Major Freak Out - What should I have done differently?

[shmuggy]

I may be repeating what others have already said... you should not have been out on this dive and you owed it to the DM and the people you were diving with to communicate better. Also, you may have an AOW certification but it is a mistake if you consider yourself an advanced diver. Devils Throat can be a great dive and you had a bad experience because you did not stay within your limits. You compromised everyone with you including yourself.

 

[scoobajay]

Thanks Shmuggy, never called myself an "advanced diver"

I do fully understand that this dive was out of my league. What we have been discussing throughout this thread, is HOW could I have communicated better, specifically.

Another question I bring up, is the other diver in the group who was OW certified a few days before. She did not have an SMB and was also clearly diving outside of recreational limits - We both agreed to the dive and thought were comfortable with it....So based on everyone's feedback, she was also compromising everyone in the group??? Had she been the one to panic, and I were fine, would it still have been appropriate for me to do that dive??

 

[AdivingBel]

In hindsight, my buddy would have had no business doing this dive either. When I showed him the youtube video of that entrance, he said he probably would not have wanted to do it!

Aside from that, he wouldn't have known where those turn around spots were and there would have been two other people behind him. When I talked about the incident with the two other divers, they said when the DM realized I was missing, he continued the series of swim-throughs until they reached the planned exit. This would tell me that HE didn't really have an option to turn around either??

I've done the dive and I stand by what I said, "If you could get out, I could get out." I don't know the DM, but I would think in that situation he had to have had divided loyalties as he couldn't really abandon the other divers in that situation to go after you. The DMs I've dived with could have physically turned around if that was their choice (maybe not immediately, but in short order). I don't want to quibble. You also mentioned hunting for an extended period of time for the group and being concerned about floating away alone on the surface. Both of these situations would have been negated or at least drastically improved had you had a buddy.

At this point you seem to be justfying your situation and that's understandable. IMHO, DT is just a dive that should be handled with care. You didn't know what you didn't know and you can't learn without pushing the envelope a bit. You didn't panic and for the most part handled yourself in a reasoned fashion. You now know it's a good idea to always carry an SMB and to surface in a controlled manner in that type of situation. The big red flag I see is buddying with the DM on that sort of dive. That should have been handled at the surface prior to the dive and by not doing so put you at considerable unnecessary risk. If you don't come away with anything else, that would be the ONE. IMHO. Good luck & safe diving.

 

[Dhboner]

[ You compromised everyone with you including yourself.[/QUOTE]

Seems to me the OP's actions were intended to avoid compromising anyone else's safety. Communication is a two-way street...DM's should know that visitor's to Cozumel may not fully understand the nature of any given dive..current, overhead etc. I have been to Cozumel many times and with one exception I found the dive briefings woefully inadequate and the DM's more concerned with keeping the herd together and ascending as a group than any concerns, limitations any individual on the boat might have. At the end of the day each diver is responsible for the decisions the make but your hyberbole about compromising other divers safety is uncalled for

 

[FinnMom]

DM asked that we not discuss what happened until we were back on the boat. I apologized profusely and got a short lecture on why it is important not to break the dive plan. The DM also reiterated that he only took us there because we were experienced divers who could handle that dive.

So you felt panic coming on and instead of wading deeper into the situation, you decided to stop, get back in your comfort zone and calm down. You should not need to wonder whether that was right or defend yourself for doing this. A diver has a right to thumb the dive. If the DM doesn't like it that's just too bad.
It sounds like the DM took advantage of your apologetic frame of mind to deflect the blame onto you. The answer I could imagine giving the DM after an admonishment like that might include some unfortunate language

 

[Nasser]

I believe that you were lucky to get out of this one... the fact is panic kills divers. Part of more advanced training such as rescue and technical training is the ability to identify potential problem areas and pre-empt a possible incident from escalating into a full blown situation. A lot of this is done on the surface before you even hit the water.

Being keenly aware of what's going on around you and within you and knowing and respecting your limits is a critical aspect of your evolution as a diver... you don't know what you don't know. Several accidents in the past could have been avoided if the diver in question was keenly aware of the potential risks of a dive, had the proper training and equipment, had the necessary experience and qualification (not just the certification) to make the dive, and most of all... did not panic.

Don't tempt fate, if you are interested in getting into overhead environments (that includes virtual overheads like decompression diving) then get the proper training and equipment and build your experience gradually. Some dives may seem to be quite simple and rather benign when in fact there may be several factors that could come into play and affect the overall safety and outcome of a dive. Learning what these factors are and how to make good judgement calls is part of that education.

I would also like to recommend an excellent book that is a compilation of various dive accidents in a variety of environments and at all levels of diving. It is a highly educational and eye opening read and really should be on every diver's bookshelf, regardless of level of experience.

Diver Down: Real-World scuba accidents and how to avoid them.
by Michael Ange

Diver Down: Real-World SCUBA Accidents and How to Avoid Them: Michael Ange: 9780071445726: Amazon.com: Books

I wish you happy and safe diving in the future.

Cheers

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

You and I obviously have different priorities and/or live in different worlds. I don't have the luxury to depend on DMs, guides and boat crew to help me out in my diving. Most of it is either shore diving or from small boats where what you can hope for is someone handing you the rig after you've splashed and grabbing it from you just before you climb aboard. On shore dives I often have noticeable surface swims to get back to the shore, and on my boat dives the boat tender often strongly prefers me shooting a dSMB from my safety stop. Also, I have to be able to assist my buddy if that's needed; if I were to put priority on shooting and camera handling over my buddy obligations I'd run out of buddies pretty fast.

You obviously know nothing about me. I do most of my diving from shore, in dark waters, where I carry all my gear in and out of the water. When I spend the money to dive from a boat, obviously the DM grabs peoples cameras, spearguns, whatever. Getting out of the water in a boat is more difficult than from shore. So your statement not applicable. Apples and oranges. When I am spending the money to dive from a boat, I dive with self-reliant divers only. If I'm diving from shore where I may be helping a new diver work on their trim, buoyancy, finning, camera then stays at home.

 

[Adobo]

Thanks Shmuggy, never called myself an "advanced diver"

I do fully understand that this dive was out of my league. What we have been discussing throughout this thread, is HOW could I have communicated better, specifically.

Another question I bring up, is the other diver in the group who was OW certified a few days before. She did not have an SMB and was also clearly diving outside of recreational limits - We both agreed to the dive and thought were comfortable with it....So based on everyone's feedback, she was also compromising everyone in the group??? Had she been the one to panic, and I were fine, would it still have been appropriate for me to do that dive??

Maybe I am misunderstanding the purpose of this thread so I apologize in advance if that is the case.

The way I approach these vacations dives is as follows:

• I recognize what equipment will be available for the dive. In this case, likely a single al80. If I brought a light, great, if not, I recognize that I am ill equipped to do a night dive or to go into a swim through where light might be needed.
• I recognize that the environment is one that I am not familiar with. Personally, I dive on a somewhat regular basis at home so I am usually diving sites I am familiar with. When I dive on vacation, likely they are sites that I know pretty much nothing about.
• I recognize that I am not diving with regular dive buddies (usually highly trained/experienced divers).

With these factors in mind, I set what my limits. For example, with a single al80 and none of my usual dive buddies, anything exceeding 100ft is a non-starter. If I have no light, then swim throughs where the exit is not immediately visible when I enter is a non-starter, particularly if the swim through is in the deep portion of the dive.

I also plan my dive according to the above conditions. For example, I am a little more conservative on gas.

When I approach a dive op, I ask what kind of dives they set up. If they tell me they are going on a dive to 130ft with a swim through, I tell them that its beyond what I want to do and ask for other options. For example, maybe they are going on a less demanding dive on another day or maybe they can suggest another boat op. I don't wait until after I have signed up and am on route to the dive site to assess whether the charter is appropriate for my personal limits and to determine if I have the right equipment to do the dive. You are already behind the curve at that point.

I've found that this makes my communication with the dive op (the captain and the DMs) much simpler as my expectations are set before I put a foot on the boat. Now, if they tell me one thing at the shop and then the captain is taking us to something completely different, it also makes the conversation simpler. I say, "hey, this is not what I signed up for." Full stop.

Finally, I never assume that the dive op is making objective decisions on what is and isn't within my comfort zone. Only I can do that. I've been on enough dives where the boat has gone to a site that is well beyond the divers level of proficiency.

 

[Lorenzoid]

As the OP alluded to, the issue really does seem to boil down to communication between the diver and the DM or dive op. Although I mentioned earlier that I do ask questions and do make the call as to whether I want to do the proposed dive, I also do not want it to seem like I'm grilling the person. They are only capable of describing the dive in so much detail. The luxury of a whiteboard, language skills, and time are often lacking in these resort environments. I can totally visualize a DM in Cozumel describing Devil's Throat in a way that someone with 100 dives who has liked every swim-through she has ever done might not understand that it's in a different league from other Cozumel swim-throughs. It's tough out there in Cozumel!

 

[scoobajay]

I can totally visualize a DM in Cozumel describing Devil's Throat in a way that someone with 100 dives who has liked every swim-through she has ever done might not understand that it's in a different league from other Cozumel swim-throughs. It's tough out there in Cozumel!

Lorenzoid, you nailed it.