Dead Diver Reported at Spitting Cave

[onfloat]

You may have been there already. If the current is not swift enough, sometimes you don't make it to the caves, depending on where the captain drops you...South eastern exposure of Ko-ko crater.

I think I may have. I went with our favorite "dread locked" dive instructor and he took us into a large opening around there and then in to a few "swim ins" the current was actually pulling us west and at the wall. Nice drift dive though.

 

[Tollie]

Catherine...

reading your description of this dive... its madness for an unprepared diver to take this on. This comment is not directed at any diver in particular... just a general observation. There are dives much less chalenging than the one you describe in which boats will require advanced c cards or loged dives of a similar type.

Honestly... there must be some actual reasion to conduct this dive.

IMO boat operators in the area need to take some responsibility for screening the divers they take.

Sorry but for some reasion this thread has touched me.... its so bloody sensless... this is a sport.

Sorry again... I'm finished for tonight.

 

[Code Monkey]

So your about to make a skilled dive [...] get some or real fact % of how many divers have been killed/injured in that area say in the past 7 years and see if you can find out the reasons for this and just ALWAYS do your homework as if you was about to take a sat test or something. Going over other divers wrong doing such as death/injury or near drowning on the same dives your about to make CAN SAVE YOUR LIFE.

You can get the death rates from DAN but the injury rates are, I think, harder to come by. The way you get that kind of information is by word of mouth.

My experience with this sort of thing is that you hear that a dive is an 'expert' dive so you ask around. People will usually say something like "you've got over 100 dives, you should be fine" or "as long as you know what you're doing, you'll have no problem." Neither of these say _anything_ about how scary the dive is or your ability to handle it. At 100 dives, you could be a pretty skilled diver or an accident waiting to happen and who knows what "knowing what you're doing" means?

I am _certainly_ not saying not to do your homework but that work typically doesn't yield as much information as I would like in order to make an informed decision.

 

[Cacia]

Catherine...

reading your description of this dive... its madness for an unprepared diver to take this on. This comment is not directed at any diver in particular... just a general observation. There are dives much less chalenging than the one you describe in which boats will require advanced c cards or loged dives of a similar type.

Honestly... there must be some actual reasion to conduct this dive.

IMO boat operators in the area need to take some responsibility for screening the divers they take.

Sorry but for some reasion this thread has touched me.... its so bloody sensless... this is a sport.

Sorry again... I'm finished for tonight.

I agree that operator's should not take people who do not live here there. I have no say.

Still, if you question all the divers I know who live here (and have done it) 75% or so will tell you it is their favorite. It needs to be something that is done with the knowledge of the risk.

Thanks for posting, we all feel terrible about this soldier's death. I think I can safely say, I will never guide a paying client there again.

 

[mrjimboalaska]

I think I can safely say, I will never guide a paying client there again.

Catherine,
Don't say that, the ocean was rough yesturday, the wind was howling, that can be a VERY relaxed dive when done in the right conditions. I did'nt dive at all yesturday due to the wind and surf.
Dive it again, but like you said yourself, the conditions have to be right....JImbo

 

[almitywife]

I agree that operator's should not take people who do not live here there.

i dont necessary agree with this - afterall, can only those that live in vanuatu/santo be allowed to dive the Coolidge?? the Coolidge has a high safety record because its in the dive shops best interest to provide safe diving. the diver might be a complete newbie-hell, they do open water classes on it but when you rock up to Aquamarine you are TOLD what you will and will not do, small dive group numbers ect, hell... we were even told what to do after a dive - go rest and drink fluids and dont do too much was the order.

if the word gets out that this Spitting Cave dive requires better training/diving skills because it is challenging and some operators are ignoring that - then eventually the dive shop would get bad name over it and will suffer economically until they got the idea - i would hope so anyway. so maybe getting the dive charters to lift their game on providing safer charters need to be pressured.

either way - a man has died and that remains a very sad thing.

 

[ch0ppersrule]

I love Spitting Caves, but I would never dive it in 6ft. swells. I would never do any dive in 6 ft. swells. It doesn't matter how experienced you are- if you are attempting a dive along a lava rock wall in rough conditions you are not the sharpest crayon in the box. I would refuse to dive the site if the swells were that high and if they insisted on diving it, I would insist on a refund and sit out the dive. The dive boats I go on, the boat captain let you know if he feels it is safe or not. My sister did her 2nd DSD dive there and loved it. If the seas are down I don't see a problem with vacationers diving there.
Catherine- how long till JB gets back?

Melissa

 

[Sharkbaithawaii]

I love Spitting Caves, but I would never dive it in 6ft. swells. I would never do any dive in 6 ft. swells. It doesn't matter how experienced you are- if you are attempting a dive along a lava rock wall in rough conditions you are not the sharpest crayon in the box. I would refuse to dive the site if the swells were that high and if they insisted on diving it, I would insist on a refund and sit out the dive. The dive boats I go on, the boat captain let you know if he feels it is safe or not. My sister did her 2nd DSD dive there and loved it. If the seas are down I don't see a problem with vacationers diving there.
Catherine- how long till JB gets back?

Melissa

I think we all feel bad when something like this happens, but we have to put a little common sense in here too. Saying only locals should go there makes no sense and reminds me of arriving on the island 10 yrs ago and saying you can't surf here locals only after having surfed in cali all my life. Now, saying diving anywhere in 6ft swells is a smart thing especially there. Now I have never dove with the LDS in question but have only heard good things about them. I think there is more to this than we will ever here about which is the sad part.

 

[BIGG_BUDD]

I posted a question about that when it happened and got no response and I found nothing in searching online.

Thanks Wildcard...

 

[Cacia]

Well, I bet this guy was intelligent and trusted the judgement of others.

The problem, you all, is there are some captains out there who do not know when it should be done. A tourist does not know which captains to trust.

How do you propose we cut the numbers of accidents at this site? I am eager to here a viable idea. Melissa, to say that he was not the sharpest crayon...do you believe this?

Well, then everyone on the boat was stupid and might have died, because not one person passed on the dive. Tourists don't usually pass. WE pass sometimes because we know. The reason we know is not because of our IQ's, it is because we live here and hear of many bad things happening there. I would really like to hear a viable plan?? that is the function of the thread, really.