Had 2 scary experiences: How to avoid in future?

[MikeFerrara]

There is also the language issue. If there are communication problems remember you are in their country. Thery should no more cater to you than we should those who come here and expect us to change an entire culture for one group. That's a problem. We are used to political correctness and not wanting to offend anyone when if we go to their country they couldn't give a rat's behind about offending us.

If they want me to pay them, they are going to have to give a bit more than a rats behind. If they aren't equiped to cater to non-spanish speaking clients, all they have to do is say so.

 

[MikeFerrara]

Not really Daniel. But look at the facts, someone new shows up with very little in the profile and blames PADI for her diving misfortunes. Her story contains numerous descrepancies and then latter we learn that this is a three-year old incident in a different location than the one originally specified.

The OP takes no responsibility for her actions, did not talk to the dive master before the dive and does not maintain buddy contact with her buddy (husband). I can take her word the PADI does not cover too much about diving in currents during OW but I am sure they still stress buddy skills and air management. Also she expects the DM to cater to her problems and does not realize the DM is responsible for the other divers in the water also. She feels it is fine to inconvenience all the other divers on the boat. I may sound harsh but read her posts over, would you want to dive with her as your buddy?

BTW my first boat dive was a drift dive and I had zero problems with it.

Actually the PADI standards don't require much in the way of buddy skills and gas management isn't taught at all...they tell you to watch your gauge...but don't tell you what to watch for.

I've seen this lots of times. When I owned a dive shop Cozumel was an honest to goodness nightmare for me. Lots of new divers go there and immediately end up too deep, in too much current and have trouble. I devoted a lot of time to trying to send new divers someplace else or trying to find them oporators who were set up to handle new divers. Unfortunately many already had their trips set up before comming in to get certified so I got to say "I told you so" a lot. Put a bare bones PADI OW course and a cozumel trip together and you have a perfect mix for trouble.

 

[MikeFerrara]

How the HE$$ is the novice diver supposed to know the right questions to ask about a dive? Most of the time they just say, "Oh, it's beautiful, you'll love it." If I tell him I've only been on 12 dives in Belize, should he not at least ask if I'm comfortable with currents? If I have trouble clearing, should he not forwarn me that the group is not going to wait? (And I did tell him this in advance)

I would say this statement reflects my experience with new divers and resorts in general and Cozumel specifically. A new diver who was advised to get some experience shallow in conditions they have experience in goes on vacation and is immediately talked into going deeper, in currents ext. they often do ask and are told they'll love it and it'll be fine. Unfortunately these new divers are willing to take these professionals at their word. Who are they supposed to believe? Where are they supposed to be getting their information from? They ask the pro and sometimes get bad advice.

I'm not a new diver and I don't think I would do a drift dive like some oporators do them in Cozumel or other resort locations. Birds travel in flocks, wolves in packs and cattle come in herds. The individual must keep up with the pack, flock or heard or they are left behind. Divers, on the other hand, should move about in buddy teams and the slowest diver sets the pace (especially on descents). If divers decide to dive in a buddy team the size of a pack, flock or heard, then the slowest still sets the pace. But, it's best to have buddy teams of two or three with each being equiped to complete their own dive independantly.

 

[fisherdvm]

All right, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, and apologize. The first time I posted here, I caught more nasties than a cat in a dog pound.

Once you get used to the personalities around here, the nasty folks are often the ones with the best advices.

 

[HowardE]

Howarde,
The reason I said what I said was because the OP is asking in the new Diver forum and is probably unfamiliar with DSMB usage. I wanted to clarify its usage as Ron's statement might have been misunderstood by other newbies.

Well then... The OP is the only one obviously, and everyone else is apparently an expert, with all of the crap that is being said here.

People.

She had simple questions, although she may not have had the correct technical jargon. Let up a little bit. She said she had problems clearing her ears.

So, I want to know how I can prevent this type of experience again. When you are a slow descender, what should you expect from the rest of the group? Should they wait for you? And, what IS the best way to handle currents? I know you should stick close to the bottom and not try to fight a current, but what else should I be doing? Anything? I just don’t want to be haunted by my last experience. I want to feel better prepared mentally for these things. Thanks!

Simple enough questions for a beginner, but instead, this thread turns into a flame war, and everyone badgers a beginner diver for asking simple beginner questions. Even the lot of ScubaBoard "super-instructors" badger and flame, instead of offering simple advice to a beginner. This isn't about if PADI sucks for not teaching people how to drift dive.

Everyone needs to give it a little bit of a rest. :no

 

[MelC]

Thanks to the OP for sticking it out here. In my opinion I think drift diving, while fun, is tricky for people with problem ears. Just got back from a trip to WPB where my usual buddy was drift diving for the first time and she has problem ears. While her ears fortunately got better as the days went on, we made sure the divemaster was aware of the issue, was keeping an eye out for our descent and also had them drop us last after the boat moved up current a little from the rest of the divers to give us more time to hit the site. Since Coz typically has good viz I would follow the poster's advice to keep your eyes pealed and follow along with the group above until you are ready to descend. I also agree with the posters who advise that it is not necessary or expected to ascend with the group in Coz, watch your air and when you are at 1000psi let the divemaster know and start your ascent, again following along above the group.

Mel

 

[jonesbf]

I have ear trouble on descent as well. I drift dove for my first two night dives in pretty bad viz. Buddy teams worked wonders here. The fast descenders went on to the bottom and started while my buddy and I made our way down as my ears cleared. That being said, I have an opportunity next month to do either Coz or Belize. After reading this post I'm seriously leaning toward Belize as I will end up with an insta-buddy on those dives.

 

[Lehmann108]

Some people have more difficulty clearing than others. One thing that may help you clear is to clear your ears BEFORE you get in the water. In fact I clear my ears all the time just living where I do, and changing altitude.

So practice clearing. Don't force it, but you should should be able to clear anytime on the surface at will. If you can not, work on it. If it hurts, or you can not clear on the surface see an EMT before you dive next. .

How can you clear your ears before you dive? You clear to equalize the pressure difference across the eardrum. If there's no pressure difference there's no way to clear other than just temporarily increasing the air pressure behind your eardrum.

 

[DandyDon]

How can you clear your ears before you dive? You clear to equalize the pressure difference across the eardrum. If there's no pressure difference there's no way to clear other than just temporarily increasing the air pressure behind your eardrum.

That helps - try it. One Inst I know says to do it three times before you go in. I guess it loosens things up.

 

[String]

Clearing on the surface prior to descent works wonders for me and many others i know.