Is "group" diving common?

[krbailey]

You're wrong. I'm only responsible for myself and my buddy. Say it with me, "Personal Responsibility". If you feel that your certification was not enough, hire a private DM to be your buddy or retake the class.

It would be a good idea to identify yourself on a dive. That way, if you ever get in trouble, other divers will know enough to let you fend for yourself! "Personal Responsibilty" has nothing to do with your willingness to help someone with less experience than yourself.

 

[Boxcar Overkill]

The "group dive" scenario has worked for years, where and when the water is really clear. Would you rather have an experienced dive leader looking over a (hopefully small) group, or pair together strangers, of unknown skills?

I read on this board where a diver bragged of being paired with a newbie, and losing him real quick. A dive operator has no quality control over the dive when unknown divers pair up.

An agency would not want to teach group diving. For one thing, how clear is "clear" water? In the right conditions, I would prefer this over the "Instant Buddy" method. Nobody would argue that having a buddy you know along is the ideal.

Wait a minute, it sounds like you puts some original thought into your answer!?!

In the future I would prefer rote adherence to dogma - without reflection on the underlying rational, if you don't mind.

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

Once again, a case of pure selfishness. If you see someone in need of assistance, do you just ignore them? If a diver is doing something wrong, would you let them endanger themselves (or possibly you!) on a dive? "Look at the loose fitting on that guys reg! Hope he's far enough away when it breaks so he can't grab my octo!" The arrogance of some members defies belief!

If you knew me, you would realize how stupid this post is...

 

[Firefyter]

It would be a good idea to identify yourself on a dive. That way, if you ever get in trouble, other divers will know enough to let you fend for yourself! "Personal Responsibilty" has nothing to do with your willingness to help someone with less experience than yourself.

It would be a good idea for you to take a reading comprehension course. That way you would understand that nowhere did I say or imply that I wouldn't help a diver in need. Read a little further down where I replied to MeiLing. Bottom line is, if you aren't competent enough to take care of yourself, you shouldn't be so selfish as to expect anyone else to take care of you. This sounds a whole lot like co-dependance.

 

[Sas]

Once again, a case of pure selfishness. If you see someone in need of assistance, do you just ignore them? If a diver is doing something wrong, would you let them endanger themselves (or possibly you!) on a dive? "Look at the loose fitting on that guys reg! Hope he's far enough away when it breaks so he can't grab my octo!" The arrogance of some members defies belief!

Krbaily, I am pretty sure you have misinterpreted CoolTech's post. He said "If I choose to do it... GD'it, I choose it of my own free will!" implying that he is not responsible for your safety and therefore it is not compulsory for him to help out but not that he wouldn't provide aid. Personally, I think every adult is responsible for their own actions but I would do my best to assist any diver in trouble - but not if it was very likely to result in severe injury or death for myself. For buddies, I would be more willing to help them out as with them at least, you have agreed upon emergency plans and so on and have a better idea of what to expect - I talk about emergency procedures such as OOA, getting separated, etc with every buddy before the dive takes place.

The OP is a new diver and inexperienced but if he had run into trouble it would have been his fault for not being more confident to discuss the lack of cert checking at the shop, buddy pairings and so on *before* the dive. I would hope tho, that if something bad had happened, people would have helped him out and everything would have worked out. The kinds of things he has asked is basic teaching in OW courses that is drilled into you (at least in my course) - you always speak up if you are unsure about any aspect of a dive and call a dive whenever you are uneasy. On my first diving day alone (without a DM group) I was a little bit ragged by a few other divers when I said I'd have to come up early on a drift line because I would be getting close to deco limit from my earlier dive - it is uncomfortable but you have to learn to stand your ground and never let anybody push you into something you are not sure of.

Anyway, DiverBen, it is good nothing went wrong on the dive you were a bit uncomfortable with In future, don't worry about asking any question about the dive, even if others seem annoyed - who cares about them, you don't want to compromise your safety to make someone else happy!

 

[MeiLing]

It would be a good idea for you to take a reading comprehension course. That way you would understand that nowhere did I say or imply that I wouldn't help a diver in need. Read a little further down where I replied to MeiLing. Bottom line is, if you aren't competent enough to take care of yourself, you shouldn't be so selfish as to expect anyone else to take care of you. This sounds a whole lot like co-dependance.

I think that you know what you said, but when it comes right down to it, the words of your original post that both he and I responded to don't come across very well, obviously.

In communication, only 7 % of what comes across when folks are face to face words. The rest is tone and body language which are obviously lost on such a forum. So your words become stronger and may not have been chosen very well.

That is also the case in this post! I certainly don't think the expectation of a dive buddy is "selfish" or indicative of "co-dependance" or that the OP expected that he would be "taken care of". He went with a guided dive and very prudently let others know his skill level. The dive shop that he went with probably handled it quite well with the exception of not communicating what was happening to the OP's satisfaction.

In addition, he got into a situation where "group-think" mentality took over. Happens quite a lot. In fact, it is the reason behind the Challenger disaster. Instead of speaking up, he went with the program!

 

[Diver Dennis]

Frankly, I have never met a diver in person that has said they would not help another diver in need. That's not saying they should be babysitting unless asked to though.

If a new diver approached me and wanted to buddy up, telling me that they were new and a bit worried, I would forgo my normal solo diving to help them out. I'm sure most others here would do the same.

 

[frontierdiver]

I remember when I was a newly certified diver and I definitely remember my first boat dive on my own. I was slightly uncomfortable and uncertain about a lot of the procedures. I also didn't want to look stupid or be that diver that held everyone else back b/c of my ignorance. So I just "went with the flow" and acted like I was fine and didn't ask too many questions. Lucky for me, the dive went well and I learned a lot by watching everyone else.

The bottom line though was that I just short-changed myself on that dive. In retrospect, if there had been an emergency situation, who knows what might have happened? So, now even though I teach scuba and feel extremely comfortable in a variety of dive situations, when I dive on vacation I always make a point to ask my questions about the format for the dive and I ALWAYS make sure I have a dive buddy, even if it means asking a total stranger. I always feel better when I know someone is watching out for me and aware of where I'm at in the water.

Sounds like you've also learned a lot from this dive and that it's made you a better diver for the next time around!

 

[Bob Vincent]

Not really checking for C-Cards ... Ok! (shaking head in disbelief)

Group dives are a fact of life besides ocean dives ... check out Bonne Terre Mines in Missouri. It's just that way for alot of operations. I've did both. It's not a big deal if you know it and still dive.

 

[Belle67]

My bf had to rescue- actually do an emergency ascent- with a poor girl who had brushed up against a wall and was free flowing. No air at all to her and she was turning blue. She wasnt even part of their dive group... another group had left this complete newbie behind. If he hadnt have found her she would be dead now. Yeah I think we should be responsible for ourself then our buddy (if pair up) and also help those others who may need it.

-Tricia