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Please keep this thread dedicated to discussion about THIS incident. Marg, SB Senior Moderator
Lost Diver in Cozumel, Mexico, February 2016
- Thread starter lionfish-eater
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Please keep this thread dedicated to discussion about THIS incident. Marg, SB Senior Moderator
I dove in cozumel feb 11 for a week. My good friend is a divemaster on Cozumel and knew the "divemaster" personally that led the dive where the diver was lost. He said he was very young and not yet a certified dive master but a divemaster 'in training".
Oh dear. So only the one guide in the water? Are you sure the guide was the dm in training? Perhaps he was supposed to be the sweeper and there was another fully certified dm along?
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The statement by new member Liv2scuba is interesting, but not first hand.
kmurray719
Contributor
I know both of the guides who were there, and they are both certified DM's. Even if the younger of the two was not a certified DM, he was not the only one with the group anyway, so it wouldn't be relevant to anything.
IrenePlaya
New
Hi guys, I just came back from Cozumel, I live in Playa del Carmen. I dived with Marine World and the dive masters were super cautious with us. I was diving by myself and the rest where 2 groups of american experienced divers and one of them was insisting in going to Santa Rosa. Our dive master explained to him what happened with the lost diver two weeks ago and that currents where still very strong and that they will not take the risk. They took us to Colombia first which was like a pool, super nice dive, lots of Eagle mantas, turtles, tons of fish, it was lovely. Then to San Clemente, but we DID NOT dive the wall, we stayed on top of the reef and had a great experience. We did felt the current there and the dive master was very close to all of us and in fact cut the dive to 50 minutes instead of 60 because just as precaution. I understand when divers get frustrated when not doing what they want, or diving where they want to, but this is a risky business, I am fortunate to have dived with cautious and experienced dive masters.
Cozumel is amazing, but also try to Dive in Playa del Carmen, absolutely gorgeous and non risky dives. I just dived with bull sharks 3 times in the winter, and you dont´s see those in Cozumel.
Irene
Cozumel is amazing, but also try to Dive in Playa del Carmen, absolutely gorgeous and non risky dives. I just dived with bull sharks 3 times in the winter, and you dont´s see those in Cozumel.
Irene
I appreciate your enthusiasm though question that a dive with bull sharks is non-risk. 
But back to the accident in this thread, if there were indeed two guides, it does seem to beg the question as to why one of them wasn't the sweeper or at least tasked with eyes on stragglers.
But back to the accident in this thread, if there were indeed two guides, it does seem to beg the question as to why one of them wasn't the sweeper or at least tasked with eyes on stragglers.
And quite irrelevant in the big picture. The use of a divemaster in Cozumel is a marine park regulation to protect the reef and marine life. When you get that certification for scuba agency it's to dive totally on your own with no divemaster. Divemasters in Cozumel aren't there to be life guards and shouldn't be the difference between somebody disappearing on a dive or not. I think far too many people put far to much of their personal safety in others hands, mostly seem to be tropical divers who dive very infrequently and forget all of the basics of how this is all supposed to work. They get complacent, see the dive master and stop thinking about being self-reliant. We all should be able to do any recreational dive in Cozumel with out a dive master and just a good dive briefing and then diving your plan. If you can't do that you really aren't qualified to be diving at all.
Ayisha
Contributor
True, this is the age old discussion about dive guides vs dive "masters".
I know the difference but I wonder what the dive guides think their responsibility is and what do their employers think in that regard.
I've not discussed this with Mexican guides but Belize dive guides (that have shared with me unasked) advised that they were responsible for their divers.
I've been diving all kinds of places in the world and more often than not, the dive guides exhibit a duty of care, not just showing people around.
Please don't misunderstand me. I don't expect them to be more than a guide.
That said, more often than not, in a two dive guide dive, one dm is in the back as a sweeper or further out in the water column with eyes on the entire "group".
So, I remain curious with regard to this instance.
I've not discussed this with Mexican guides but Belize dive guides (that have shared with me unasked) advised that they were responsible for their divers.
I've been diving all kinds of places in the world and more often than not, the dive guides exhibit a duty of care, not just showing people around.
Please don't misunderstand me. I don't expect them to be more than a guide.
That said, more often than not, in a two dive guide dive, one dm is in the back as a sweeper or further out in the water column with eyes on the entire "group".
So, I remain curious with regard to this instance.
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