Near Miss with Cruise Ship: Dive Paradise - Cozumel

[supergaijin]

The guide had the perfectly safe option of ascending for our planned 3 to 5 minute safety stop on the mooring line, but instead chose to direct the group of six into the current (an impossible feat... and at least one of the divers had less than 1000psi remaining in his tank at the time)

You dived with the current and then turned back in to the current? This is Scuba101 basic stuff.

Personally I'd contact the operator with your comments and let them take it from there. Possibly the owner/manager will never know what happened unless the guests speak up. Unlikely that the guide will volunteer that information.

 

[Bayara]

I'll take a moment to respond to some of the comments here:

#1 - we did speak with the dive shop owner. And like I said originally - this was only one of several complaints we had about the shop. The only reason we stuck around was because on our second day of diving, we were introduced to our guide: Martin, who was excellent. Unfortunately, despite requesting Martin for the duration of our stay, we were offered different guides on our final day and those are the guides we were unhappy with. After this incident, we spent an hour and a half speaking with the owner about all the concerns we have for this shop. The conversation ended with no compensation for our experience (though we weren't really looking for or expecting any), and several comments that lead us to think she didn't believe us.

- this dive started off by us requesting a different site: Chancanab Reef - a site that is also permissible as an afternoon dive, but is further from the cruise ship lane. The guide denied us this dive, instead going to the closest site he could find to the shop, likely so he could finish the day faster.

- the conditions during the dive did not change. There was no sudden increase in current - it remained steady through the entire dive. And as a divemaster myself, I know that anyone who has dove a site for more than a week knows exactly where he is on that dive at any given time. This guide knew exactly where he was, and how quickly he was travelling. It was poor decision making on his part to take us into this area.

- the 3 divers who were forced to hang onto the side of the boat were not given a choice in the matter. The guide would not let them on the boat. One of these was my dive buddy - an instructor and shop manager who did it to make sure the other two did not lose grip.

- As for this comment:

And a diver with 'less than 1000 psi' at 20 feet is a diver who can most likely not run out of air for a bare minimum of 20 minutes at that depth

This diver had less than 1000psi at 60' at the time the guide directed the group to swim into the current. He was an aging man, and at that depth and given the conditions he was expected to swim into, the tank would not have lasted 20 minutes...

Nobody died, thankfully. Nobody was hurt - also thankfully. We couldn't complete a safety stop - agreed this is a non-issue. The issue is that the guide did not give any clear indication to what was wrong (how are we supposed to know?) and later blamed myself and my dive buddy for being the reason we came so close to the cruise ship because we "refused to come to the surface" In reality: I was the second of 7 people to get onto the boat, and it was my dive buddy who realized the danger and signaled all other divers to get out of the water as I stated in my original post, and helped the remaining two divers onto the boat - not the guide. His accusations of blame are false.

I dove with this shop in the past. I will not be doing it again.

 

[redacted]

I suspect the incident was observed and reported by the ship but it won't hurt to make sure Dive Paradise is aware of it. The real ass-chewing I see is the failure of the dive boat to have and use a line to tow the divers out of harms way.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I'll take a moment to respond to some of the comments here:

#1 - we did speak with the dive shop owner. And like I said originally - this was only one of several complaints we had about the shop. The only reason we stuck around was because on our second day of diving, we were introduced to our guide: Martin, who was excellent. Unfortunately, despite requesting Martin for the duration of our stay, we were offered different guides on our final day and those are the guides we were unhappy with. After this incident, we spent an hour and a half speaking with the owner about all the concerns we have for this shop. The conversation ended with no compensation for our experience (though we weren't really looking for or expecting any), and several comments that lead us to think she didn't believe us.
. . .

I would send it to them in writing. It's easy for people to have selective hearing in the heat of the moment, when there's a lot going on. It sounds like the discussion you had with them involved several different issues, not just this one screwed up dive. Their first thought was probably that you were looking for some kind of compensation rather than looking to help them learn from the experience. If they can read your account of what happened on this dive now that you've had time to gather your thoughts and put it into a coherent piece, they might absorb it better. Cc'ing the DM's certification agency on it might help get their attention, even if the agency will likely not get involved.

 

[flots am]

This diver had less than 1000psi at 60' at the time the guide directed the group to swim into the current. He was an aging man, and at that depth and given the conditions he was expected to swim into, the tank would not have lasted 20 minutes...

Feel free to use my patented hand sign the next time a DM tells you to swim into the current:

 

[SailNaked]

I would cut the operator a break, the laws around the cruise ship are very serious, I have had a similar issue at that point, they risk more than a small fine if they are inside that chain area that the bouy is marking. I am sure that a safety stop was low on the list of priorities, it is optional after all, being inside the zone is not.

 

[Mike]

Mexico is Mexico. You can influence your diving experience based on who you choose to dive with. If you want more customized service in regard to choosing sites, choosing dive masters, big tanks, big bottom times and all the rest that experienced divers look for, you have to dive with a dive operator that isn't chosen for it's lower prices or what divers like to refer to as "a great value!!!". Dive Paradise caters to a certain type of diver, that doesn't lessen their responsibility to your safety, but they do have a market share that is based on attracting a certain type diver who is attracted by their value or pricing. They aren't going to act like a higher priced dive shop and you shouldn't expect it. They are a bit more of a 'cattle boat' operation with a little customization thrown in, little being the key word, cause they make their money off of filling big boats. But to get a more custom dive experience, choose a dive operation that offers it, but also expect to pay for it. I've dived with them before and they are not my cup of tea, but that's because of what I want from a dive op. But that doesn't make them a bad operation, and I don't expect a cadillac experience when booking with a hyundai dive operator. If you've dived with them before you should know what they are about, it sounds like you had some other service issues with them on this trip and this exciting little incident was the straw that finished them for you. That's too bad, they are a good operation for the cost they provide, but if you don't feel safe, you don't feel safe, even though this was more of a dive master problem than a dive operator problem.

 

[DandyDon]

Anytime a diver shares his experiences in Near Miss forum, he runs a risk of having members here tell him how s/he screwed up. I appreciate your sharing the story with us...

I suspect the incident was observed and reported by the ship but it won't hurt to make sure Dive Paradise is aware of it. The real ass-chewing I see is the failure of the dive boat to have and use a line to tow the divers out of harms way.

Yeah, I bet the ship observed the boat and associated bubbles as they tend to watch for such there - altho pod captains and crews surely vary. Using the mooring line/chain for ascent would have been rough with no allowed gloves as it's got to be covered in barnacles, plus a danger of getting caught in the shifting chain links. The DM obviously screwed up guiding the group so close as that shop probably dives that reef frequently with their 3-dives/day packages and slow boats leaving their downtown dock after late lunches daily, so they all should know it very well.

Skipping the SS when lead to do so would have been fine on this dive as described, altho I can understand why you didn't. He wanted to get y'all up & out ASAP, but you did not want to sacrifice dive safety for DSC risk after diving every day - even tho it was only a 60 ft deep dive. The biggest screwup barnone has got to be the captain having divers hang onto the boat while he motored away instead of throwing a drift/tow line. I've never seen such a line used in all my Coz trips, but it should be immediately available...!!

 

[chillyinCanada]

yahoo! cowboy diving in Cozumel! Who'da thunk? 175' in Maracaibo, dragging divers off the side of dive boats, losing divers altogether and who know what else!?!

Think I'll just take my chances in the Blue Hole . . . next week!!

 

[flots am]

yahoo! cowboy diving in Cozumel! Who'da thunk? 175' in Maracaibo, dragging divers off the side of dive boats, losing divers altogether and who know what else!?!

Think I'll just take my chances in the Blue Hole . . . next week!!

I still believe that this would all be a lot safer without the "dive guides"

How many of Cozumel's tourists would descend into a ripping, changable current with just a buddy and no DM, with no idea which way they're heading or what's coming up?

I'm guessing "not a lot." But it happens every day.

How many would splash if the sign on the dive shop wall said "When flying past the cruise ship dock, watch out for the props. Also be careful of the down-currents so you don't end up too deep, get narced and drown or pass out, and make sure you watch your tank pressure and know how to shoot a surface marker so you don't run out of air or get swept out to sea."

flots