Diving manners?

[Dion]

I think idiots with their SPG dragging across the coral is equally as bad as bad swimmers.

I think that many divers just dont get enought time in the water to have good buoyancy like you and I.

I had a problem with a newbie last time I was on the boat. I took it up with the divemaster and was told to stop giving her such a hard time, even though I said nothing to the diver , except for hand signals underwater. . This same newbie kept crasing into me, causing unsafe diving. She also left the trainer/ divemaster to chase a turtle and got lost for a while. I also saw the DM get hit in the head by the newbie too, which then got a "serves you right" under my breath.

These people are not only unsafe for the environment but also to us divers./

I totally agree with you about the "dangly bits", clips are cheap and gauges aren't. I don't understand why they can't take 2 minutes and clip up their gauges. I always have my stuff clipped up and out of the way. I laugh when I hear these people complaining about their gear getting scratched up. Duuuuh!!

With regard to people who can't keep running into you, on a couple of dives, I have had idiots either go above or below me either in or entering a swim through, forcing me up into the coral or kicking me in the head. You have no idea how tempted I was to grab a hose and yank!!

Dion

 

[toodive4]

One way to get rid of bicycle swimmers is to get rid of their legs. Might I suggest if diving where sharks are in the area, try tying some injured fish or t-bone steaks onto the bicycle divers legs about thigh high... that should do the trick. Save the corals, feed the sharks, and get some great photos you can sell to CNN...

I want to bring up an issue that has been bothering me and hopefully this thread will also help some of the newbies out there learn good diving manners. I suspect that everyone who has been diving with a large group knows what I am talking about.

So, let's get it out in the open. I'll start with my biggest pet peeve, which is... bicycle swimmers! You've seen them, they swim like they are riding a bike, all the while plowing down poor unsuspecting sea fans and barrel sponges without a second thought. Its really frustrating to watch and I've even tried pointing out to them that they "would swim better" if they were more horizontal in the water, but they just don't seem to care. So I end up screaming through my regulator in frustration as I watch things being mowed down because someone is too ignorant to keep their fins off the reef. Should I just keep my mouth shut?? Am I the only person who notices this?

I've tried pointing it out to the dive masters, but I guess they don't want to upset the customer, so they just ignore it. But when all the coral is ruined, they aren't going to have any customers! I have even seen a woman do this in front of her instructor who was on the dive with us, and he didn't do a thing either. Which really frustrated me. Everyone talks about having "good buyancy", and maybe its related, but how can any scuba instructor in good conscience turn this menace out into diving society?!? What happened to take only pictures, leave only bubbles?

Scuba Instructors, I beg you, please don't let your students learn this horrible habit!
</rant end>

Anyone else out there have a diving etiquette issue?? Or anyone else seen these horrible underwater bicyclists? Any suggestions for how to deal with them? I can't just watch and not do anything, it makes me too mad.

Ok just my .02.

Dion

 

[Azza]

It's our fault? We have them for a couple of days and years later it's our fault?

Well said Al.

I dont know about other agency training, but the PADI OW course actually touches on Buoyancy a lot! If by the end of dive 4 the student hasnt at least picked up a sense of situational awareness and the basics of buoyancy, then to be bruttaly honest, they need to hang up their fins and take up ping pong.

4 open water dives is enough dive time to get a diver to be able to think for themselves and to advance their own diving of their own back.

As an instructor I impress situational awareness and buoyancy on every single one of my students.
How am I to blame if they have no retention?
How am I to blame if they then decide they are going to take an overseas vacation once a year and do 2 dives until next years vacation?

The reality is that practice makes perfect. I tell everyone of my students that they must go diving in order to get good at it. Some do, some couldnt care less.
In part I think this stems from the sappy way we raise kids these days. We tell them all the time that its ok to lose, its ok if you are not good at something. To me thats true only if they actually try.

 

[happybuddha]

Well said Al.

I dont know about other agency training, but the PADI OW course actually touches on Buoyancy a lot! If by the end of dive 4 the student hasnt at least picked up a sense of situational awareness and the basics of buoyancy, then to be bruttaly honest, they need to hang up their fins and take up ping pong.

Azza,

Would you certify the diver if they have not "at least picked up a sense of situational awareness and the basics of buoyancy"?

 

[Iruka]

One request I'd make on behalf of dive guides everywhere, is for the customer to NOT swim directly above & behind the guide...or better, yet, continually switch from left to right, while swimming above & behind. We get REALLY sore necks when we have to constantly search for someone in those locations. If I can't convey by hand signals that I'd prefer they swim at about my depth & to the side, I'll just give up & swim backwards in order to keep an eye on them, ha ha.

A buoyancy-related problem I see is the "I can't stop swimming or I'll sink" situation. Much like the fallacy of all sharks needing to swim or else they'd drown, these divers don't have neutral buoyancy skills....and like a glider, must use forward motion to provide "lift" in order not to sink. So, when I'm trying to cruise slowly along a reef to point out interesting things, these divers can't maintain my "slow" speed, and usually end up swimming across my path, or force me to change directions in order to get away from their flailing fins. Usually I can help out by taking away some of their weights...overweighting makes buoyancy control quite a bit more difficult.

 

[bgi]

overweighting makes buoyancy control quite a bit more difficult.

I keep reading this but just don't buy it - unless the diver is SEVERELY oveweighted to the point that their BC is full and they are still negative. How difficult a concept is it to add more air to your BC if you are negatively buoyant? If you have 4 lbs too much lead, the concept is the same: Add some air.

 

[Charlie99]

. I'll start with my biggest pet peeve, which is... bicycle swimmers! You've seen them, they swim like they are riding a bike, all the while plowing down poor unsuspecting sea fans and barrel sponges without a second thought. Its really frustrating to watch and I've even tried pointing out to them that they "would swim better" if they were more horizontal in the water, but they just don't seem to care.

People don't kick coral and sponges because they want to. Most of the time, the bicycle kickers don't even know that they aren't neutral and are having to kick upward to stay at depth. My experience with dozens of new buddies is that they are happy to hear some polite, constructive suggestions.

Lots of times the subject comes up because they want to know why I still have 1500psi left after the dive. We work out a few signs having to do with "add more air", "let out some air" and get them neutral after the descent on the 2nd dive. Lots of them come up bubbling with enthusiasm saying things like "wow, that dive was a lot easier than normal".

Don't complain and moan. Harassing divers for silting up or bumping stuff isn't necessary ... just sell them on the benefits of being neutral. Help your fellow diver.

 

[Mike Veitch]

I keep reading this but just don't buy it - unless the diver is SEVERELY oveweighted to the point that their BC is full and they are still negative. How difficult a concept is it to add more air to your BC if you are negatively buoyant? If you have 4 lbs too much lead, the concept is the same: Add some air.

Sorry but i agree with Iruka on this. We both deal with divers for a living and so see a lot of divers day in and day out. I hate to say it but around 85% of people we see are overweighted. This is not a theory, this is my personal observation from being a dive guide in the tropics for 6 years. I am sure it is the same in every tropical location (and i have only worked in the Pacific where most guests are more experienced than those in the Caribbean)
Each and every single day i have to ask people to add more air to their BC as they bounce off the bottom.
Very simple way to figure this out, stop swimming...do you sink like a rock? Unfortunately most people do.

I am by no means saying that this is a bad reflection on all divers who are able to have a couple of dive trips a year. I know i am extremely lucky that i get to dive every day in a nice tropical environment and therefore my buoyancy skills are above average.
However, please take some time out on your holiday to work on your buoyancy skills and listen to the guide/dm who can/will give you some great tips on buoyancy.
The easiest thing to do? Stop swimming...see what happens. If your buoyancy is in prime condition you shouldn't sink, if you sink like a rock? Take off some weight, you will be a better diver for it and your air will last longer. :10:

 

[cdiver2]

People don't kick coral and sponges because they want to. Most of the time, the bicycle kickers don't even know that they aren't neutral and are having to kick upward to stay at depth. My experience with dozens of new buddies is that they are happy to hear some polite, constructive suggestions.

Lots of times the subject comes up because they want to know why I still have 1500psi left after the dive. We work out a few signs having to do with "add more air", "let out some air" and get them neutral after the descent on the 2nd dive. Lots of them come up bubbling with enthusiasm saying things like "wow, that dive was a lot easier than normal".

Don't complain and moan. Harassing divers for silting up or bumping stuff isn't necessary ... just sell them on the benefits of being neutral. Help your fellow diver.

But you do realize Charlie some divers actually need poor divers to make them selfs look good. If all these good divers stopped P&Ming and had a little compassion there would be less damage to the reef

 

[Mike Veitch]

People don't kick coral and sponges because they want to. Most of the time, the bicycle kickers don't even know that they aren't neutral and are having to kick upward to stay at depth. My experience with dozens of new buddies is that they are happy to hear some polite, constructive suggestions.

Lots of times the subject comes up because they want to know why I still have 1500psi left after the dive. We work out a few signs having to do with "add more air", "let out some air" and get them neutral after the descent on the 2nd dive. Lots of them come up bubbling with enthusiasm saying things like "wow, that dive was a lot easier than normal".

Don't complain and moan. Harassing divers for silting up or bumping stuff isn't necessary ... just sell them on the benefits of being neutral. Help your fellow diver.

Great answer Charlie, i agree 100%. The best way is positive reinforcement.
It works for the vast majority of people and most people who i spent a week with on liveaboards had a huge improvement in their abilities.
However, you still get the old school guys trained in 1964 with 28 pounds of lead and a lycra suit who don't want to listen to some whipper snapper in their twenties telling them how to dive....