Have you called/ended a dive? Why?

[DCM711]

Good day all. A quick hello from West Chester, PA. I am originally from Florida (moved here with my wife and then decided to go to school) and I just recently graduated with my masters and I am now employed as a physician assistant in a busy orthopaedic practice and I love my job!

Now I plan to continue with my diving education and concentrate on getting as much diving in as possible. I am very comfortable in the water, I always have been. My mother went into labor with me while walking on the beach, Cocoa Beach.. born at Cape Canaveral Hospital (parents stationed at Patrick AFB) and I love and miss the ocean!

I have been lurking in the shadows for a few years (previous member who forgot my username due to lack of participation/time) and I thought of this question late last night while I laid awake in bed. I pose this question to incite thoughtful reflection from anyone that has experiences to contribute.

Have you ever called/ended a dive or had a buddy/insta buddy do so?
If so, why? And how was that decision received? Appropriately or Poorly?

I have not (my dive experience is not impressive by any means) and hope that I will be able to make the decision to do so and recognize when to do so, I suspect I will.

I think that this topic could be beneficial for new divers and those divers that may be too weary to make the call for whatever reason. Reading others experiences/circumstances first hand might help others do the same when the time comes.

*I apologize if this has been asked. I did a search and was able to find individual posts, but not a thread dedicated to this topic. If I missed it, please redirect me and feel free to delete this post.
**If this thread was started in the wrong forum please feel free to move it and PM me of my mistake. I was debating between here and Accidents/Mishaps.

Looking forward to the responses, if any.

Dan

 

[JahJahwarrior]

Either I or my buddy has ended every single one of the dives I've been on.

Of course, sometimes they are ended sooner than we had expected. Regulators break, vis is bad, the drop was wrong, someone gets tired, a leg gets cramped, a light fails, a drysuit leaks a lot, someone isn't comfortable, the gas tasted bad, someone forgot a catheter for their drysuit and got the sudden urge to pee, plenty of reasons a dive gets turned.

It can be frustrating, and we might tease each other lightheartedly, but we do both always know, no matter who my buddy is, a thumb means a thumb.

 

[DiverG]

Yes. I was on a live aboard doing a night dive. At the time I was not all that comfortable doing night dives. I was buddied up with another passenger on the dive. I do not remember if there was a staff dm on the dive. If there was we got separated. If there wasn't we just plain got lost. It took us a bit if time, but we eventually got our bearings and found the boat. By that time I had had enough told my insta buddy I was calling the dive. He decided to continue on his own. His choice. I wasn't mad, and I don;t recall him having a problem with me bailing on the dive.

 

[CamG]

Greetings DCM711 and both my buddies and I have called dives.
Some because of Gas "turn pressures", others due to failures of equipment, unclear dive plan, illness, mental stress, and just plain fatigue.
Regardless of reason there is no shame or blame!
Anyone for any reason at any time can call a dive!
Our only requirement is that everyone is safe and once out of the water we all debrief to make certain we all are ok!

I have gutted through some dives but am more apt to call dives now than when I was a newer diver.
Why? Because I now understand just how little distractions lead to a lack of attention to detail and THAT WILL NOT DO!
Complacent behavior is horrifically dangerous and not to be tolerated in the slightest!
If and when you detect it creeping into you or your buddy STOP AND CORRECT THIS DESTRUCTIVE ATTITUDE!

Good luck and safe diving.

CamG Keep Diving....Keep Training....Keep Learning!

 

[Scuba_Noob]

Many of my dives last around an hour. Thus, quite a few dives are called because my buddy or I are getting uncomfortably cold.

Another dive was called because my friend had to go to a party and didn't have that much time. Fighting against the current/surf has caused an end to a dive before because we just got tired. Finally, there were a couple of lost buddy scenarios, where we had agreed beforehand to look around for a couple of minutes and then surface (after safety stopping).

Most dives, however, end with a safety stop when one of us is at around 600-700psi and surfacing with around 500psi (i.e., due to air).

 

[TMHeimer]

When I had about 20 dives I ended a shore dive in RI. Was cramping a little and just didn't feel comfortable with the surge and almost zero viz. Signaled my buddy--he continued with another buddy team. We were close to shore and I returned solo. Felt like a wimp, but it was the correct decision for me at the time.

Conversely--Last month on a boat dive in AL my (insta) buddy (a MSD and almost DM himself) descended behind me vertically instead of on the angle required into the current in order to follow the descent line down (unable to pull ourselves down the line as it was attached to a 5 lb. weight to mark the small wreck). I fought like hell to get to the bottom (80'+) with not even a chance to turn to see if he was behind me (poor viz as well). He wasn't. If I stopped to take a better look for him I would've lost sight of the line myself. I waited a minute or 2 down there and ascended (couldn't re-find the line and amazingly wound up right by the buoy on the surface). The buddy inflated his sausage and the boat capt. sighted him. Had we known the current was that strong this was a good candidate for an abort. Of course, a solid anchor line would've changed the whole picture.

 

[g2]

Welcome DCM711!

I've called many dives before they were even started (usually because I didn't like the conditions or situation), and some while in progress (often due to some kind of illness, malfunction, or just the feeling that something wasn't right).

My buddies are always gracious about it. Those who aren't -- thankfully few -- will not be my buddy again.

 

[Griffo]

I've thumbed dives on the surface when I just wasn't feeling great about the dive.
I've only ever thumbed dives underwater for being cold. So far nothing serious has ever gone wrong underwater.
My wife has thumbed dives when she was uncomfortable in hire gear.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I've called several dives ... the most recent one about three hours ago, due to lack of visibility. We were supposed to be doing a class dive, but when vis only allows me to see about half a body length, it's hard for me to evaluate what's going on. So we thumbed it. My student received it rather well, actually ... we're going to try it again in a couple of days. Hopefully by then this plankton bloom will have self-corrected a bit.

I don't hesitate to call dives if I'm uncomfortable with conditions, or feel they're not appropriate for either myself or my dive buddy ... particularly when that buddy is a student or inexperienced diver. I'll also call dives if little things are going wrong ... I have a "three strikes" rule ... sometimes I'll toss a thumb after strike two if it's not feeling right to me.

I learned long ago to listen to that little voice in my head that's trying to keep me out of a bad situation ... I've only once ever had a dive buddy get upset over a called dive. I can understand that one time ... we paid a lot of money to be there. But I reminded him that it'd cost a whole lot more to fly one of us out if something bad happened.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[koozemani]

My usual buddy has thumbed one dive due to current. No questions asked, we both surfaced. I thumbed one this past weekend due to poor vis. After 40 minutes, the dive simply stopped being fun.