Hard lessons learned from my first dive as Divemaster guide

[amsalem]

It was my first day as a Divemaster guide and the lessons I learned from it will stay with me for life. After getting my DM certification, I raised my hand to guide pleasure divers on the next weekend trip organised by my Dive Resort. I ended up on a boat with 5 divers. I was responsible to guide two of them. Both were Advanced Open Water certified but with less than 25 logged dives and new equipment that they wanted to try. It was the first time I guide divers other than my close friends/buddies. The first dive was perfectly ok. All rules were followed strictly, clear communication, no incidents and a safe return on time to the boat. After a 1-hour surface interval, we geared up to explore the second and last dive site of the day. It was a reef site around a rock in the Indian Ocean. The boat couldn't get too close to the rock, so there was a bit of swimming that we needed to do. I jumped in the water first, took a compass heading and waited for my two divers to join. I told them at the surface that we must stay close together as we swim underwater towards the rock using my compass. We signalled OK and descended. One of them seemed quite inexperienced and was struggling a bit with his new BCD. When I saw him lagging behind the other I signalled to them to stay close and buddy-up . When they got together, we exchanged OK signals and I started to swim. I was ahead with both of them behind me. After 1 or 2 minutes, I looked behind to check on them but couldn't see them! I made a full turn to look for bubbles in the water but saw nothing. Viz was 8-10 metres. I was at 8m depth. After looking around underwater for 1 minute, I decided to ascend to look for them at the surface but there was no sign of them. Water was a bit choppy so I couldn't see their bubbles on the surface. I waived to the captain on the boat but he was far and didn't seem to understand my signal. I started to worry. I descended again to look around, and that's when I saw a black tip reef shark wandering close to me! I got more worried as I wondered how the two divers would have reacted to the shark encounter without me. I watched the shark disappear, then ascended once again. Still no sign. There was a snorkler close by so I asked her if she had seen two divers alone. To my relief, she pointed me to where she saw them last. They were not too far, but were drifting with the current away from the rock. Finally after 8-10mns they decided to surface! We regrouped again, I checked that they were ok and then we descended again to explore the site. This time I stayed really close and was literally looking back at them every 10 seconds! Lesson learned: I got too pre-occupied with my compass and didn't check on them soon enough. I should have known from the first dive that they were slow and inexperienced. I should NEVER let divers in a group that I'm leading out of my sight again. I must also be very firm and clear about the buddy system and surfacing after 1mn if we lose each other. Thoughts and advice are much welcome...

 

[danvolker]

Never lead them from ahead of them....Lead from the side...always have them in your peripheral view.

 

[amsalem]

Thank you Dan. You're absolutely right... I should have done that.

 

[TSandM]

Whether it's working as a guide or as an assistant with classes, every dive is a learning experience.

When navigating by compass, it's very useful to take a heading, pick a landmark and swim to that landmark, then take another heading. That way, you can be looking behind you constantly, except during the brief period when you're looking at the compass. (I can never get people I'm leading to swim next to me. They ALWAYS end up behind.)

 

[JamesK]

Whether it's working as a guide or as an assistant with classes, every dive is a learning experience.

When navigating by compass, it's very useful to take a heading, pick a landmark and swim to that landmark, then take another heading. .)

That is exactly how I teach land nav to soldiers. Pick a point on your heading and get to it. Then shoot a new azimuth.

OP like the nice lady said, every dive is a learning experience. When I lead dives I make sure the group stays to my side. Good luck on your future dives!

 

[jar546]

Whether it's working as a guide or as an assistant with classes, every dive is a learning experience.

When navigating by compass, it's very useful to take a heading, pick a landmark and swim to that landmark, then take another heading. That way, you can be looking behind you constantly, except during the brief period when you're looking at the compass. (I can never get people I'm leading to swim next to me. They ALWAYS end up behind.)

Unfortunately this is not always possible. We often lead people in poor visibility with zero references other than the compass which forces you to spend a lot of time looking at it. We can only do this with small groups of 2-3 when alone, otherwise we need one in front and one behind. As Dan pointed out, along side rather than in front works best..

 

[danvolker]

What I have found, is that I have to make it very clear to them that I want them to stay "even" with me, and not to swim slower and lag behind....Obviously if they begin to, I see it, and can immediately stop swimming and in 2 kicks or so they are back even....but they do need to understand that they are supposed to match pace...and I try to match the pace I think they can EASILY handle.

When buddying with good divers that are new as buddies, if they are good, there have been times I have not bothered to spell this out, because I know they are well skilled...and it often bites me in the a**...
So now, even with really good divers new to diving with me, I will try to make a big point of indicating I really want our speeds to match, and for us to swim side by side.

Of course, if you are buddying with a photographer, you are hosed, because they will stop constantly, and you never seem to get to that sweet spot up ahead that you want to get to

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Maybe this is not practical, but I think I would try to swim on the surface until I could see the botttom. From that location I would take a compass heading and descend to the bottom. Once on the bottom, we iron out any buoyancy issues and then begin a slow swim to the desired dive location. Having a hard bottom will help to corral your people. And of course you need to be looking back every 15 seconds or so, to check on your people. Looking at a compass for 1 or 2 minutes is way, way too long.

As for trying to get people to flank you... that is tough, particularly if they have buoyancy problems.

 

[Colliam7]

It was my first day as a Divemaster guide and the lessons I learned from it will stay with me for life. . . . One of them seemed quite inexperienced and was struggling a bit with his new BCD. When I saw him lagging behind the other I signalled to them to stay close and buddy-up . When they got together, we exchanged OK signals and I started to swim. I was ahead with both of them behind me. After 1 or 2 minutes, I looked behind to check on them . . . After This time I stayed really close and was literally looking back at them every 10 seconds! Lesson learned: I got too pre-occupied with my compass and didn't check on them soon enough. I should have known from the first dive that they were slow and inexperienced. I should NEVER let divers in a group that I'm leading out of my sight again. . . . Thoughts and advice are much welcome...

You learned an important lesson that many / most of us also learn as a DM - it is really hard to lead a 'tour', and to maintain 'control'. So, kudos to you for recognizing it after a first real DM dive!

To the comments about position, I will add a suggestion about swimming speed and finning style. As a DM you need to swim V E R Y . . . S L O W L Y. It is hard to swim as slowly as you need to, and to do so is an acquired skill. Some suggestions - if you are using a flutter kick, switch to a frog kick. If you are already using a frog kick, work to develop a cadence to your kicks that coordinates with your breathing - take a long, deep breath and exhale, and kick only once during that breath. Forget the current - your obligation is to swim at a pace that allows the divers you are guiding to stay with you. It is THEIR pace, not yours, that determines how fast you go.

I do not say this as a criticism of your skill as a DM guide, rather I am sharing a (hard) lesson we all have to learn.

An anecdote - I have been doing this (leading groups) for a few years. I think I have a relaxed, comfortable, SLOW finning style. Two weeks ago, my wife and I went to Bonaire with a group of divers from our shop, and I am leading a night dive at the end of the first day we are there. I LOVE night diving, it is relaxing, I can go very slowly, examining the 'small world' on the reef. On this particular night dive, I thought I was going 'slower than molasses flowing uphill in winter', to use a North American phrase.

I routinely checked for lights, counted the lights, etc.. I was comfortable that people stayed in the group, although they spread out a bit - that was OK, we don't want to be so bunched up that we are bumping into each other. At the end of the dive, back at the entry point, we surface and I make sure that everyone is still with me (they were). Then, my wife (of all people) blurts out, 'Where was the fire??' Despite my sincere belief that I was swimming very slowly, I wasn't, at least not slowly enough for the group. And, I thought I knew how to do this.

A related observation: later in the same week in Bonaire, myself and another instructor, and my wife, served as 'divers' for a Divemaster Candidate completing his 'guided tour' requirement. We started out from the entry point, and my fellow instructor immediately, and purposefully, starting clawing his way along through the sand, stirring up quite a sand storm. The DM candidate didn't look back at us for at least the first two minutes, and completely missed it. That 2 minutes doesn't sound like a long time, but it is an eternity. Then, as we moved out over the reef, the other instructor purposefully descended to well below (80+ feet) the briefed tour depth (30-50 feet) and the DM candidate didn't notice him for another minute - you can descend quite deep in 60 seconds. My wife and I purposefully slowed down, to increase the distance between the DMC and the other instructor, and us. He again didn't respond for the first minute, then signalled us to 'buddy up' and stay with him. We decided that he will have to do the DMC tour again - he could find himself in exactly the same situation that you were in, and lose some divers. Not what he wanted to hear, but better to learn the lesson the hard way as a DMC, without serious consequences.

 

[tracydr]

That is exactly how I teach land nav to soldiers. Pick a point on your heading and get to it. Then shoot a new azimuth.

OP like the nice lady said, every dive is a learning experience. When I lead dives I make sure the group stays to my side. Good luck on your future dives!

This is how I navigate, too.
still trying to figure out how to do this with really low vis, though.