Multiple deaths diving off NC coast May 10, 2020?

[Barnaby'sDad]

BD,

Unless someone is asking for proof of certification and there is none, and to compound matters there is no log or other dive record.

So, this person is uncertified, trained informally be mentors, keeps no records, and claims to have logged 1000 dives.

In my mind, this individual is not a diver, but a liar.

Which, by the way. is not sufficient qualification for an open ocean dive to the upper end of rec. limits.

Rose.

Said person lacks evidence of their experience level and dive history. I wouldn’t call them a “liar.”

If I was a dive boat operator and this person showed up...I wouldn’t be nasty about it...I would say something to the effect of “while I appreciate that you have been diving for some time, I will not be able to allow you on my boat without proof of certification and experience. If you would like a referral to a dive instructor so that you can get a c-card, I would be happy to help.”

 

[Bob DBF]

An OW certification is an introductory level of certification, and unless I am unaware of the change, provides the diver with a sufficient level of instruction for the diver to safely dive to 60 ft. with basic gear.

From RSTC OW training standard:
Open water certification qualifies a certified diver to procure air, equipment, and other services and engage in recreational open water diving without supervision. It is the intent of this standard that certified open water divers shall have received training in the fundamentals of
recreational diving from an instructor (see definition). A certified open water diver is qualified to apply the knowledge and skills outlined in this standard to plan, conduct, and log open-water, no-required decompression dives when properly equipped, and accompanied by another certified diver.

There is no depth limit stated, and the depth range of NDL diving exceeds what is now considered the recreational depth limit. The change you mention is instructors making up depth, conditions, and gear requirements in order to avoid the proper training of their students. I refer to it as training by catchphrase, giving a phrase to parrot rather than an understanding of the principles and decision making skills necessary for diving.

The belief that there is a 60' limitation for OW divers shows me that your instructor(s) did you no favors. Granted, an OW diver should understand that immediately going much deeper than that without some experience is not a good idea, but they should decide that from an understanding of the principles of diving that they should have been taught.

A new OW diver should have the decision making skills not to make a 130' dive with 400' to the bottom, but it's done every day at the blue hole in Belize, encouraged by and done with dive proffessionals. Who knew this could happen?

 

[hroark2112]

@Bob DBF - thank you for posting that. I’m always amazed at how many people quote some mystical “standards” for non-training OW dives.

New divers are encouraged and advised to limit their diving to no deeper than 60’ and in conditions similar to or better than their certification dives and to learn through experience and/or training to go deeper. There are no standards (in the US at least) that limit your recreational diving to 60’ without having AOW. Personally I’d prefer to dive with an OW certified diver with 250 dives than an AOW diver with 15.

Many dive operators will require proof of experience and/or advanced certification before deeper dives, as is the norm on the NC coast.

 

[tbird2020]

I think after reading this thread you can sum it all up to poor dive planning. That is where it all started. You shouldn't have to check air constantly if you have a good dive plan and keep track of dive time. Everything beyond that is a cascade of problems.