Jupiter Dive Report

[Amazz]

Now, just going from the feel of things, it seemed that we were down longer than 25 minutes on each of the two dives. The surface interval also didn't feel like 1 hour and 15 minutes like it should have been. I didn't pay close enough attention to the details like I should have. I placed my safety and that of my son's in the hands of someone else.

This seems a little judgemental when neither you nor your son was wearing any type of time keeping device. You also mentioned that you didn't pay attention to the details as much as you should have. It appears that Doug kept you will within your safety limits. He did his job there. I heard the cold water came in with a vengeance. Perhaps the dive seemed a lot longer for you because of that. It sounds like you really enjoyed the dives and the fishlife. It does not appear that you needed any hand holding from Doug. Congratulations! Jupiter diving can be very advanced. It was wise for you to hire a private guide and also wise of you to be safety conscious. You need to at least purchase a cheap dive watch for future dives. Sorry, but I fail to see where you had a crappy dm. If you had any concerns at the time of the dives you should have discussed it with Doug at the time. I also work for JDC and know Doug quite well. For him to neglect to say goodbye or thank you for diving with him is completely out of character. I would assume that he was distracted or in a hurry to get ready for the afternoon trip. I'll kick him for you. Don't be so quick to scratch JDC off your list of operators. I think it's a pretty good crew. And no, I don't get paid to say nice things. We are all "volunteers." Ha Ha Ha Ha!

 

[TCMav]

Sorry to hear you didn't sleep Mark.. It can be stressful and Jupiter for all of it's wonder is not a dive area to take lightly when it comes to safety. Thanks for responding. I will work harder on my customer service skills and try harder next time to make sure you and your son have an even better dive. Both of you were completely competent divers and I am happy to hear you enjoyed the dives and I sincerely hope you revisit us in the future. And please rest assured, I kept you well within safe limits and you were and your son were in competent hands. Dan insurance is a great idea. There have been those that have stayed within limits and still had a case of DCS.... Better to be safe than sorry.. See you on your next trip. Safe travels back to the great white north... Doug

Thank you to those who have responded. And thank you very much TCMav for posting the dive profile. Seeing this does make me feel much better. I actually had a hard time sleeping the night after the dive do to my anxiety about developing symptoms of DCI. Again, this was my first dive after the certification dives which occurred in the Caribbean this past March. The certification dives were conducted in a very controlled and informative setting.

When I had asked the JDC staff about hiring a DM, I was told that the DM was basically there to hold our hands the entire time. I didn't inquire any further about specifics and didn't really know what else to expect.

During the dives, the DM did stay by our sides the entire time and did check with us frequently to see if we were OK. He gave my son a pair of gloves to wear during the second dive and he even gave my son his dive light to try out in looking at the various sites which I thought was very nice.

My anxiety about this dive stems mainly from my inexperience and lack of appropriate questions. My main concern had to do with the dive profile. A bit of a post dive debriefing would have been nice. The DM has logged over 7000 dives. This was my 5th and 6th dives. I know I have a lot to learn and it seems that I just learned a HUGE lesson. I didn't have the proper equipment along to monitor my own status and safety and I relied on someone else to do this for me.

My wife and my 13 year old daughter are going to be getting certified next month. I absolutely love diving and am planning to keep on learning. In the days following the dive in Jupiter, I have been doing some reading about DAN on their website. I think perhaps going with the family membership would be excellent insurance to have. I look forward to continue learning from my experiences. I am hopeful that this will be a hobby that my family can do together. I suspect that future trips and vacations will in part be planned around diving.

-Mark

 

[Jupiter31]

I saw your post a few days ago, and wondered who the DM was - also, as I dive w/ JDC more than almost anyone on this board, found your comments out of character for what I know about this operation and their people.

Still, I felt you were were entitled to your opinion, and every person/dive op can have a bad day, etc.

I'm glad Doug posted to give the "other side" - I've dove w/ him many times, and not only is he a great guy, he is also very competent and friendly.

I think your "issues" were best sumed up by your subsequent post:

"My anxiety about this dive stems mainly from my inexperience and lack of appropriate questions. My main concern had to do with the dive profile. A bit of a post dive debriefing would have been nice. The DM has logged over 7000 dives. This was my 5th and 6th dives. I know I have a lot to learn and it seems that I just learned a HUGE lesson. I didn't have the proper equipment along to monitor my own status and safety and I relied on someone else to do this for me."

I think your inital post was a little hard on JDC and Doug.

Candidly, at your level of experience, you dove Jupiter the right way by hiring a personal DM, and a good one - yet despite this, you still had a ton of "issues" - Gerry the owner of JDC probably does not like me saying this, but Jupiter is NOT the place to make your 5th dive - sorry, its not - the depth, current, possibility for large animal encounters makes it innappropriate for beginers or the rusty.

Think West Palm, Boynton, or the Keys for a while until you get more experience.