Cozumel-Diver lost

[Ms Jane]

RE: the woman lost at The Throat, i just returned from Coz last night. Heard from locals she was found north of the island. I also understand from the local captains that the issue was this: There were apx 18 divers and too few guides--one of which was not certified as such and "assigned" to her. Apparently the divers went down and she returned for more weight. By the time she headed back down the current had moved her too far from the group and she missed the base of the throat--meaning she headed down the "endless" wall.

I question this woman's experience level, particularly in that she found it necessary to add weight AFTER she had started down.. if that had been me, I certainly would have a) known what amount of weight I needed prior to taking on such an advanced dive and b) known i missed the wall based on my depth as i was heading down.

The info on her mishap is strictly word-of-mouth, so I may be misinformed... just my two cents from this humble diver...

 

[Mawg]

RE: the woman lost at The Throat, i just returned from Coz last night. Heard from locals she was found north of the island. I also understand from the local captains that the issue was this: There were apx 18 divers and too few guides--one of which was not certified as such and "assigned" to her. Apparently the divers went down and she returned for more weight. By the time she headed back down the current had moved her too far from the group and she missed the base of the throat--meaning she headed down the "endless" wall.

I question this woman's experience level, particularly in that she found it necessary to add weight AFTER she had started down.. if that had been me, I certainly would have a) known what amount of weight I needed prior to taking on such an advanced dive and b) known i missed the wall based on my depth as i was heading down.

The info on her mishap is strictly word-of-mouth, so I may be misinformed... just my
two cents from this humble diver...

Thank You for the information. It is appreciated.

 

[Brewone0to]

Devil's Throat is definately an advanced dive site and new divers should not be allowed to dive there. Am I correct is thinking this Japanese tourist that might have perished was from criuse ship? Experienced divers should not do this site with an 80 cuft aluminum tank on just air. I learned the hard way.There's an interesting discussion on this very topic in the "I panicked in Devil's Throat at 122 ft " thread.

Anyone have anything additional about this poor diver?

Perhaps this is true for you and your personal gas usage.
I just don't think you should suggest that
nobody should do the dive on an AL80.

Since pretty much everyone that goes there
and completes this dive, does it on a single AL80.

Perhaps you should work on your gas consumption instead
of determining the dive "unsafe" based on your SAC rate.

I know of those which preach that nobody should
dive below 100' using air as your gas.
For certain (not all) people, at least they have a valid point to argue.

I have done many dives to much deeper depths,
for somewhat extended times.
And as well, can think of at least a dozen people I know
that don't use their gas as fast as I.

Brian

 

[pilot fish]

RE: the woman lost at The Throat, i just returned from Coz last night. Heard from locals she was found north of the island. I also understand from the local captains that the issue was this: There were apx 18 divers and too few guides--one of which was not certified as such and "assigned" to her. Apparently the divers went down and she returned for more weight. By the time she headed back down the current had moved her too far from the group and she missed the base of the throat--meaning she headed down the "endless" wall.

I question this woman's experience level, particularly in that she found it necessary to add weight AFTER she had started down.. if that had been me, I certainly would have a) known what amount of weight I needed prior to taking on such an advanced dive and b) known i missed the wall based on my depth as i was heading down.

The info on her mishap is strictly word-of-mouth, so I may be misinformed... just my two cents from this humble diver...

Thank you very much for this, Jane. It is most helpful. I would say the locals know the real story but we'll wait for it to be confirmed. This really does, if true, sound like a diver that should not have done this advanced dive. Who takes 18 divers to the Throat? This sounds like a Dive Op trying to max out and make some fast pesos?

 

[pilot fish]

Please read the thread about Devil's Throat linked below and tell me what you think? It's now a bit long but it's well worth your time.Thanks

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/basic-scuba-discussions/214186-i-panicked-devils-throat-122ft.html

Brian, an AL80 is fine, [ I did it twice on AL80s with no mishap, I have a good sac rate ], as long as nothing goes wrong but if you should run into trouble, you might wish you have a larger tank? Anyway, its up to you. I certainly don't want to tell you what to do but the conventional wisdom ,of VERY experienced divers, is that to do that site YOU SHOULD have a larger tank. I now agree with that.

Perhaps this is true for you and your personal gas usage.
I just don't think you should suggest that
nobody should do the dive on an AL80.

Since pretty much everyone that goes there
and completes this dive, does it on a single AL80.

Perhaps you should work on your gas consumption instead
of determining the dive "unsafe" based on your SAC rate.

I know of those which preach that nobody should
dive below 100' using air as your gas.
For certain (not all) people, at least they have a valid point to argue.

I have done many dives to much deeper depths,
for somewhat extended times.
And as well, can think of at least a dozen people I know
that don't use their gas as fast as I.

Brian

 

[el yucateco]

Will need more informations about that lost woman...anyway doesnt matter too much if she was from japan,africa or the states...down there we speak all the same way ! If she was from a cruise ship or not doesnt matter either. What we should investigate is what happened dowm there, from official report. and learn from the experience

it s a sad new...

 

[Darol]

With all due respect, I find some of this very hard to believe. In the nine times I've been to the Coz, fast boats, carrying a max of six divers usually make that run. The law there allows a max of six divers per guide, not that laws can't be broken, or a larger boat can't be used. Returning to the boat for more weight is a huge Red Flag, that has always been a drift situation getting down.
You would lose your group in a heart beat. We were told everything was empty, "Air Wise" when she was found. Thank You Very Much Ms Jane for the info, some of the pieces seem to fit. Some of the first Spanish I learned to speak was how to ask for my weights.

 

[jd950]

If indeed it is correct that they took 18 people to the devil's throat, had too few guides and let this woman surface for more weight and descend on her own from the boat after the group had drifted on, it is no wonder that there has been some angst concerning naming the dive op.

Is it that easy to get 18 people together on one boat at one time who are qualified to go on such a dive? I might well be wrong, and don't dive in big groups so have no direct knowledge, but it seems doubtful to me.

If they did allow her to surface for weight and then descend on her own, that is just wrong in that environment, especially so if she was not fairly experienced, and as has been said, that isn't likely if she needed to add weight. Even with an experienced diver, there would be almost no way to catch the group, even if the boat had stayed on top while she was on the surface. That isn't a "first dive" kind of dive and she should have gotten weighting under control long before attempting that dive.

Either the story is way wrong or the dive op and the diver both really screwed up. Time will tell.

 

[RonFrank]

RE: the woman lost at The Throat, i just returned from Coz last night. Heard from locals she was found north of the island. I also understand from the local captains that the issue was this: There were apx 18 divers and too few guides--one of which was not certified as such and "assigned" to her. Apparently the divers went down and she returned for more weight. By the time she headed back down the current had moved her too far from the group and she missed the base of the throat--meaning she headed down the "endless" wall.

I question this woman's experience level, particularly in that she found it necessary to add weight AFTER she had started down.. if that had been me, I certainly would have a) known what amount of weight I needed prior to taking on such an advanced dive and b) known i missed the wall based on my depth as i was heading down.

The info on her mishap is strictly word-of-mouth, so I may be misinformed... just my two cents from this humble diver...

This complete contradicts two different reports. One being from another diver on this thread who quoted: "I am told she was found 20 miles south of the point where she was lost." 20 miles South of Punta Sur would not be the N of the island.

The second from a Mexican paper who said she was diving with her husband, two American divers, and a DM with Studio Blue, and that police/port authorities were questioning why with such a small group that this could possibly happen. This was in the local news, so a more reliable source than anything else reported even if the accuracy of papers is always in question.

Seems like dive accidents at Coz are like partying in LasVegas... what happens there, stays there.

We really need an insider like Cristy to give a local prespective on this, but she is in the States for personal reasons.

I really don't expect to get a straight story on this.

 

[ShakaZulu]

I don't even know how you can dive Coz without an SMB.....had a recent experience in Coz where my GF (25 dives) didn't have enough weight. Couldn't get down, we had to surface again, and by the time we went down again, the group was gone. The current rips over there. We did our own dive and I shot my bag early in the dive so that the boat could follow us. Called the dive at a 1000psi, and we had enough time to get back on the boat and cruise over to the other group.