Divemaster Responsibilities

[KathyV]

Thanks to everyone for their input. This has made me want to be a better diver and more aware of where the DM and the rest of the group is. However, this discussion also has made me go back and review the video I took of the turtle. My apologies for not reviewing the video more closely earlier to see the length, but the truth is that in light of some of the comments I was feeling a bit guilty about my conduct and abilities as a diver. The video was 1 minute 12 seconds long and at the end of the video the turtle swam away, so that would have been when I looked up to see where the group was (minus the two others that were still with me). So, say it took me another few seconds, heck maybe almost another minute, to get in position and start filming (doubtful). I don't think that stopping for two minutes to film a turtle on a one hour dive is out of bounds. On a dive where there is little current and mostly sand and small coral outcroppings? Is it really too much to ask of a DM in Cozumel to maybe stay within eyesight distance for one minute and 12 seconds? And if there is an urgent need to move on, OK he carries a "noisemaker". He can let me know he is moving on, but in reality there was no urgent need here.

You might reconsider your way of looking at things. It is not anybody's job to watch you, keep tabs on you, or wait for you. It is your responsibility to stay alert, be aware, and keep up - or make other arrangements and hire a private dive guide. At least that's my opinion.

It's like enrolling in a class at college. You expect the teacher to provide expertise, a good curriculum, and a positive learning environment and to advise you if you have questions - but you don't expect him to follow or watch you, keep checking to make sure that you reading the assignments, holding back the rest of the class so that you can catch up, or giving you special treatment if you find the course work too hard. You have responsibility for your own learning and success or failure as a student. And if that is not a comfortable learning style for you, that's fine - hire a private tutor.

Sure, when you are diving with a DM you can expect him to be the most expert individual and look to him for guidance about the site and assistance in an emergency. But under normal circumstances the DM has a lot of things to do - including finding cool stuff to show people and trying to make sure that the entire group has a good dive. That includes the "I'm in a hurry guy" that's racing ahead, and the "photo geek" that's lagging behind, and the newbie that's stuck on his arm like a remora - it seems like a hard job.

One time we did a drift diving liveaboard trip in the Sea of Cortez and the current was quite strong and we were being chased by storms and the water was kind of rough for most of the trip. The dive crew didn't even try to keep us together in a group and it wasn't expected. The divers went into the water as buddy pairs. Sometimes a dive master was in the water and you could hang around with him if you wanted to - but it was not required.

Each pair did what they wished and came up when they were ready to do so. On the surface you inflated a safety sausage and waited for a panga (inflatable boat) to come and pick you up. If I had expected the DM to watch me, keep tabs on me, and keep me moving forward - I'd still be floating out there somewhere!

From now on you should just make sure that you always dive with your wife/buddy so that she can keep an eye on you and hurry you whenever you get "lost in space" doing photography.

 

[diver 85]

For the most part, I haven't had a 'real' buddy in a few years(6 or 7?? now)--EXCEPT for my Flower Gardens trip late last summer------Nobody wants to go as slow as I do as/while I'm taking pics-----I've learned to do 'my own thing' UW & that's perfectly OK with me....As my 'boat buddy'(ie in name only to get into the water) told some on board on day 3 or 4 in Brac last October 'my AIR buddy & I do just fine'...

If you don't believe me, try & find my buddy in my pics.....
https://www.flickr.com/photos/80825593@N08/sets

 

[modustollens]

I would not want to claim the DM is responsible for me; though I have been with several who are far from indifferent to me without being like a nanny. But I am not a new diver. One of the things I do like about the DM is the local knowledge of the dive site and the navigation information and knowledge of currents and so on, more so when it is the first time I am diving a site - which happens often given that a lot of my diving is on holiday to new places; so, I usually keep an eye on them. But I still study the map of the site and draw a little picture on my slate and orient myself with the compass when I jump in the water. It is much more comfortable diving when I don't feel dependent on someone.

MT



MT

 

[Edward3c]

Thanks to everyone for their input. This has made me want to be a better diver and more aware of where the DM and the rest of the group is. However, this discussion also has made me go back and review the video I took of the turtle. My apologies for not reviewing the video more closely earlier to see the length, but the truth is that in light of some of the comments I was feeling a bit guilty about my conduct and abilities as a diver. The video was 1 minute 12 seconds long and at the end of the video the turtle swam away, so that would have been when I looked up to see where the group was (minus the two others that were still with me). So, say it took me another few seconds, heck maybe almost another minute, to get in position and start filming (doubtful). I don't think that stopping for two minutes to film a turtle on a one hour dive is out of bounds. On a dive where there is little current and mostly sand and small coral outcroppings? Is it really too much to ask of a DM in Cozumel to maybe stay within eyesight distance for one minute and 12 seconds? And if there is an urgent need to move on, OK he carries a "noisemaker". He can let me know he is moving on, but in reality there was no urgent need here.

You were fortunate a buddy pair stayed near you. If you had had equipment failure where would your assistance have been without them?
I carried a camera last Saturday (as I do on most dives), but I always know where my buddy is. Usually they act as spotters for me, finding the interesting subjects.

 

[Storker]

If you are the photographer, you feel you have paid for your dive and should be able to do what you want, which is spend long periods of time taking photos or video.

Now, here's where you're losing me. In my (not so humble) opinion, no diver should be able to "do what they want", perhaps with the exception of those who have paid for a personal guide/DM. And even then safety and good diving practice trumps the diver's wishes.

I'm a pretty avid photog myself; there's hardly a dive where I don't carry my rig. But this kind of entitlement is totally alien to me. As a diver, my primary responsibility is to dive safely, and that includes good buddy contact and adjusting my "needs" to those of my buddy. A short break and few shots of a subject is normally OK, but if I were to spend a long time getting the "perfect" shot while expecting my buddy to hang around just watching me shooting, I'd soon run out of buddies and have to dive solo.

This is also why I haven't considered macro photography much. I often joke that if photographers make bad buddies, macro photographers make the worst because they're usually happy spending the whole dive on the same one-square-meter patch of bottom.

 

[NAM001]

I suggest you put your self in the DM's position, expecially when you are in a drift dive. because of the current you become slave to the environment. The COZ currents is the reason i have never used split fins again.

Thanks to everyone for their input. This has made me want to be a better diver and more aware of where the DM and the rest of the group is. However, this discussion also has made me go back and review the video I took of the turtle. My apologies for not reviewing the video more closely earlier to see the length, but the truth is that in light of some of the comments I was feeling a bit guilty about my conduct and abilities as a diver. The video was 1 minute 12 seconds long and at the end of the video the turtle swam away, so that would have been when I looked up to see where the group was (minus the two others that were still with me). So, say it took me another few seconds, heck maybe almost another minute, to get in position and start filming (doubtful). I don't think that stopping for two minutes to film a turtle on a one hour dive is out of bounds. On a dive where there is little current and mostly sand and small coral outcroppings? Is it really too much to ask of a DM in Cozumel to maybe stay within eyesight distance for one minute and 12 seconds? And if there is an urgent need to move on, OK he carries a "noisemaker". He can let me know he is moving on, but in reality there was no urgent need here.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I am curious under what conditions would a dive guide allow separation? When I dove Cozumel, there was a guide at the front and one at the back. People spread out quite a bit. But if there isn't the tailing guide, the conversation as a photographer I would want to have with the guide is what under what conditions is separation acceptable? (if none, so be it). But if I have a uniquely marked SMB (I wrote on it "CALL 4 GYROS", as I am half Greek) so that the boat captain would know who I was. I would hope that if a group split up, that the photographers would stick together and come up together.

 

[redacted]

I am curious under what conditions would a dive guide allow separation? When I dove Cozumel, there was a guide at the front and one at the back. People spread out quite a bit. But if there isn't the tailing guide, the conversation as a photographer I would want to have with the guide is what under what conditions is separation acceptable? (if none, so be it). But if I have a uniquely marked SMB (I wrote on it "CALL 4 GYROS", as I am half Greek) so that the boat captain would know who I was. I would hope that if a group split up, that the photographers would stick together and come up together.

While a few ops may do the front & rear thing, most just have a dive guide leading 6 or 8 divers. Part of the pre-dive briefing is the DM request that all stay behind him and in sight of the group. If a diver or pair decide to take off, the DM may not even know and he is quite limited as to what he can do other than perhaps slow down to give them an opportunity to catch up. I a diver does not put in sufficient effort to stay within sight of the group, they may well get lost. Not at all an uncommon occurrence in Cozumel.

 

[boulderjohn]

I am curious under what conditions would a dive guide allow separation? When I dove Cozumel, there was a guide at the front and one at the back. People spread out quite a bit. But if there isn't the tailing guide, the conversation as a photographer I would want to have with the guide is what under what conditions is separation acceptable? (if none, so be it). But if I have a uniquely marked SMB (I wrote on it "CALL 4 GYROS", as I am half Greek) so that the boat captain would know who I was. I would hope that if a group split up, that the photographers would stick together and come up together.

It's a good question.

Start with the fact that Cozumel is different from most places. The DM really should keep the group together so that they can ascend in the same spot. As I said earlier, a diver ascending apart from such a group risks not being seen and all the problems associated with that.

If you are drift diving in south Florida, in contrast, the reef is small, and there is little risk that a line from a surface float will become entangled in it. Consequently, dive teams have one of their group carrying a reel with a line going to the surface, attached there to a float with a dive flag. It is easy for a dive boat to keep an eye on all the groups, so a DM is not so much a concern. Sometimes one will be in the water, sometimes not. Whether a DM is present of not, it is the duty of all members of the group to stay with the diver with the flag. If they separate from the group, they run the same risk of surfacing unseen as in Cozumel.

Your solution of having a SMB--any color or style will do--is a good one. In fact, I can't understand why it is not required of all divers on such dives. I have argued for that in the Cozumel forum many times. In the worst case scenario, a diver surfacing alone can inflate it on the surface. It is better, though, for the diver to have a reel or spool and send the SMB up as soon as he or she realizes there has been a separation. That way it is more likely that the boat can see it before the separation has gotten too great, and it also allows passing boat traffic to see it and steer clear before the divers surface.

Inflating an SMB is now a required skill in PADI OW training, BTW.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Your solution of having a SMB--any color or style will do--is a good one. In fact, I can't understand why it is not required of all divers on such dives. I have argued for that in the Cozumel forum many times. In the worst case scenario, a diver surfacing alone can inflate it on the surface. It is better, though, for the diver to have a reel or spool and send the SMB up as soon as he or she realizes there has been a separation. That way it is more likely that the boat can see it before the separation has gotten too great, and it also allows passing boat traffic to see it and steer clear before the divers surface.

Inflating an SMB is now a required skill in PADI OW training, BTW.

John,

Going through my PADI dive master program (some swim tests tonight). I'm happy with some of the changes that PADI has made with their OW certification.

I can imagine that it can be a circus out there with different dive ops. That is why I think it is a good idea to have something unique about one's SMB so that the captain knows who to pick up and who not to. The latter isn't catastrophic of course, just a bit of a hassle, especially for those yokels like me who need to catch a ferry back to PDC because they didn't realize in advance how much better the diving is in Cozumel!

I think my solution is just a little more hassle for the boat captain for picking up everyone at once vs. in two groups. I say two, as the photographers should at least cooperate with each other to stay close together.

Kosta

PS. I'm a little paranoid about boat dives, so I carry an emergency pack with extra SMB, orange hat, mirror, Lifeline, just need a canister for my PLB and I'm set.