Dive trip failed... what's your story?

[EastTNDiver]

My passport was examined at the check-in counter and I was not allowed to travel to Roatan a few years ago for a two week dive trip. Honduras requires that passports be valid for 6 months past the date of travel. My passport expired a few days short of 6 months. If you are planning an international trip, check entry requirements and your passport and renew it if necessary.

Yeah, our dive shop owner/trip leader warned us of that requirement well in advance of our CoCo View trip this past June. It left me very curious as to the purpose of such a requirement...what it is trying to prevent/promote...anyone know?

 

[vladimir]

Yeah, our dive shop owner/trip leader warned us of that requirement well in advance of our CoCo View trip this past June. It left me very curious as to the purpose of such a requirement...what it is trying to prevent/promote...anyone know?

I don't know, but I'll theorize: in cases where somebody extends his stay for reasons beyond his control--maybe a hurricane, or a few chamber rides--they can extend his permission to remain in the country without the complication of an expired passport.

While we're on the subject: make sure you have at least a couple of blank pages in your passport. Having pages added is a pretty simple process.

 

[racerx_]

Yeah it's to make sure you don't end up there with an expired passport, which i guess would make your visa invalid too.. And yeah some countries get testy when there's only a page or two left in there so good to have some roomnleft when you travel.

 

[Quero]

I don't know, but I'll theorize: in cases where somebody extends his stay for reasons beyond his control--maybe a hurricane, or a few chamber rides--they can extend his permission to remain in the country without the complication of an expired passport.

While we're on the subject: make sure you have at least a couple of blank pages in your passport. Having pages added is a pretty simple process.

That's right, Vlad. It's a hedge against an event that prevents the passport holder from leaving the country immediately, for example in the case of an accident where the victim must remain in hospital for some time. In addition, six months is the usual maximum period that a visitor can be classed as a visitor rather than a resident, an important distinction in terms of the sort of permit-to-stay that is issued.

As for adding pages, some countries simply add pages (e.g. USA) while others issue new passports (e.g., Australia). Adding pages to a US passport used to be a simple and free service, but now it's not quite as simple and far from free. The fee for adding pages is now $82, and here in Thailand, you have to make an appointment at ACS to get it done rather than just dropping it off and picking it up. My current passport already has three additions in it (the maximum number allowed), and it's still good for six years, so I expect to need a whole new passport before it actually expires.

 

[vladimir]

As for adding pages, some countries simply add pages (e.g. USA) while others issue new passports (e.g., Australia). Adding pages to a US passport used to be a simple and free service, but now it's not quite as simple and far from free. The fee for adding pages is now $82, and here in Thailand, you have to make an appointment at ACS to get it done rather than just dropping it off and picking it up. My current passport already has three additions in it (the maximum number allowed), and it's still good for six years, so I expect to need a whole new passport before it actually expires.

I'm envious. My previous two passports--from when I was mostly single and mostly self-employed--required added pages. It was easily accomplished at the US Embassy in Singapore back then, as you describe, with no appointment and no payment required. My current one has a sad surplus of unstamped pages. I noticed upon my last renewal that you can now choose between thick and thin passports. I optimistically chose the thick one, of course, so I'm good for a while.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

That's funny, because one of my dive trip failures was to Tioman. I was going up with my instructor for the check-out dives for advanced nitrox and deco procedures. I dutifully showed up at 7:00 am to catch the ferry at the World Trade Center terminal. As you probably know, though, the ferry from Singapore to Tioman leaves from Tanah Merah. (It did back then, anyway.)

I had another fiasco at Tioman when I flew up with no room reservations. My friends told me I could easily grab a hut anywhere. Which is probably true on any day besides the start of Hari Raya (Aidilfitri). Anyway, I managed to find a place after hiking up and down that west coast in 33º heat with all of my gear a few times.

I did a trip to Sri Lanka that was marred by some serious diarrhea. I had to skip 3 out of 5 dive days. I also couldn't eat those days, or keep water in. On the plus side, I did manage the plane ride home without soiling myself--but I wasn't 100% confident of that when we set out.

Diarrhea struck me on a week-long liveaboard in Thailand too, but I didn't miss one dive in a great week of diving highlighted by multiple whaleshark encounters. I was actually sick before the trip began, because I spent the week prior to the trip in Phuket, day diving and, apparently, eating indiscriminantly. The upside? I was model-thin by the time I headed home, and a lovely SilkAir stewardess did her best to pick me up on the flight back to Singapore.

There's a bright side to diving with diarrhea.
If nobody dove with diarrhea we would never have had the Warhammer manuever.

 

[scubadobadoo]

I have had so much trouble over the years with weather and missed dives at so many places. I spent a few weeks in Cozumel wading through water after hurricane Wilma. I have missed dives EVERY time I have gone to the Keys due to weather. Bad luck I guess but it's only time and money. Who needs that really.

The only place I have never missed a day day due to weather is Bonaire. I like Bonaire. 4 trips there and I am 100%! Now getting there is another story, lol.

 

[awakefie]

My wife and I took our honeymoon in Cozumel a few months ago and for the first day or two everything was fine. I had scheduled some dives and my wife and I had been having a great time on the island.

The day before I was scheduled to do my first set of dives I was very tired and made the assumption that I was tired from the high amount of walking we had been doing making the trip to and from town and our resort. My wife woke me up in the middle of that night because I was shaking in my sleep. No matter what I did I couldn't get the shaking to stop. I cancelled my dives for the next day and my condition continued to deteriorate over the next 4 hours and the next thing I knew I was in a hospital on the island.

Long story short I had been poisoned at some point during our stay. I survived it, but continue to suffer from the liver damage it caused.

No Dives, a terrified wife, and a pretty horrible honeymoon. Oh and a unending medical bills for the last few months.

Hopefully, we will get a second honeymoon sometime next year.

 

[vladimir]

My wife and I took our honeymoon in Cozumel a few months ago and for the first day or two everything was fine. I had scheduled some dives and my wife and I had been having a great time on the island.

The day before I was scheduled to do my first set of dives I was very tired and made the assumption that I was tired from the high amount of walking we had been doing making the trip to and from town and our resort. My wife woke me up in the middle of that night because I was shaking in my sleep. No matter what I did I couldn't get the shaking to stop. I cancelled my dives for the next day and my condition continued to deteriorate over the next 4 hours and the next thing I knew I was in a hospital on the island.

Long story short I had been poisoned at some point during our stay. I survived it, but continue to suffer from the liver damage it caused.

No Dives, a terrified wife, and a pretty horrible honeymoon. Oh and a unending medical bills for the last few months.

Hopefully, we will get a second honeymoon sometime next year.

Wow, what a disaster! Good luck on achieving as complete a recovery as possible. Any idea how you were poisoned? With what?

 

[awakefie]

Because most of my treatment was in Mexico we will never know exactly what it was that poisoned me. I am just thankful that the medical care I received was sufficient and I was able to get back home to my doctor.