Boy this thread got a lot of action quick
My experience diving anywhere in the Caribbean has been one of diving the limits.
I dove in Coz with Aqua Safari and all 6 divers were on the edge of DECO. When I hit the stage of feeling it was time to go up me and my buddy headed up to do our stops, the DM stayed down with the rest of the divers and one person ended up going into DECO mode, ignored it and locked out her computer. The DM blamed it on her computer but we were all very close to DECO
The story in Belize and Roatan were essentially the same. I have had several dives right to the edge and some with conservative operators. In Roatan, Subway Water Sports pushed us all to the edge and we followed. They also asked how aggressive we wanted to dive and we all said we would let him know when its time to come up. My second dive I had to ascend above 33 feet to shut up my alarms. Tyll’s diving shop in West End was just the opposite; they were ultra conservative if new divers were on the trip. Grand Cayman it seems, in my experience, is the exception where they tend to be more conservative.
Its interesting all the stories that float around and nobody wants to name names. I named Aqua Safari in the above story and interestingly enough, I would dive again with them. They have a boat, Air and O2. They know the waters and I dive my plan.
I dive what I have planned and am comfortable with and never allow any DM to change that plan without good reason. If I have extra time and air I may modify at the end of the dive but more often than not I do some Pyle stops and burn gas while I look around at different depths.
Rule number one in my book is I am responsible for my diving; nobody else will sit in the chamber or fill my casket for me.
