Diver deceased at Manatee Springs, 2/19?

[Water Bug]

depends on the dive and how it's carried out

if you jump in the water with some guy who's cave certified and go diving, that's a trust me dive

if you sit down and brief the dive, taking into account your level of experience, and plan the dive to minimize your risk, and stick to the cavern zone, and have an agreed-upon emergency protocol, then that's a pretty decent way to be introduced into a lower risk overhead environment, such as the Ballroom

or even better, of course, you would take a cavern class from a competent instructor before going into any overhead, and that's what i would recommend (strongly)




well, as stated above, a night cavern dive is really a cave dive ... that is pushing things too far too fast ... also, the cavern at Kings Spring (i am talking about the one in Crystal River) has at least two places where, if lost, you can get in real trouble real fast ... i would not call it a low risk overhead environment, particularly at night

i did a day guided tour of that cavern, and basically, i felt "safe" because i could see the exits, and i figured i could make a swim for the surface and be ok

no kidding... that was my emergency plan, and i wasn't briefed otherwise, and i didn't know any better... i was basically a dive fatality waiting to happen

i am very lucky nothing went wrong. another time, i went into the chimney room there, and got stuck ... with no buddy ...

i was very lucky that time too, and it scared me enough to get overhead training

I am very happy to have found SB as I have learnt alot already. Interestingly enough I did not plan to do the King Springs cavern (cave) dive but simply requested a night dive where they said they will pick the location that evening. I didn't know we were doing that dive until we were on the boat (5 divers and a guide), nor was I inquired with as to my training for overhead. I went a long with it as I did not expect what I got - I rather expected something similar to Manatee Springs. To make it even more concerning the dive op permitted another girl to dive this and it was her first open water dive after certification (at night). Even better my light ran out 3/4 through the dive. I was not panicked but the whole dive I was thinking about what I would do if I ran into trouble and with all the other divers in the "cavern" it was hard to navigate. I couldn't have shot for the surface if I could see daylight. I am used to night dives on the reef with lots to see and this was a large disappointment. I would not have done this dive if I had know and considered not going in until the lightening started smacking around me - probably safer doing the dive.

I read alot of assumptions that dive operators have controls over who they permit to do certain dives but I have experienced that this is not the case. How can you best ensure that the operation you are diving with cares more about diver safety than quick money? I have had several times with different operations where the breifing was less than to be desired.

Also, as a new member - is there a better way to continue this thread as not related to the diver who had passed at Manatee? Just enquiring as to etiquette.

 

[dman1959]

Problems can happen with any combination but diver pairs are best . Decide who will lead and follow then switch the next dive or agree on a middive switch .
Have encountered several serious problems when diving in 3s so I avoid it . When in large groups , even when following a Divemaster/Guide , everyone should still pair off .

 

[phyrekat]

Sort of... maybe... but not quite...
All that said, I do think that there are guided Cenote dives that are pushing too far, and that it's only a matter of time before they have a mishap with an open water diver and a blown o-ring or failed high pressure seat...
Rick

Amen to that. My wife and I did 2 cenote dives during our trip to Mexico last Feb. In March I got my cavern cert, and in the process realized just how "too far" our guide took us. Not only past the daylight zone, but also through a couple of single-file restrictions.
At one point, my wife got confused and started following a group that was making a goldline penetration - I realized what she was doing & managed to swim after her & catch her before she disappeared into the cave with the other group. She later said she thought she was still following our guide. It's scary to think what would have happened had we just followed along until we realized we weren't with our original group.