New diver Curaçao dive boat experience: not good

[Murrhers]

Curaçao was a stop in our cruise itinerary over Christmas. I arranged two dives over the Internet with a dive operation. My hubby & I had our OW cert plus 2 dives in Bermuda, and 4 prior dives during the current trip.
the boat went out in rough water with 14 divers and one dive master. The DM briefed us on the dive, i told her of our OW cert (60 ft) to which she replied: just stay above us. and down we went. When we got down we couldn't see the DM. So we hovered between a couple below and a man & his 2 kids above. Before I knew it we were at 74 ft, so went up to 55. Got a signal from the couple below to turn around, and finally found the DM.
About this time my hubby's air is at 700. He signals to the DM who shrugs her shoulders and then gives us the buddy share sign. My hubby began to get nervous, gave me the signal to go up, so up we went. Eventually made our way to the dive boat. We opted out of the 2nd dive.
all in all, a really unsatisfactory dive.
what should we have done differently? What if anything should the DM have done differently?

 

[mathauck0814]

Curaçao was a stop in our cruise itinerary over Christmas. I arranged two dives over the Internet with a dive operation. My hubby & I had our OW cert plus 2 dives in Bermuda, and 4 prior dives during the current trip.
the boat went out in rough water with 14 divers and one dive master. The DM briefed us on the dive, i told her of our OW cert (60 ft) to which she replied: just stay above us. and down we went. When we got down we couldn't see the DM. So we hovered between a couple below and a man & his 2 kids above. Before I knew it we were at 74 ft, so went up to 55. Got a signal from the couple below to turn around, and finally found the DM.
About this time my hubby's air is at 700. He signals to the DM who shrugs her shoulders and then gives us the buddy share sign. My hubby began to get nervous, gave me the signal to go up, so up we went. Eventually made our way to the dive boat. We opted out of the 2nd dive.
all in all, a really unsatisfactory dive.
what should we have done differently? What if anything should the DM have done differently?

I think it's important to be honest with yourself before getting on the boat. Many new divers who come up through what has become the "standard" training offered by big agencies can be unprepared when they are unleashed on their own. A Divemaster is there as a guide, but they're ultimately not responsible for your dive. That falls squarely on you and your buddy. Prior to the dive, did you and your buddy work out your plan? Were you aware of where the boat was at all times during the dive? I know that you might expect that the DM was there to do that for you, but unfortunately you need to take that on. What would happen if the DM had a catastrophic accident or if you were separated from him and couldn't find him again? You need to be responsible for your own dive.

In the future, if you feel you need a greater level of supervision, there's nothing wrong with hiring a private DM to join your buddy team and provide more hands-on dive management. Additionally you may want to spend some time with an instructor working on skills (not another certification, just some time in water with a mentor who can help until you're on your feet). It takes some time to get comfortable with skills like navigation and dive planning and sometimes the four certification dives aren't sufficient to develop competency in those areas. Keep at it, it'll get easier the more (and the more often) you do it.

 

[freewillie]

The last dive boat I went on specifically told us during the dive brief please be back on board with 700 psi, you are in charge of your own dive so be safe. Instructions on where to go, but we were told each dive group is on their own.

Having a dive master on board and in the water is not necessarily a guarantee that you as the diver are to be chaperoned during the dive. If the dive operation is like my charter above they are expecting you to be responsible for your own dive. This particular charter I was the least experienced diver with advanced open water certification. Almost everybody else was either dive master or instructor level. My daughter was Jr OW cert with depth limit 45 ft. She basically held on to me for the dive. It was my responsibility to maintain depth and navigate back to the boat, not anyone else on the boat.

Our previous experience was on a vacation charter that catered to vacation divers. Everyone was assigned in groups to a dive master. All diver's had to stay with the dive master, no venturing out on your own. No one actually had a compass, we were completely dependent on the DM to navigate and bring us back to the boat. As we kept checking air, it was discussed we would all turn around when first diver reached 1200 psi. We all had to turn around at that time. Once I found myself back on board 1200 psi and a novice diver had 500 psi. I didn't have the opportunity to keep diving on my own as that was the policy of the vacation dive center, every dives together.

Most of the times the problems start before you get in the water. You need to clarify during the briefing what your role is as a diver. If you are unsure, ask. The first example is closer to your experience. There was a dive master but the dive boat was not planning to guide you specifically. You were expecting something like the second example. You can't be sure until you ask, and you should probably be raising those questions when you book the dive.

In my experience, unless specifically stated it is a guided dive the dive boats expect you to manage your own dives. If you think you need a DM you should plan hire one privately. They are offered as extra when you book. My daughter's very first dive in cold water wetsuit, hood, etc was with a dive master I hired since I wanted someone with her at all times with a little more experience than I have. She now has had few cold water dives so I guided her myself. Each time however I clearly knew when someone else was leading, or when I had to lead.

Ask before you dive, and preferably when you book. Good luck.

 

[freewillie]

Sorry for typos above. Doing this on iPad. Really sucks for typing. Will correct later.

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

The DM should have told you guys that to notify him when anybody is at 1500psi. So when you dood reached that point, he should have banged his tank with something to bring noticed to him. If your dood is known to be an airhog, then he should be diving at shallower depth compared to everybody else right from the start so as to not shorten everybody's dive.

Plus Curacao diving is real easy, with the sloping wall. If you are low on air, just swim closer to shore and you will be in more shallow water. You could have gone all they way back to the boat in 20-30 ft deep water.

 

[on_two_wheels]

What they said (except Lwang). DM shouldn't have to be notified of how much air a diver has unless it's a guided dive. Even then, just a hand signal to him that you're heading to the surface and an "ok" is all it should take. That way he/she can keep count of divers with him/her. The above is correct....it's your dive so take responsibility for yourselves. Hiring a DM in a strange place is a GREAT idea for new divers and often even seasoned divers.

 

[TSandM]

First off, I think it's very important that new divers let the dive op know that they are new, and that they want to stay within their certification limits.

That said, I've read enough stories here that say that dive ops don't always respect that, even when they have been informed ahead of time.

If you are diving a wall, it is easy enough to stay above the group, as the navigation along a wall is easy. If they drop you on a site where all the interesting structure is 30 feet beneath you, that's not fun. You should, however, feel good enough to be able to do the dive, assuming you aren't doing it in midwater (that there is structure you can get close to and use for orientation). If that was not the case, and you had to stay in midwater 30 feet above the group, that's really an unfair expectation of new divers.

Sorry you had a bad trip, and I hope your next one is better. But kudos to you for trying to stay within your training.

 

[RTee]

These things work both ways. Expectations need to be managed when you book the dive and not once in the location and sitting in the dive boat. There is a wide range of divers holding OW certification from a comfort, skills and experience perspective. You will see many OW divers going deeper than 60 ft at southern resorts, especially when visibility reaches close to 100 ft. Plus there are divers holding much more advanced diving qualifications as well. When you are part of such a large group as you were, it becomes very hard for a single DM to meet the expectations of all divers.

If you were to ask me, I personally think it is preferable to spend an entire week at one location and dealing with a single dive shop. That way it forces you to do your research, contact them, let them know what you are after, book in advance and as the week go by develop great relationship with other divers and staff. Under such system, most will pair divers with similar skills and experience together and then everybody (or the majority) ends up happy.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

I am not a fine of day excursions off cruise ships to go diving. You can be rushed, the operators may be less concerned with service on one day turn around customers, amnd there is a real "one size fits all" approach to the dive. My addition to the conversations is that divers need to be active, and keep their skills at a high level, because ultimately only you can assure your safety and fun in the water.
DivemasterDennis

 

[markmud]

If you were to ask me, I personally think it is preferable to spend an entire week at one location and dealing with a single dive shop. That way it forces you to do your research, contact them, let them know what you are after, book in advance and as the week go by develop great relationship with other divers and staff. Under such system, most will pair divers with similar skills and experience together and then everybody (or the majority) ends up happy.

Hello OP,

I think RT's above point is very good. Book a one week vacation with a dive operator that you formed a relationship via email and by phone. You may want to hire your own DM. During your week long extended OW training regimen, get your AOW and Nitrox Cards.

For most divers, comfort begins with 25 dives. At 50 dives you should be "getting-with-the-program." At 100 dives, you should be an experienced recreational diver who can dive DM supervised dives effortlessly. For some divers, who have used their first 100 training dives to gain experience with differenct types of diving, they are ready for more advanced training or to venture-out on their own (solo or no DM).

Think about diving cold water, wrecks (no penetration), springs, alpine, drift (current diving), deep (130'), low vis, and wall dives.

Once you have finished your continued OW training, a situation that you and your husband found yourselves in, won't matter. You will "wave-good-buy" to the group and dive your prearranged dive plan while being mentally relaxed.

markm

PS:
Lots of people stress "navigational" skills to an extreme.

I have dived California many times. We don't have in-water DMs and most divers don't know how to navigate well. They dive around without bothering to keep track of their DR until it is time to surface. So, they surface wherever they are, then they get a viusual on the boat and then perform a surface swim to the boat, or re-submerge and dive a compass course back to the boat. Make sure you always dive up-current when leaving the boat as a surface swim into a current is not fun.

I like to DR underwater and return the the anchor line for my controlled ascent; however, I am a professional mariner who has been navigating for 40 years. I am an anachronism.