Diver Lost in Jamaica

[Willar]

A group of divers entered the water and were requested to stay on the surface. There was some current and the boat captain noticed that his depth sounder indicated that the bottom was too deep for the planned dive (some areas for KingFish Point drops to 250 to 300 feet).

The dive DM got the divers back on the boat so that a less deep location could be found.

Then the DM noticed that one diver was missing -- he must of started down without waiting for the OK to submerge.

The DM went immediately after him but failed to find the diver.

My understanding is the boat never left the dive site. The DM immediately realized upon entering the water that they were in the wrong spot and needed to relocate. Kingfish point is normally a 90fsw dive. They don't know what happened but I have a thought. This is complete speculation on my part.

The diver entered the water with a backward roll and had not put air in his BC. He was overweighted and immediately went under. He had also forgotten to turn his air back on after testing the tank during setup and then shutting off the valve. Once he figures out he has no air and is sinking fast he panics. He fails to drop weigh and cannot swim up to the surface. The strong current quickly sweeps him out to sea as he continues toward the bottom. By the time the DM gets back in the water to look for him, he's outside the visible range. He is now fish food at 300+ ft.

I think it is very odd that his wife left the island so quickly. However, she may have needed the support of her family and couldn't handle sitting around the island wondering what happened.

 

[bathbiggles1]

My understanding is the boat never left the dive site. The DM immediately realized upon entering the water that they were in the wrong spot and needed to relocate. Kingfish point is normally a 90fsw dive. They don't know what happened but I have a thought. This is complete speculation on my part.

The diver entered the water with a backward roll and had not put air in his BC. He was overweighted and immediately went under. He had also forgotten to turn his air back on after testing the tank during setup and then shutting off the valve. Once he figures out he has no air and is sinking fast he panics. He fails to drop weigh and cannot swim up to the surface. The strong current quickly sweeps him out to sea as he continues toward the bottom. By the time the DM gets back in the water to look for him, he's outside the visible range. He is now fish food at 300+ ft.

I think it is very odd that his wife left the island so quickly. However, she may have needed the support of her family and couldn't handle sitting around the island wondering what happened.

'Complete speculation' is right!!

Not helpful to this level IMO

 

[cdiver2]

Something smells a little fishy to me. Lots of vauge excuses. Could this be another case of the dive boat taking off without everyone on board? If the seas were rough, he might have never submerged and still not been seen. Also, how far did the dive boat go before they figured it out? If the captain puts people in the water before he figures out how deep it is, how would you expect him to even know how to get back to the original site? Just my two cents.

If the seas were rough,

They were rough, we canceled four days of diving

 

[RonFrank]

it is quite possible, and has occured before even with experienced divers.

Sorry for the loss to the family.