LJinFLA
Contributor
Went diving in the keys a few weeks ago and went with a dive op I had not used before but had heard good things about on this board. Thought I would share a bit of a review.
The weekend was the weekend that TS Alberto went through so conditions were less than ideal and not typical of the Keys. The morning dives were on a couple of reefs with very heavy surge, and the afternoon dives on the Spiegel Grove were in pouring rain with 5 to 6 foot seas. I set this up as background to my one, but major, complaint with this Dive Op.
Overall the Operation was nice. Good location, easy load and unload, nice shop, good fills on my tanks, nice boats (a 22 passenger custom dive boat for the morning dives, and a 12 pack custom dive boat for the Grove), nice wash and dip facilities for after the dive, good assistance on the boat entering and exiting the water. Nice briefing of the sites before the dive. Overall a good Operation.
My one complaint is in my mind serious enough that I would hesitate to recommend them. They did not do a role call before we left port, They did not do a role call when we exited the water. To me there is little excuse these days to not do this. Even if the operator's insurance provider doesn't require this, it should be done for everyone's safety and piece of mind. However in these conditions it is even more important.
After returning from the second dive of the morning, I and my buddy were the last back on board. The captain was yelling to get us out of the water fast because there was a big nasty looking thunderstorm bearing down on the boat and he wanted to the get the hell out of Dodge. He got us on board and hit the throtles to race the storm in to shore. It is when there is stress like this that it is most important to keep your head and do a role call to make sure you have everyone. Since we were last on board I asked some of the other divers whether they had done one before we got on board but they had not.
Then in the afternoon Spiegel Grove dives, surface conditions were BAD and there was a current with pouring rain with no lightning, and 5 to 6 foot waves. The divers in the group were given the choice to go or not. Everyone went. In these conditions, I again think it is very important to do a role call to make sure someone is not swept away. None were done.
Outwardly this Op seems very professional, but no Role call to me drops them down considerably in the safety and professionalism category and makes me question what else is wrong with the operation that I didn't see. What other corners were cut?
Just my thoughts,
LJ
The weekend was the weekend that TS Alberto went through so conditions were less than ideal and not typical of the Keys. The morning dives were on a couple of reefs with very heavy surge, and the afternoon dives on the Spiegel Grove were in pouring rain with 5 to 6 foot seas. I set this up as background to my one, but major, complaint with this Dive Op.
Overall the Operation was nice. Good location, easy load and unload, nice shop, good fills on my tanks, nice boats (a 22 passenger custom dive boat for the morning dives, and a 12 pack custom dive boat for the Grove), nice wash and dip facilities for after the dive, good assistance on the boat entering and exiting the water. Nice briefing of the sites before the dive. Overall a good Operation.
My one complaint is in my mind serious enough that I would hesitate to recommend them. They did not do a role call before we left port, They did not do a role call when we exited the water. To me there is little excuse these days to not do this. Even if the operator's insurance provider doesn't require this, it should be done for everyone's safety and piece of mind. However in these conditions it is even more important.
After returning from the second dive of the morning, I and my buddy were the last back on board. The captain was yelling to get us out of the water fast because there was a big nasty looking thunderstorm bearing down on the boat and he wanted to the get the hell out of Dodge. He got us on board and hit the throtles to race the storm in to shore. It is when there is stress like this that it is most important to keep your head and do a role call to make sure you have everyone. Since we were last on board I asked some of the other divers whether they had done one before we got on board but they had not.
Then in the afternoon Spiegel Grove dives, surface conditions were BAD and there was a current with pouring rain with no lightning, and 5 to 6 foot waves. The divers in the group were given the choice to go or not. Everyone went. In these conditions, I again think it is very important to do a role call to make sure someone is not swept away. None were done.
Outwardly this Op seems very professional, but no Role call to me drops them down considerably in the safety and professionalism category and makes me question what else is wrong with the operation that I didn't see. What other corners were cut?
Just my thoughts,
LJ
