RDRINK25
Contributor
Speckled you diving the long rang next Thur? If so we will be on the boat.
Need Feedback on Recent Diving with Kona Diving Company
- Thread starter H2O Girl
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No, I think we'll be on the morning 2 tank. Our flight out leaves tomorrow morning at 6.30am. Guess I should be going to get some sleep now rather than hanging around on SB, lol....
Really Mark? We are happy to set it up for you...... if you chose to do it on your own, that's great too. Really doesn't matter to us.
G
G
Mark Derail
Contributor
It does matter, greatly IMO, for "newbie" divers (less than 100 dives). You need to be "one" with your equipment, and not treat it like most people treat their cars - hop in, do your thing, hop out. The difference being, "no more brakes?" won't kill you.
I don't find that doing the complete setup for a diver is doing him/her a favor. Also, the more "humans" that touch something, the greater the error rate. Like Person A doing the setup, Person B putting the vest on the Diver. Person B saw A do the setup, and "assumes" the air is on...
Imagine a newbie with too much weight, tiny fins, empty bcd jumping into the ocean w/6+ feet swells...*shudder* It's darn near impossible to open the air vents, on the boat, because they were too tightly closed. Imagine on the water, struggling to stay afloat.
What if an O ring is leaking? Happened to me out in Cozumel; the instructor (Lucio Flores, who ALWAYS dove with 2 tanks) switched it for me. Had the "hired" help done it, I'm sure he would have passed it, as the leak was small/weak.
What I liked diving with Lucio (was with Scuba Quatic) he was cool, relaxed, and a safety freak with his divers. He would check everyone. I need to get Lucio on this board - his English is quite good.
I agree with you 100%..... in fact, I'm a big fan of any diver setting up their own gear.
In fact, I think people are too trusting when it comes to the operator. If I hear "Did you change my tank" on a surface interval one more time I might just flip. Finally I see far too many people not giving their dive buddy's gear a thorough look over before splashing. I cover all points in my briefing and am ALWAYS encouraging people to do buddy checks and look for things like leaky O rings, short fills, improper weight rigging etc.
In fact, I think people are too trusting when it comes to the operator. If I hear "Did you change my tank" on a surface interval one more time I might just flip. Finally I see far too many people not giving their dive buddy's gear a thorough look over before splashing. I cover all points in my briefing and am ALWAYS encouraging people to do buddy checks and look for things like leaky O rings, short fills, improper weight rigging etc.
oahu_diver
Guest
There are some divers who enjoy the "full service" offered by some dive shops. I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm one of those divers. When I take a day off from work (or I'm on vacation) to go diving, I have no problem with my divemaster taking my gear to the boat for me, pulling my gear out of the bag and putting it on a tank...and changing it in between dives. That isn't to say that I waive all responsibility. I'm still the one in jeopardy if something goes wrong. So I will check and double check to make sure the gear is set up properly and to my preferences. The question "did you change my tank" is a valid one to ask. I wouldn't want to change my tank if someone has already done it...thereby placing my tank on the used tank and not the full. If you change over quickly enough, it's easy to tell...one tank is wet while the other is dry...but that's not a guarantee. So, if I ask that question and the dive guide says "yes", then I'll say thanks and carry on with my leisure day. If the dive guide says "no" then I'll do it myself...but then the guide's tip just went into my lunch fund for the day. I'm out there for a leisure day...the divemaster is getting paid to work. If he isn't going to help me, then I'll just buy the boat seat from the captain and skip the divemaster. I find it too irritating that many divemasters get paid, then expect tips. I'm not tipping a divemaster so he can relax while I do all the work on my leisure day. When I'm at my job, I get paid...and I'm expected to work...I expect the same from the divemaster.
Just one man's opinion. I know there are many that disagree. If I was a divemaster, I would also be 100% in favor of divers carrying and setting up their own gear...less for me to do. Then I can just socialize and get paid for it. But if I was a boat captain, the divemaster won't work for me long.
frontiernurse
Contributor
I dove with Kona Dive Company all last week and they were top drawer! I thought they were very safe, they checked and double checked equipment (and then I checked it myself again before I jumped in of course) but I saw them being really thorough. The boat was in great condition, and all the staff was very attentive both above the water and below. And they have WAY better standards than most dive shops I've used... here is an embarrassing example: I did my advanced open water dive with them and I kept missing the target doing the navigating-a-square part. They never let me just get away with it and kept making me do it until I got it right. That's how it SHOULD be, but I most places I've seen are pretty lax. (I know, I know, it's not that hard to do the stupid square, but I had some sort of block.) Anyway, I adored KDC and would trust them 100%.
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