Diver lost in Cozumel today

[Darol]

jd950 said: No problem. Sometimes it is hard to discern the "emotion" behind a statement on forums.

Wow .... Amen to that...

 

[dmoore19]

I agree........I have seen people describe the conditions at Santa Rosa as bad if not worse than Barracuda. BTW I saw a few references to inflating your BC to escape the current and that it was bad. I was on a dive once about 10 years ago at Barracuda when there was a bad down current. I inflated almost to max of my 40lb. limit and I did NOT shoot up to the surface rather it slowed my decent leveled me off and as soon as I felt myself going up I slowly dumped until I leveled off above 80. I think some posters do way too much commenting from a total lack of actual experience. Dumping your weights is discussed IMO dangerously too often as a solution to this type of current. For me dumping my whole 6-8 lbs plus a few in ankle weights I doubt would have as much effect but for those of you who carry much, much more than that, it could have a very dangerous effect. A down current can have a very panicky effect on an unsuspecting diver as you are not used to having to put that much air in your BC or wings just to try and stay neutral. That is exactly why novice divers should not have been near a wall on this dive or ever.

So what do you suggest? Scuba Police? Statistically I have a higher probability of becoming dead while driving to and from work. Being made aware of the conditions makes it my responsibility for the decision to dive or not.

 

[WSOPFAN]

So what do you suggest? Scuba Police? Statistically I have a higher probability of becoming dead while driving to and from work. Being made aware of the conditions makes it my responsibility for the decision to dive or not.

I should not have to suggest anything IF people acted professionally. So giving a dive briefing of any kind under any circumstances relieves a DM and their shop of any liability whatsoever? They can throw whoever they want in the water wherever they want irregardless of the divers ability's or training and a simple dive briefing means no liability? You can't expect an inexperienced diver to make the decision to dive or not, they don't know any better and are relying on a supposed professionals judgement.

 

[Mike]

That's how it should be, but unless you have a private DM, what actually happens inside the park is that the DM and other divers need to stay together because the current flows at different speeds at different depths. If they're at 80' and you're at 20' chances are good you won't be able to rejoin them until you're back on the boat. Since you're supposed to stay with the DM inside the park, this presents a problem.

Also, I've never been there when the DM didn't stop and hide from the current behind a rock to show everybody some pet critter, leaving all the other divers trying to maintain position instead of drifting. This is a ton of work.

Just a plain drift dive would be awesome, but I've never actually had one of those in Coz.

flots.

I'm obviously a super God of diving, as I've never felt like I'm doing a ton of work on a dive.

Talking about a group diving in Cozumel with the group at 80' and you at 20' better be in reference to you're on a safety stop. If you're trying to dive at 20 feet and the groups at 80 you're completely retarded and the dive master is going to give you an ass chewing on the boat.

Just so's you know, if a divemaster tucks in to show somebody some critters, all you've got to do is the same thing where ever you're at. If you're down current of him just wait for the group to 'untuck' and they will float right to you. This stuff ain't rocket science guys. If you're working hard diving in Cozumel you're doing it wrong. The typical diver who knows what they are doing in Cozumel is a diver with arms folded, or hands clasped in front of him, barely moving their body, , no use of their arms, very little energy being spent, very calm,, very relaxed, very slow breathing rate, using their breathing to lower and raise themselves in the water column, hardly ever using their fins, just enjoying the show.

 

[dmoore19]

I should not have to suggest anything IF people acted professionally. So giving a dive briefing of any kind under any circumstances relieves a DM and their shop of any liability whatsoever? They can throw whoever they want in the water wherever they want irregardless of the divers ability's or training and a simple dive briefing means no liability? You can't expect an inexperienced diver to make the decision to dive or not, they don't know any better and are relying on a supposed professionals judgement.

I asked you what your suggestion was. You cannot answer a question with another question or 3. What do you suggest?

 

[flots am]

Talking about a group diving in Cozumel with the group at 80' and you at 20' better be in reference to you're on a safety stop. If you're trying to dive at 20 feet and the groups at 80 you're completely retarded and the dive master is going to give you an ass chewing on the boat.

20' was your number.

You can drift along at 20 feet above the reef, above your group, you can kick a few times and go off to the sides of your group, you can go down and skim over the surface of the reef 6 inches above it,

flots.

 

[jd950]

I'm obviously a super God of diving, as I've never felt like I'm doing a ton of work on a dive.

This stuff ain't rocket science guys. If you're working hard diving in Cozumel you're doing it wrong.

Sorry, I'll try to do better in the future.

 

[WSOPFAN]

Originally Posted by WSOPFAN
I should not have to suggest anything IF people acted professionally. So giving a dive briefing of any kind under any circumstances relieves a DM and their shop of any liability whatsoever? They can throw whoever they want in the water wherever they want irregardless of the divers ability's or training and a simple dive briefing means no liability? You can't expect an inexperienced diver to make the decision to dive or not, they don't know any better and are relying on a supposed professionals judgement.​

I asked you what your suggestion was. You cannot answer a question with another question or 3. What do you suggest?

I said people should act professionally....... in other words......Dive shops should not take inexperienced divers to do a wall dive AFTER being warned of bad currents. They also had no business taking that large of a group of divers to a wall knowing they could very easily lose control of a group that large in those conditions. You can't just give a dive briefing telling divers to stay close to their buddies and be relieved of any liability. As a professional he should have been exercising more caution given the conditions and they should have never been on a wall to begin with. If that dive shop was acting professionally and looking out for the safety of their customers, they would NEVER have been given a dive briefing allowing novice divers to 80 ft on a wall no less. Like I said act like a professional and your reputation won't suffer, there are plenty of dive shops in Cozumel who do act accordingly.

 

[InTheDrink]

@Mike, clearly you are a god of diving. Unfortunately not everyone else out there is and these are the people that concern is being expressed for. The don't know what they don't know and are indeed doing trust me dives where the input, guidance and professionalism of the dive master is pretty fundamental.

I struggle to see how anyone in their right mind would think taking a large group of novices on a wall dive with fairly strong currents (or worse, strong down currents) is a sensible, prudent or professional course of action. Currents, apart from Gods like you, have been known for their tendency to separate divers. They can pull masks off, depress regs, cause panic in newer divers, cause rapid ascents, get divers lost at sea - I could go on. I think you underestimate the risks associated with currents and hope that no-one in your charge is thus mislead.

John

 

[diverrex]

I've made two trips to Cozumel. The first in May 2008 the currents were fairly strong. I would not say dangerous but I would not have classified it as easy diving and it would not have been for a new diver. The 2nd trip in August 2008 the currents were much milder, a new diver could have managed much better on those dives.

I noticed another current post in the New Diver Forum that I have linked here and present an abbreviated version below, with my bold added. Just to show another angle to how to dive safe on Cozumel being a new diver.

First Ocean Dive(Cozumel)
As of Sept. 2011, My husband and I were certified SCUBA divers,,YAY!
Our first Dive trip to Cozumel was March 21^st thru March 27^th.
It was our third visit to the Island. I joined SB in June of last year,
To make a long story short, I finally overcame my deep seated fear of the water.
We contacted several Dive op’s most informed us, that all the dives they had planned
Were for advanced divers, due to location, depth and current.

We went out with Dive Paradise, to Paradise reef,(gorgeous) it was our first ocean dive
We also hired our own dive master, A great guide and DM.
Several days later we booked a trip with Dive with Martin, again we were informed
Of the depth, I informed DWM that I did not want to go to the depth of 80 feet
Hired our own DM,we were fully briefed on the boat, Told him I did not want to go any deeper than
50 feet but if I was comfortable was wanting to descend deeper than 50’, Roberto(DM) let me know that he would stay at any depth I choose...
...I informed both DM’s that we were new divers and I was nervous, I didn’t care what anybody on the boat thought ....