Cozumel in April?

[nanches]

We dove in Cozumel on this same day 3/15/25. Seeing this spiked my PTSD after getting left behind by the DM of Salt Endeavors in turbulent waters. The first dive was amazing and "Freddy" the DM was quite attentive, but my husband ruptured his ear drum at the end of the dive so couldn't go on the second dive. I decided to go without him after establishing that Freddy would be my "Buddy" on the second dive. The captain accidentally gave me my husband's BCD which had half the weight that I needed to descend. I couldn't descend below just a few feet and watched Freddy and the other 3 divers descend to the bottom (about 45 ft) and then swim off with the current without even once looking back to see if I was with them. By the time he noticed and came back looking for me, I had been back in the boat for several minutes. Luckily a DM from another company looked back and saw me waving as they were driving off, otherwise who knows what would have happened? No apologies from the crew of Salty Endeavors - just trying to cover up that they had given me the wrong BCD and then Freddy laughed about leaving me.

I’m sorry to hear that this happened to you. It sounds like it was scary and upsetting. It definitely sounds out of character for Freddy to swim off without a diver. I’ve dived with Freddy a lot of times and find him to be one of the best DMs I’ve dived with. It sounds like you also had a good experience with him on your first dive. I wonder if Freddy and the others did indeed swim off or of it was just that the current separated you from them. The current on the surface is frequently different from that at depth. I also think that if he did swim off without you, it’s hard to imagine how he would have been able to get back to the boat several minutes later with the way the currents run. On a dive with Freddy 2 days later, one of the divers in our group had trouble descending and Freddy went right to her and gave her more weight to help. I’ve also been in this situation and the DMs are right there to help. It sounds like that didn’t happen for you, so that must have been upsetting. I’m glad you didn’t get left behind by the captain or Freddy, as it sounds like they got you back on the boat and were watching you.
Do you and your husband have the exact same kit, or were you renting your gear? My daughter and I rent and Salty Endeavors labels our BCDs with our names. We also have some different colored gear that we clip to the BCDs that help distinguish our kits. My daughter uses about 6 fewer lbs of lead than I, so I wouldn’t be able to descend with her kit. It can get a bit crowded and hectic between dives on the 6-pack boats, and people sometimes switch seats, so I always check to make sure that I get my gear back and sit next to it for the second dive. I hope you were able to keep diving and enjoyed it after that unfortunate experience.

 

[ggunn]

I’m sorry to hear that this happened to you. It sounds like it was scary and upsetting. It definitely sounds out of character for Freddy to swim off without a diver. I’ve dived with Freddy a lot of times and find him to be one of the best DMs I’ve dived with. It sounds like you also had a good experience with him on your first dive. I wonder if Freddy and the others did indeed swim off or of it was just that the current separated you from them. The current on the surface is frequently different from that at depth. I also think that if he did swim off without you, it’s hard to imagine how he would have been able to get back to the boat several minutes later with the way the currents run. On a dive with Freddy 2 days later, one of the divers in our group had trouble descending and Freddy went right to her and gave her more weight to help. I’ve also been in this situation and the DMs are right there to help. It sounds like that didn’t happen for you, so that must have been upsetting. I’m glad you didn’t get left behind by the captain or Freddy, as it sounds like they got you back on the boat and were watching you.
Do you and your husband have the exact same kit, or were you renting your gear? My daughter and I rent and Salty Endeavors labels our BCDs with our names. We also have some different colored gear that we clip to the BCDs that help distinguish our kits. My daughter uses about 6 fewer lbs of lead than I, so I wouldn’t be able to descend with her kit. It can get a bit crowded and hectic between dives on the 6-pack boats, and people sometimes switch seats, so I always check to make sure that I get my gear back and sit next to it for the second dive. I hope you were able to keep diving and enjoyed it after that unfortunate experience.

The main takeaway I get from the story is that it is every diver's responsibility to be sure that they are diving with their own gear. It's unfortunate but this was a blown dive.