Correct behavior of instructor?

[chinadan]

Firstly, if you are a beginer diver then why in God's name are you diving without a buddy?! ...

Actually, I was never alone. It was a confusion on land that lead to the described situation and my personal feeling was that the newly cert'd couple should have received closer attention from their instructor, even if they were certified by him the day before. After all, all other divers in the water had relatively more experience.

The instructor was at that time too far away to do anything anyway. Had I been the instructor, I would have kept an eye on the new guys and kept the group together. After all, statistics show that most dive accidents happen to divers with 20 dives or less (or something close to that).

Lessons are learned and with the great feedback from this forum I will now ask the right questions on land. As I explore more dive sites around Asia, I hope to get a better representation of the situation here. So far all I can say is that dive safety is taken lightly by both customers and dive shops...but just like me people are still lining up for more diving.

I am wondering if teh agencies are actually doing some sort of Quality Control on establishments once they have been awarded their 5 Stars. Sure there are many reputable dive shops, I yet just have to find them

Has anyone ever heard of a PADI shop loosing their stars (like a restaurant if the food sucks)?

 

[hvulin]

Where I dive this is the procedure:
on the boat:
- define buddies (everyone has to have a buddy)
- define groups of buddies (and leader of group)
- do briefing (max. time, depth, min. air to end dive, and describe location, currents, vis.)

down there:
- if anyone has a problem, whole group abandons (leader decides) - who doesn't like it can ask to be in a separate group (min is one buddy pair) but before the dive

it should all be defined and comunicated before you enter the water...

 

[Mike Newman]

We would not have this post if there had not been an instructor present. I was indeed under the assumption that an instructor, even while acting as a dive guide (that's after all what I and the other guys paid for), has some amount of responsibility for the group. Especially when there are new divers on their first dive. I guess I was wrong with that assumption, having never dived without a paid professional as a buddy or guide.

But what role and responsibilities does a instructor/DM/dive guide then have? Plan the dive properly? Assign buddy teams? Or just lead the way to the best spots on the reef?

As previously mentioned, the initial mistake was made when the instructor told me to tag along with him and the other pair. If the other pair was not doing a class, the instructor was my buddy (implied). If he did do a class, then he should have not allowed me to go with him but stick with the new pair, right?

So the mistake I made was to not ask him whether he was doing a class. I am well aware that I am responsible for my own safety as well as my buddy's (if I have one ) and I was never in danger (or more than an arm's length away from the instructor).

I guess I am projecting my own feelings/fears on the situation of the new divers and how I would have reacted. Getting into problems under water on the first dive would have unnerved me. Not having a SMB for safe surfacing in a heavy-traffic area may have added to this feeling.

I am still impressed by the pair's disciplined behavior, probably because the worst that has happened to me so far was a loose tank...

Anyway, I thank everybody for their criticism and opinions. I do believe, though, that there are many divers out there that make the wrong assumption like I did - that a paid dive guide/DM/instructor on any non-class dive is the "boss" and has some amount of responsibility for the group of buddies.

Dan - no harsh judgements here - I think that you actually deserve some credit for giving this whole scenario some exposure and opening up a useful discussion. (Let him who is without sin etc!)

Many useful points have been made - bottom line, I think, every diver has a responsibility to keep others safe, while accepting responsibility for their own behaviour and preparations.

My own view on this one (but I wasn't there and I'm not intent on imposing it). The instructor was quite right to stay with his students - once (as a responsible and experienced diver) he had satisfied himself that the ascending buddy pair were responding to some undefined situation in a controlled fashion. After all, as you explained, he was supervising and involved in the training of another couple.

Personally, but it depends very much on your own judgement of whether you can be of assistance, I would have gone up with the newbies to monitor their safety and provide assistance, if necessary.

Going back to where I started off - I applaud you for stimulating a useful discussion. Many divers wouldn't have given the issue a second thought or brought it to this forum. enjoy your diving and keep thinking about every aspect of it. Do you have any plans to do the Rescue course or become a Divemaster - you look like a good candidate to me.

 

[chinadan]

Dan - no harsh judgements here - I think that you actually deserve some credit for giving this whole scenario some exposure and opening up a useful discussion. (Let him who is without sin etc!)


Thanks Mike for your encouraging words! It is quite interesting how such a small event could have triggered such a lively discussion. I have certainly gained a lot of viewpoints and I hope other beginnners also benefit from it.

Having never dived outside of Asia it was a good opportunity to get an international perspective. It certainly opened my eyes and made me reflect on my (40 so far) dives here and plan my next dives much more prudently.

I am indeed planning on doing the Rescue Diver course, but only after I have gathered much more experience and feel more confident in the water. In the meantime I am "inhaling" theory in the form of PADI Knowledge Review.

Cheers and safe diving to all!