Interesting range of responses. Everything from my position (let the dive op handle all of it since that's what I'm paying/tipping them for) to keeping all one's gear. When I first certified, I was one of those who wanted to set up everything myself, keep everything immaculate in between dives, etc. Just like Oldbear. But when I started diving liveaboards and the overnight boats we have here in SoCal, I realized that the gear is fine sitting out all day and all night for up to 11 days at a time (the longest I've been on a boat). No matter how much that wetsuit smells in the morning, I promise that you can't smell it once you're underwater.
Thanks for the references to babies and all the nasty stuff they do. I was going to bring that up, but didn't want to be insensitive. I believe my preferred Cozumel DM/shop-owner has three kids so I'm sure he's handled his share of soiled diapers, unless the Mexican way is to let the wife deal with all of it (in which case I will be sure to move to Mexico before siring my own progeny). OTOH, AFAIK, the shop owner that called handling used wetsuits "disgusting" does not have diaper changing duties of her own. Personally, I've never changed a diaper and hope to maintain that status until I'm buried, but I know I would much rather handle a peed-in wetsuit than, ack, I can barely even imagine it let alone type it, a "soiled" baby diaper. There, I said it. Ick.
As to those who maintain that carrying one's stinky dripping wetsuit back and forth is not a big ordeal, fine. To me it is a big ordeal. At a dive resort where everyone is carrying their suits back and forth, no problem. But I still remember the trail of water I dripped on the marble floors at the Cozumel Palace when I had to bring my suit back everyday, the look from the nice girl with the mop that said "are you serious, do I have to mop this damn floor again just because of you", and the thought that I was endangering all my fellow non-diving guests by dripping puddles of water on the marble floors. Even the elevator had marble floors. I could have taken the marble stairs, but that would have created even more of a safety hazard.
Maybe it's the instructor in me, but I like to let other people set up and deal with my own gear. Why? Because I'm on a vacation and I'm feeling lazy. It's just dive gear. When I show up the next day and my reg is on upside-down, I simply fix it. Jeremy hates when I do this while he's giving a dive briefing but it's not my fault they put it upside-down. Yeah, it's "life support", yada yada. But after seeing how dive gear is treated on liveaboards, I've realized that it's pretty sturdy stuff. (If you ever want to put your dive gear to a stress test, dive the Galapagos on a liveaboard - that was the only dive I ever saw dive gear damaged, when a fellow passenger's BC hose was sheared off after being pulled into the dingy.)
As for flushing one's suit, I usually do try to exchange some water volume if I pee near the end of the dive. I usually just tug my suit at the neck to let in lots of water. Also, when I'm back on the boat, I always pour the contents of my boots over the side since that's where the urine is most likely to concentrate after flushing. If given a choice between handling peed-in wetsuits versus soiled baby diapers, I would always choose the wetsuits. I imagine that's why my preferred DM/shop-owner is out on the boat most days instead of sitting at home cleaning up the babies
---------- Post added April 23rd, 2013 at 09:03 AM ----------
I sure hope they washed them if they were sitting out all that time. Did you give them a sniff test?
---------- Post added April 23rd, 2013 at 09:26 AM ----------
Huh? Say that's not true. After all, a dive shop owner from Cozumel told me that I know nothing about how wetsuits are handled around the world and that most dive ops around the world will not handle wetsuits.
IIRC, you have some goofy fins. No wonder they keep those straight. But it's a good question. After all, if the fins are placed near the hanging BC and regs, why not just put the wetsuit next to them?
I'm slowly getting the idea that many Cozumel dive ops don't like to handle wetsuits and that they rely on each other's lame excuses to shirk the otherwise standard duty. Sorry, but living in paradise and getting to dive all day every day has its downsides and handling wetsuits is one of them. Like you, I'll limit my diving to those shops that store wetsuits as well as dive gear. If more divers felt the same way, these uppity Cozumel shops who think they're too special to handle wetsuits would get a rude awakening.
