Japanese tourist missing in Crystal Bay (Bali)

[Quero]

First of all, I've reported in the other thread on a discussion I've had with prominent Bali/Lembongan dive industry leaders. One of my questions was specifically whether a code of conduct might help the situation at Lembongan. I was told that this is one of the ideas, but it's a slow process fraught with floating mines that can so easily blow up to damage one's business that the operators who really "care" are hesitant to get explicitly involved (IOW, to lead the effort). Trying to do this will require a leader in the industry who has the respect of the rest of the local industry as well as the contacts in the public sector in order to help get things done who is willing to spearhead the work. For whoever steps up, this will take time and energy that will no longer be available to run his/her business. When somebody with sufficient stature does step up, we (visiting divers and local dive industry professionals alike) will owe her/him a debt of gratitude, regardless of the eventual outcome.

Next, the Japanese woman is being cremated today. As I mentioned above, this time the operator involved is a well-regarded one from Tulamben. Once the healing process begins, we may learn more about what happened during the dive, and we may be able to think through some of the events leading to the accident. I'm certain that the owner of this op is wracked with pain at the loss of his diver.

For an example of what might be useful to know, it's my impression that this may have been a private charter group rather than a join-in group. In a private charter, it's often the case that there are very mixed experience levels. It's harder to vet a boatload of people when somebody else is gathering them and charters the trip than it is when you book the divers as join-ins. But I don't know for certain that it was a charter, and if so, whether any vetting criteria were used by the organizer when booking the divers into the group. It's a simple question and not an accusation, but it's definitely food for thought.

Finally, as to whether it's potentially harmful to place regulatory limits on how many/who dives where/when on Penida, I have two thoughts:
1) How much harm to the local dive industry do these too-frequent deaths cause?
2) The dive industry at Malaysia's Sipadan area has seen continual growth (to the extent of more and more resorts mushrooming up on Mabul Island) even though very stringent limits are placed on the premier dive sites there.

 

[divewench1]

When I first arrived in Bali in 2008, managing a dive centre in the East we set guidelines for divers at Crystal Bay:

a minimum of 50 logged dives
experience in deep and drift diving
and to have dived within the last 6 months

This was our attempt at weeding out the unsuitable divers. However, we probably lost more divers than we won, most who were deemed too inexperienced for CB just went off and dived with someone else, mostly our neighbours, and we lost a lot of business that year.

I personally have had one DM tourist guest hanging on my BC on a safety stop with his fins on the surface, unable to stay down and risking his feet to the boat propellers. Looking at his qualifications and experience level, he was a suitable diver for the site, however, once he was in the water that was another story.

Unfortunately, a lot of dive books on the market, still promote CB as the ideal place for a Mola2 encounter, so divers will not be talked into another site, even if it has less boat traffic, less current, and longer time with the Mola2.

So, although fingers are being pointed both ways, at divers and at dive operators, it has to come down to the customer needing to consider whether they, personally, are ready for a guerilla dive, so that if it all goes t*ts up, never mind whether your friend wants to do this dive, can they self-rescue, do they carry an SMB in case they get swept away (and do they know how to deploy it), are they fit enough to swim against a strong current (a lot of divers can't even fin properly), and did they listen to the dive briefing which starts with ""'people die here"""??

We're in the middle of crazy season now in Bali, with many divers wanting to head over to see the Mola2, and it's such a shame that we have had so many accidents this year, but hopefully the bad press will help to encourage the authorities to act before divers stop coming to Bali altogether.

 

[David Bali]

hi fellow divers. I've been a dive operator in bali since 2002 and had worked in the indonesian dive industry since 1997. personally I've had hundreds of dives in crystal bay and manta point. I've like to contribute to this discussion if you'd let me.I've always been operating on personalized dive tours since I started my company in 2002, its you and your friends only, no other people you dont know. I've never done join ins and such. We are a very small operation and as a matter of fact now I've cut it down so much its now a side profession. However I am still a registered company with watersport industry license.

First off, IMHO every operator having a qualified boat is a thing I dont think will work nor is it fair to the industry. Unlike other areas, bali's dive sites are so scattered you cannot expect your boat(s) to work all the areas. We actually rely more on cars than boats here. As such we look for good captains and boats for each area and charter them. So if you have a boat and only do dives on nusa penida area its very hard to make ends meet. Most of these charter boats when no divers around will take passengers (residents) to and from the main island and nusa penida. Make no mistakes, these captains are some of the best out there, which most of the time will be right beside you when surfaced. Even dive center who owned boats many of them are open to charter from other dive operators, I know at least one that takes on fishing tours too. If this is the rule in the future all these charter boats and operators like us will be out of work.
When you have a boat, you have to feed your crew, your fuel and maintainance, especially now boats are no longer allow to buy subsidized petrol (which is around 50 us sents a litter. unsubsidized/super unleaded are around 1.1USD a litter). They have a hard enough time to make ends meet already, If this rule goes into effect thats nail in the coffin for them.

I am very stringent in letting divers on a crystal bay tour. I need to have at least a 100 dives experience before they can join. with US$300+ per charter trip goes to the cost of renting the boat, to make even a little profit I need at least 4 divers to start the tour. And I also pick the dates to be around half moon. So as a result like my fellow breathen above I dont get a whole lot of tours on nusa penida. It works ok for me as we've never had an accident till now here and since I dont rely solely on diving now to earn a living I can live with this situation. But ofcourse when your operation solely relys on diving as living and many bills to pay this is not ideal. For dive operations with boats no nusa penida trip means no income, especially if youre park in sanur. for padang bai you still have nearby sites to sell other than nusa penida.

Many divers that join in rented all their gear. When they jump into the cold water in CB (or any other sites around nusa penida area) they are some what in shock already. (for those of you who havent dived here before, 22C and below is the norm in season, and with 18C and below often the case. My coldest was a bone chilling 12C!!!). I've seen divers with shorties in this site!!!I do not get their hopes up; I tell them its a big possibility they wont see a mola, but I will try. So when I reach the pinnacle I dont see any, I turn back. most of time after pennacle the currents pick up. Seeing a Mola is a blessed privelege, not like 'I have money and since I'm in bali I want to see them today' kind of thing. I think it should be like a south african sardine run kind of dives where you planned way before time and take into consideration tides and weather and all other factors into account. Planned more days if you really want to see them, this way the DMs are not pressured into 'we must see them and now' kind of situation. If dont see them, come back next year. If no 5mm available for rent? go buy one. Molas are worth it...I could be wrong, but after discovery air their episode on molas demands suddenly pick up on a big scale. before on a good day you can hardly see any boats; with less than 10 the norm (way back when we've had tours where we're the only boat inside the inlet!), but now a days 20 or more (sometimes 30+) is the norm. Molas dont like a lot of people w/bubbles especially people who chase after them and boats loudly zipping above. As such chances of seeing molas is even less now IMO. I dont think the episode gave enough warning as to the trecherous conditions that can sometimes happen here. To be honest I was somewhat suprise so many fatalities happens here this year. We usually have a year or two in between and usually on the lembongan island side; blue corner and mangroves. and usually got drifted and not on the spot. In my opinion; blue corner, gili selang and tepekong canyon's conditions are much worse than CB. Even at toyopakeh I think its scarier than CB.

At any rate I think CB is a site that can be dived and operated. As long as we follow a few rules;

1. operators are ready to move to another spot when condition worsened. Many indonesian DM (and indonesian in tourist industry as a whole) are wary of disappointing their clients. and they also want to save on fuel so if can they dont move sites.
2. 100dive experience is a must, when I started out I set at 50 dives, but I've seen supposedly 50dive experience divers acting not even better than a fresh off OWD course divers. Also look at their last dive; a 100dive experience dive whos last dive was 5 years ago will do you no good.
3. Well equipped; 5mm wetsuite is a must here. also all other equipment in tip-top condition.
4. Stick close to the slope/drop. And no waiting around at 30m+ at drop. You can swim slower but no stopping and waiting around.
5. Absolutely no chasing! many a times I've seen a guide like way down there at 40+m and the rest of the group at around 20's and when they see one all the rest rush down like a speeding ferrari!!! and they even went out into the blue!!! crazy!!! I mean if you see them you see them, if not that's it. No buts about it. The whole group should stick together. At this temperature your breathing labours, and on top of that the current, and on to 40m? You'd be out of air in no time. Thats when we see divers pop out in the middle of the channel where boat traffic, current and the churning waves becomes a killa.
6. You start from the inlet you come back into the inlet.....
7. No big SLR sets here. I'm a photographer myself, and I know how hard it is to swim in current when you're pushing a big kit around, and photographers dont like their group; they will detach themselves inorder to get a better shot. Ok, a small point and shoot on the run shouldnt be a problem but make sure you tell them they can shoot while follow in line with the group. And I think also if you dont have a good kit with you you're less likely to chase after them to get a good shot. C'mon folks! MOLAS dont make a good shot! they are dull and gray and when shot with external strobe the middle is so silvery reflective its over exposed. Its better to shoot with a point and shoot video in my opinion.

I hope my humble opinion here can help someone some where. To be honest now a days I try to avoid nusa penida dives. Its too cold for me as now am officially middle age, and I dont like risks. Actually I'd like to get out of the industry all together if i can find something better to do and just dive for fun. Its been too long for me already.

---------- Post Merged at 04:26 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 03:10 PM ----------

Sorry I tried 5 times (literally) to edit with spaces on the paragraphs but to no avail

 

[richdrogpa]

Quite an informative thread. Thank You all... I read these AI posts to learn about mistakes and accidents of others and hopefully learn to prevent them, or at least be aware of them, while diving myself.

As I will be in Bali in a month, or so, I'm realizing, I need to get some more experience diving in a current and drift diving. Plus, starting on easier dives before moving onto Nusa Penida wouldn't be a bad idea either. Two (or three) deaths in the last few days by more experienced divers isn't a good omen.

Anybody cares to comment what are good diving spots in Bali to practice, and get some comfort, with currents?

 

[Hike]

I was planning to do a dive in CB last month, although we knew we were a little early, we figured it would be a good choice. I was kind of surprised when my OP recommended NOT using Nitrox. As I knew this would be a deeper than average dive and we were using nitrox for all other dives anyhow, I inquired as to why. They told me it was a safety consideration while even though we could get like a EAN 28 or 30, it really was best to stick on air because we could be at 30+ Meters and catch a down drift that takes us beyond the limit of Nitrox. Is this a common practice at CB, not to use Nitrox? I know this is a little off topic, but I was curious

---------- Post Merged at 05:26 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 05:20 PM ----------

Quite an informative thread. Thank You all... I read these AI posts to learn about mistakes and accidents of others and hopefully learn to prevent them, or at least be aware of them, while diving myself.

As I will be in Bali in a month, or so, I'm realizing, I need to get some more experience diving in a current and drift diving. Plus, starting on easier dives before moving onto Nusa Penida wouldn't be a bad idea either. Two (or three) deaths in the last few days by more experienced divers isn't a good omen.

Anybody cares to comment what are good diving spots in Bali to practice, and get some comfort, with currents?

I have not dove everywhere in Bali, but I can tell you that even Nusa Penida itself has some very easy simple dives. We called off a dive at CB and went for a 10 minute boat ride down the coast towards the northern side of the island, it turned from horrible surface conditions to flat calm with no current at all. I dove Manta Point once and while the surface conditions were rough, the dive itself was very easy.
Tulamben is also very easy diving. The Candidasa area also has a couple of dives that can be kind of treacherous, but also has a couple very easy dives.

As everybody else said, chose a highly reputable op that is concerned with safety, although the price may be higher, it will be a much better and safer experience. I have been diving with AquaMarine on my last few trips and they are great. They may be more expensive than many other ops, but everything that BaliDave said was wrong with some of these ops in Bali, does not refer to them. They have several of their own boats, they can and will change dive sites if something is wrong and they give a very clear briefing of what to expect during the dive.

 

[diverazzi]

The newspaper reporting is untrue. Ai was an active dive master working in Penang/Langkawi with a reputed operator. She was diving with her few other dive master buddies & others in a group. The info is that she did not surface with the others & they could not wait or investigate immediately as the weather was turing bad. SAR only happened the next day by which time it was too late. I know this coz a family member knows her personally. There is a condolence meeting in Penang & her family is flying in to attend.

 

[Quero]

She was with a Malaysian group on a private charter from Bali.

She didn't surface.

Here's what I heard from a source on Bali that was involved in the organization of the SAR effort:
Searchers from one of the dive shops did find her in the late afternoon on the day she was lost, but for whatever reason--whether it was the depth (43 m), the available air the divers were carrying, or whatever--they were unable to recover the body. At that stage it was pointless to attempt a recovery in the waning hours of the day (it was no longer a rescue, and as such operations become much more conservative in relation to putting other divers at risk), and the recovery operation was suspended until it could be done more safely the next day.

 

[zivva]

Is this a common practice at CB, not to use Nitrox? I know this is a little off topic, but I was curious

You don't see much divers with Nitrox tanks indeed @ CB (and all around Penida), just a few of them all from Bali as no op from Lembongan offer Nitrox.

I guess (and hope for them ...) they only use low O² mix or even air in Nitrox tanks just for training purpose ...

 

[pughio83]

You don't see much divers with Nitrox tanks indeed @ CB (and all around Penida), just a few of them all from Bali as no op from Lembongan offer Nitrox.

I guess (and hope for them ...) they only use low O² mix or even air in Nitrox tanks just for training purpose ...

I was informed 2weeks ago by the manager from twofish lembeh that nitrox should be up and running from twofish lembongan by end of August? Whether this is true or not I don't know.? Anyone confirm?

 

[Wingy]

I havent dived Crystal Bay since 2008 for the simple reason ive been told its now over run with divers. I dived Tulumben and couldnt believe the amount of divers in the water a few months ago..not my kind of diving. Having dived CB a few times I have thought about it often..i dont consider it a particularly dangerous site, however it can be a deceptive site. It can appear pretty flat and calm on the surface but ive often noticed a big surge around that massive table coral in the middle of the bay, to the point where ive had to push other divers off me or kick away before getting smacked into the coral. Ive bumped head on into divers under that plate coral who were disorientated by the surge and had tried to turn around and go the other way to stop being swept into other divers by the surge. If theres hundreds of people diving there daily (there was 4 people last time I dived there) i can see a bit of a tangle of people happening down there if the surge is strong. Just a thought.

Can highly recommend SD Drift dive on Lembongan for experience with currents - a great fun dive. Also Nusa Penida, Manta Point is a lovely dive with a strong sea guaranteeing you work out a bit on the way to the cleaning station most of the time.