Did the DM go too far?

[Guba]

I hope no one thinks I'm bashing DM's by posting a thread similar to a previous one, but it got me to thinking of an incident that happened on a trip to Cozumel. On one boat outing, one of my partners was one of the first to run low on air. He's not really a hog, but with the excitement and depth, he ran a little short. I was prepared to ascend to shallower water with him but the DM/guide indicated he stay at depth and had him take air from the DM's octo while we continued the dive. We all ascended together.
On the second tank of the dive, the DM told my buddy to leave his camera on the boat. He attributed the more rapid air consumption to maneuvering the camera around for pix. My buddy was VERY upset. He had, after all, traveled a long distance, paid a fair amount of money, and looked forward to viewing the splendor of the reef in his photos.
The question...did the DM on this charter act appropriately in forbidding my partner to take his camera? Yes, I know his responsibility to keeping the small group together, but is this an acceptable practice?

 

[cummings66]

Yes, I think the DM overstepped his bounds. As long as you were willing to put up with coming up early then there should have been no issue here to speak of.

However, I would say he's a hog if he is always the first to come up, or if he comes up well before anybody else would. Not bad, it does happen and gets better over time.

 

[The Kraken]

An answer to your question would be predicated upon the agreement entered into by both parties when the diver signed up for the dive.

I dare say that the overwhelming, vast majority of vaction divers don't read the waiver and agreement they sign before they go on the dive.

I have no knowledge of the business practices of the LDS with which you dealt, but it could be possible that the DM is required by the LDS to conduct the dive in the manner in which he did.

Keep in mind that what I suggest is pure speculation.

The D/M is there to conduct the dive for the group, not an assortment of individuals.

However, I don't think a D/M should ever force a diver to breathe down a tank to that extent. Just asking for trouble.

Just my 2 psi.

the K

 

[www.scubamazing.com]

hmmmm tough call. I think a good dive master would have been familiar enough with the territory that he would have been able to give a good, attention-occupying tour and still provide your buddy the ability to stay in a smaller radius and shoot shots.

On the other hand, those other people had spent the same money and definitley deserved a good dive.

However since he was operating in a tourism business, I think the DM failing to meet your scuba needs is his fault and chances are he isn't getting much return business from others.

 

[Cacia]

well, great post. he should not have to leave his camera! (again time for my "no thanks") If he is really compromising the group and pick-up (it does mess things up on drifts a bit) then he should get a bigger tank, like a 100. No one should be forced to share air, when they are not accustomed to it. I do think it is very convenient thing to learn and practice with your regular buddy. The essential thing is that you always have a plentiful reserve before you start and in my opinion, a long hose. But this is for times when you really feel an early ascent in a less than optimal place could be ...undesirable. not for an every dive solution. I know there are people who will be totally against the idea, but I had to deal with my BF, an air hog in Palau, on drifts, and ascending when you are in certain currents, on certain locations was not always ideal. I am not advocating it really, just sympathizing with the situation of having a diver low on air and out of sync with everyone else on a drift. The man needs a bigger tank.

Funny, using a lot of air really irritates a lot of dive guides and they need to be reminded that it is not a character flaw. Sometimes, a third party (like you) can say something to this effect. I have seen many situations where you must advocate for yourself and very nicely remind them of your objectives. You are right, he spent the money to travel, and wants to take pictures. It is the operator's job to help make that happen even if his air consumption is what it is. On our trip, there was a very wonderful woman on chemo who was in our group and did not want to do drifts on the advanced dives. No one wanted to say anything, because she was on chemo, etc. Well, we had four days in Palau and I told the operator...this is not going to work for me. My BF had spent 4k for 4 days and, well, it would not have been fair to him. They switched things around. My whole point here, is to urge people to develop a style where you can make your case, long before you feel resentful and *****y. Learn to express what you want for the money you sped in a direct way and you will be shocked at how well things go.

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

Oh you've got to consider that your hoover buddy was likely not making it fun for the other paying divers. Sometimes you need to pay for private dives instead of expecting everyone else to adapt to you.

 

[Diver0001]

I hope no one thinks I'm bashing DM's by posting a thread similar to a previous one, but it got me to thinking of an incident that happened on a trip to Cozumel. On one boat outing, one of my partners was one of the first to run low on air. He's not really a hog, but with the excitement and depth, he ran a little short. I was prepared to ascend to shallower water with him but the DM/guide indicated he stay at depth and had him take air from the DM's octo while we continued the dive. We all ascended together.
On the second tank of the dive, the DM told my buddy to leave his camera on the boat. He attributed the more rapid air consumption to maneuvering the camera around for pix. My buddy was VERY upset. He had, after all, traveled a long distance, paid a fair amount of money, and looked forward to viewing the splendor of the reef in his photos.
The question...did the DM on this charter act appropriately in forbidding my partner to take his camera? Yes, I know his responsibility to keeping the small group together, but is this an acceptable practice?

A DM is entitled to run his group any way he/she sees fit.

R..

 

[rockjock3]

Oh you've got to consider that your hoover buddy was likely not making it fun for the other paying divers. Sometimes you need to pay for private dives instead of expecting everyone else to adapt to you.

He stated his buddy wasn't normally a hoover, but I have a question. How the heck does it screw up your diving if I have to surface early with my buddy because of air consumption?

It doesn't effect you in the slightest. I have never been on a boat where they end the dive for everybody just because one group goes up. I have really low air consumption as does my buddy and when we get back on the boat mmany of the divers, if not all, are already back on it and some of them have even had the time to dekit and change tanks. They didn't screw up my dive at all.

If anything the DM screwed up the dive for everybody else outside the one buddy pair by forcing the diver to share air and therefore limiting the DMs ability to move around as freely and point things out to the divers that were diving with him.

 

[Walter]

I agree with rockjock. If I'm there to take pictures, I'm going to take pictures.

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

Well I have no idea what porcedures are for that dive operation. It appears it was a single dive leader, the rule on that boat might be everyone stays together and surfaces together.

If that were the case then his not normal hoover buddy who was hoovering because of the camera maybe was wrecking the dive wouldn't you say?