Found him ~3 miles out after an hour of searching

[mcpowell]

This all happened last week.

Hopefully people reading this, in the future, will prepare better than this guy, before they come to Cozumel. I’m going to call him “Guy”.

There were 3 of us diving with Bottomtime divers. Raul’s normal boat was being repaired, and so we were jumping with another popular dive shop’s boat. I don’t want to name them here, as I don’t feel like the other operator did anything wrong.

We started on Tormentos, but knew the current was not ideal so we made some fairly long swims over sand while we quartered the direction of the current. Usually I don’t feel like I get much exercise while diving, but I did this day. Our group of 4 were always in sight of each other. We did not dive with the other group on the boat. The current was pretty sporty the whole time.

The current switched towards the end of the dive and visibility dropped to 20-30 feet, so we ascended to the safety stop. My dive log shows a 56 min bottom time, so our ascent was not really premature.

When we got on the boat, our group was the only one there. The other divemaster + 4 divers had been picked up by another boat, not far away. Wind was from the SSE, and likely 15-20 mph. There was a good bit of chop on the surface. Btw, Raul shoots 2 DSMB’s (on one line), so the captain knows it’s him.

Raul and the captain spoke for a minute and then Raul tells me the “big guy” is lost (Guy). We look for a few minutes and then go get the other DM + 4 divers that should have been on our boat. And then we start looking for Guy in earnest. The wind was really blowing, and the current was all over the place, and this was quickly getting to be a mess. The captain had all the other dive boats looking and then sometime within just a few minutes he had the Navy looking as well.This was like looking for a needle in a haystack. After almost an hour, another dive boat found him 3 miles away / out. That boat took him back to the marina with the Navy boat right behind.

When we were back at the marina, Guy acted like it was no big deal. I heard him say, to no one in general, that he never felt like he was in danger.

Here are the things I think he did wrong:
1) No dive buddy
2) Did not stay with his group
3) Very poor dive fitness, for the conditions.
4) No dive computer
5) No signaling device i.e. DSMB
6) He should have had his own dive master to dive with him.

When we got back to the marina, the Navy, and ambulance, and several officers were there to question Guy. If nothing else, this guy wasted at least 1 hour of 9 different peoples’ vacation due to his negligence.

There’s no way the dive operator made any profit that day. I’m sure we burned it all in fuel looking for him.

***Edited a few lines for clarity

 

[rmssetc]

This all happened last week.

Hopefully people reading this, in the future, will prepare better than this guy, before they come to Cozumel. I’m going to call him “Guy”.

There were 3 of us diving with Bottomtime divers. Raul’s normal boat was being repaired, and so we were jumping with another popular dive shop’s boat. I don’t want to name them here, as I don’t feel like the other operator did anything wrong.

How many people were on the boat? From your description, it sound like you were a party of 4 (including the DM), and there was another group of 6.

We started on Tormentos, but knew the current was not ideal so we made some fairly long swims over sand while we quartered the direction of the current. Usually I don’t feel like I get much exercise while diving, but I did this day. Our group of 4 were always in sight of each other. We did not dive with the other group on the boat. The current was pretty sporty the whole time.

The current switched towards the end of the dive and visibility dropped to 20-30 feet, so we ascended to the safety stop. My dive log shows a 56 min bottom time, so our ascent was not really premature.

Must have really been swirling around to affect visibility like that. Glad you all stayed together.

When we got on the boat, our group was the only one there. The other divemaster had been picked up by another boat, not far away. Wind was from the SSE, and likely 15-20 mph. There was a good bit of chop on the surface. Btw, Raul shoots 2 DSMB’s (on one line), so the captain knows it’s him.

Pretty sporty conditions.

Raul and the captain spoke for a minute and then Raul tells me the “big guy” is lost (Guy). We look for a few minutes and then go get the other 4 divers that

How did the captain know who was missing from the other group, if 4 of the divers were still in the water?

Did the DM tell the captain that Guy had separated from the group?

Perhaps the DM tried to find (or stay with) Guy and that's why he surfaced so far from his 4 divers.

should have been on our boat. And then we start looking for Guy in earnest. The wind was really blowing, and the current was all over the place, and this was quickly getting to be a mess. The captain had all the other dive boats looking and then sometime within just a few minutes he had the Navy looking as well.This was like looking for a needle in a haystack. After almost an hour, another dive boat found him 3 miles away / out. That boat took him back to the marina with the Navy boat right behind.

I'm glad the story had such a good ending.

When we were back at the marina, Guy acted like it was no big deal. I heard him say, to no one in general, that he never felt like he was in danger.

Ignorant, foolish, or a show of bravado.
Pick one.

Here are the things I think he did wrong:
1) No dive buddy
2) Did not stay with his group
3) Very poor dive fitness, for the conditions.

Perhaps this is a bit of blaming the [near] victim, as you said you didn't dive with Guy.

4) No dive computer

The few (4? 5?) operators that I've seen in Cozumel all require (and provide, if needed) computers, so this is unusual to me.

5) No signaling device i.e. DSMB

Or mirror? Or whistle?
Not uncommon to lack those things, but not a good idea to be without them.

6) He should have had his own dive master to dive him.

When we got back to the marina, the Navy, and ambulance, and several officers were there to question Guy. If nothing else, this guy wasted at least 1 hour of 9 different peoples’ vacation due to his negligence.

There’s no way the dive operator made any profit that day. I’m sure we burned it all in fuel looking for him.

 

[Ghosty]

Did "the guy" stray from his group, or the current whipped him away unexpectedly, if known? What did the rest of his group say happened, or was everyone just running around on their own?

Although I'm sometimes tempted to wander around a bit on my own, the typical, "chase a cool animal" excuse, I'M NEVER out of visual from my closet group member. 90% of my dives I stick pretty near the actual DM/guide, if not my partner. I'm "Rescue Diver" cert level, but generally dive like any moderately experienced regular diver would, always near your buddy. NO risky "wandering off" ****, or underestimating currents. A couple notable Cozumel spots tought me that.

3 miles out to sea in less than 1hr, but was "no big deal" to him. He's lucky to be alive, imagine if another current pulled him many more miles away further out in the next few hours. Glad to hear he was found! Hopefully lesson learned, not the "no big deal" response that you mentioned.

 

[OregonDM]

I wish Cozumel dive ops would require all divers to carry a SMB. If they don't have their own, the dive op should have loaners on the boat to provide to them.

 

[rmssetc]

I wish Cozumel dive ops would require all divers to carry a DSMB. If they don't have their own, the dive op should have loaners on the boat to provide to them.

I'd say "no". If someone doesn't own a DSMB and isn't aware of how to inflate a DSMB while submerged, and they are in a stressful situation and trying to use a loaner DSMB, there's a lot that can go wrong.

However, I'd be completely in favor of requiring that divers who don't have their own DSMB carry a marker buoy that can be inflated on the surface, both for visibility and extra buoyancy.

 

[mcpowell]

How many people were on the boat? From your description, it sound like you were a party of 4 (including the DM), and there was another group of 6.

Yes. The other group of 6 was 5 divers + DM. But in truth, I think it was one group of 4, a solo diver (Guy) + the Dm

How did the captain know who was missing from the other group, if 4 of the divers were still in the water?

My guess is the other dive boat picked up the group of 4 + DM and then they figured out they were missing a diver.

Did the DM tell the captain that Guy had separated from the group?

I believe so.

Ignorant, foolish, or a show of bravado.
Pick one.

Perhaps this is a bit of blaming the [near] victim, as you said you didn't dive with Guy.

Yes. But also my observation. Guy was in his 70’s, very overweight, and not very mobile on land. All of this would be okay in ideal conditions, but this day was not at all ideal.

Or mirror? Or whistle?
Not uncommon to lack those things, but not a good idea to be without them.

I don’t know if he had other signaling devices, or not.

 

[OregonDM]

I'd say "no". If someone doesn't own a DSMB and isn't aware of how to inflate a DSMB while submerged, and they are in a stressful situation and trying to use a loaner DSMB, there's a lot that can go wrong.

However, I'd be completely in favor of requiring that divers who don't have their own DSMB carry a marker buoy that can be inflated on the surface, both for visibility and extra buoyancy.

That's what I'm talking about- a marker buoy that can be deployed after surfacing. Edited my original post to the correct acronym. Beginner divers should NOT be using a reel without training. Putting a bunch of string in the water is a recipe for disaster

 

[Dan G]

This is a good example of an experience to learn from. Maybe "Guy" and his group will take something away from it other than, "Hey, &#^ happens," which I know from experience occurs because I was on Palancar Caves last year and two guys got separated from the group and we cut the dive short by quite a bit. They were pretty nonplussed by the experience and one even commented to his buddy, "Hey remember in Bonaire when we got separated?"

Definitely a good idea for ops to require a computer and an SMB. I do not think an DSMB would be good to require/rent because those take practice and most vacation divers don't practice.

 

[Shawn C]

This is a good example of an experience to learn from. Maybe "Guy" and his group will take something away from it other than, "Hey, &#^ happens," which I know from experience occurs because I was on Palancar Caves last year and two guys got separated from the group and we cut the dive short by quite a bit. They were pretty nonplussed by the experience and one even commented to his buddy, "Hey remember in Bonaire when we got separated?"

Definitely a good idea for ops to require a computer and an SMB. I do not think an DSMB would be good to require/rent because those take practice and most vacation divers don't practice.

Couldn't agree more with the SMB requirement and not DSMB. In fact, I had a situation in Cozumel directly related to this that I posted about in the Near Misses forum. The "guy" from my experience, however, was not full of bravado afterwards and knew he'd made some poor decisions and was apologetic afterwards. In other words, he's someone who learns from his mistakes unlike the "guy" above.

Error - What should I have done differently? Diving incident in Cozumel.

This took place about seven years ago in Cozumel. My wife (150 dives over 20 years) and I (around 400 dives over 35 years) were diving one of the southern reefs, Francesca (I think), on our second of a two tank dive. We were with the DM plus one other diver we had just met. We were at around...

scubaboard.com

 

[FishWatcher747]

Note to anyone reading this thread who has not been to Cozumel.

Do not dive in Cozumel if you don't carry an SMB that you can inflate on the surface in case you have to surface away from your group.