Diving without a dive master or guide.

[FireInMyBones]

I never dive with a guide. I dive with a buddy as part of a team and always pay close attention to any pre-dive briefing. I've done this since certified. Now I'm a DM, and offer this service to others who want it, but I make sure that they do not need it. I feel that if you are that dependent on a DM/ guide, you should take another class to help, though I am happy to help anyone get the experience required to get to that level. HYOH.

 

[LeonPr]

Long time lurker, 1st time poster...

I'm a DM soon to be Instructor and while I'm very comfortable diving with just a buddy I will normally take one leaded dive in a new area just to get a feel for the place and learn the important things (adverage current, conditions, environmental considerations etc) and then after the 1 guided just go back to diving with buddys.

I have noticed it depends on the location as well... While I've been here in Miami the norm seems to be just throw the customers in the water and DM stays on boat where as in Central America its generally all guided.

Leon

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk

 

[dmoore19]

It depends on where you dive. MOST dives in Cozumel by law you must have a DM with you. The places I have been like in Roatan and Grand Cayman boat diving in Marine Parks require a DM/guide in the water with you. That is OK with me. If it is the law, far be it from me to get all puffed up and refuse to follow the rules. I guess if you don't want a DM in the water with you there are places you will just have to scratch off as places to go. I don't look to the DM to plan my dive, I can do it on my own. If I am some place i have not been I enjoy having a [-]DM[/-] Guide around to point out the local wildlife and the things that are unique to the area.

 

[Splitlip]

I always dive with a guide, either a DM or I make sure that my insta-buddy can get us back to the boat fer shure. That way I don't have to bother with the navigating since I can get lost in a one-chair barber shop.

Palm Beach drift divers in large part are some of the worst navigators in the world (a lot don't even own a compass).
And I am in that large part. I have an sk-7 that I use on shore dives at bhb, but then I keep it simple. Take a bearing at the surface then reverse to entry. Take another bearing to another feature and repeat.
Some of the trolls that frequent the bhb and this forum amaze me. They navigate the site ​under water!​ lol

 

[Darnold9999]

I only want a guide when diving in a place where I need help spotting odd creatures I would not see myself, or a site where local knowledge is critical for some reason. Lembeh comes to mind for odd creatures, can't think of one where local knowledge is required but I am sure they exist.

The few times I have been diving with a "herd" I have been underwelmed. The last time was in Mexico and put me completely off diving with a DM - or with any dive operation that will not let me dive solo (or give me good reasons why not). A nice dive ruined by rules that were designed to keep novice divers safe on a mildly advanced dive - poor vis, mild current and heavy surge.

Local diving, in BC it is possible to hire a DM, but pretty rare.

 

[TSandM]

Reading a few more answers reminds me that I DO use a guide in places where I have never been. It's rarely a paid guide, though, unless it's off a boat that offers or requires them. But I get hold of people in the places where I am going to go (often SB friends!) and arrange to do the first few dives with somebody who knows the local diving. As is often said here, we can all be beginners in new and unfamiliar dive sites, and there is not only no shame, but a great deal of value in getting some local help to make sure the dives are as much fun and little stress as possible.

 

[Guba]

Guide? Oh, yeah...that's the fellow in Cozumel who pops the float at the end of the dive so the boat can pick us up.

Well, that's when I've used a guide most of the time, but there have been a few other times. One such was when we were wanting to find lionfish in the Bahamas and see a particular researcher's findings, but we didn't actually hire a guide. We just followed him and he pointed out things he wanted us to see.

However, if one is diving in an unfamiliar locale, it's often highly beneficial to use a good guide, and any time a person is uncomfortable with diving a particular site, it could be a great comfort to have someone familiar with the seascape along.

 

[RTee]

I have done dive ops with DM briefing and leading the dives (Cozumel/Cuba), DM briefing the dives and remaining on boat (Blackbeard/Tobermory), with fellow divers briefing and leading the dives (in areas they were familiar with and I was not), briefed and led dives with fellow divers in areas I was familiar with and they were not and just dove by myself with a buddy in areas we were either familiar with or not and for the latter, equipped with knowledge gathered from the internet or other divers.

The bottom line is if one is imposed by the dive ops and/or local regulations, I will listen to and adhere to the dive plan as long as it is safe to do so. If boat diving and none is provided, I will not hire one as long as I can get a decent briefing from the boat staff and I will then assume dive planning and dive conduct responsabilities (including navigation) which I have no problem.

 

[Colliam7]

Do you ever go diving without a guide? I am curious about how many people go diving on their own without signing up to go out with a dive master or some local guide. If you do, how often do you do this? Do you only do this where you live or on vacation too?

With one exception (see below) I have never been diving with a guide, starting with my first post-certification dive (subsequent classes / training dives would be exceptions, of course). Usually, we go to where we want to dive, even if it is the first time on the site, get a site briefing if available, from a local dive shop or diver (or by reading about the site online if possible) or from the boat mate / captain (usually the case on boat dives, but even then the briefings may be fairly superficial), and jump in. Some of the most detailed briefings I have ever had were on the St. Lawrence (e.g. Keystorm, Vickery, etc.) and were quite helpful. But, I think they were particularly detailed because the captain was an enthusiastic student of marine archeology, and was involved with wreck preservation activities in the area. I honestly can't imagine going on a dive with a guide.

The places I have been like in Roatan and Grand Cayman boat diving in Marine Parks require a DM/guide in the water with you.

The only time I have ever had a guide was diving Roatan in 2003, where a DM went in the water with us on every dive off the boat.

 

[elan]

We dive with a guide mostly on vacations when we are new to the location. Last time we benefitted from the guide a lot he showed us a lot of creatures that we would not found ourselves otherwise