI and certainly wasn't aware the the conditions between CC and FI could get that extreme! Time of year, weather patterns, really doesn't matter. It is a shame they chose to go out under the warnings given.

 

[Bratface]

Nobody will really know why they chose to go out that night. Very, very unfortunate and tragic.

 

[DandyDon]

A sad loss, totally unnecessary. I'm amazed that they went out on a shore dive with red flags up. I really prefer a chase boat in case I get caught in a current. Surprised that they were given tanks, but I don't know the situation.

Panic may well have come into play with other possible problems. Possible lessons and reminder here, other than don't dive with red flags:
> When caca happens, get buoyant - even if you have to orally inflate your BC and/or dump weights. I've been nagging my home bud to drill on these two. Many of us have not done either since OW

 

[Bratface]

We shouldn't speculate about anything since we weren't there. I dive at CCV often and lived on Roatan this past fall. The DM's at CCV are like my cousins. I don't know who was the dock master that night, but I feel very badly for him.

Night and shore diving at CCV are up to the individual. There are tags to place on a board to indicate that you are diving. Anybody can go out at any time day or night. There is also a large sign indicating when it is safe, when to use caution, and when to avoid diving because of the conditions. It is a dive at your own risk situation if you chose to disregard the sign. I was there during Hurricane Wilma. The waves and current in the front yard can be impossible and reduce the visibility to nothing very quickly.

Read k8brandt's post and link to the CCV chat in this thread. Procedure was followed, it was an unfortunate diver error leading to a very tragic out come. My condolences to her family.