Newbie diver long trip report - Questionable diving?

[betsyinczm]

Quote from Ddeborahdelamar: ""There's not even a photo of a dive boat on any of the pages. Since almost every op proudly displays a photo of its fleet, you may assume that this op doesn't own""
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Just a little FYI.........there are two photos of their dive boats on their website, both of which they own. One shows their "Miguelito" large boat moored at a pier and another shows their fast boat "Lucky". (just sayin')..........

Sorry for the bad experience though!

 

[MMM]

As Scubawife says, I don't think your experience was typical of Cozumel diving. I've dived with a good half-dozen or more ops here and have never experienced what you did. Had to be scary. I really don't get the DM handing you his reel except to believe he thought you were more advanced than you were. As a certified diver theoretically you should be able to do all the things on your dive (except the reel part) but few, if any, rank beginners can do them well. That no one seemed to know you had zilch experience is at the root of your experience, I think.

 

[JB]

I understand your anxiety, and for your 1st open water boat dive, I think you could/should have hired a private DM to take you through it. On the other hand, knowing your lack of experience, the dive shop could have sent someone to take care of you. The good part of the story is that in this day and age it is actually refreshing to find a that there are still operators that don't go over the top on paperwork. I recently did a 30ft dive around a small jetty for some 50 minutes, at great expense, and this was after a 90 minute briefing in a classroom and after signing 5 typed pages of declarations and releases, some requiring witnessed signatures!! The DM spent the entire dive tank bashing at anyone who strayed more than 10 foot from the group!! so we were all tripping over each other.
The best practice must be somewhere between these 2 extremes?!!
I think perspective is sometimes lost, scuba is supposed to be fun, and in reality accidents are extremely rare. If I knew half as much as I have learnt in the accidents and incidents forum, the BSAC reports etc. when I started diving, I might never have taken the course.
Personally I like the op that briefs you on the site in detail and then says off you go in buddy pairs, see you back on the boat in 50 or 60 minutes. So before bashing the dive op in question, the majority of experienced divers would have appreciated their method ie. providing a taxi service to the dive site. I do agree it was inappropriate to your needs, but hey, next year you might just love the freedom that they allow you. It must be hard for a dive op because they can't please everyone, and each person's expectations are different. I dislike the over officious and controlling operations.
On the side, my daughter is 10 and if she ever did a course (she would have to nag me for several months), I'm not sure how I would cope with being her buddy. My goal is to try and make her wait until she has finished growing. I suspect a lot of the stress was worrying about her, and not feeling secure that you had the experience/skills to help her out. Absolutely an intolerable situation being taken out of your comfort zone, while feeling responsible for your daughter's safety. I suspect that if you were on your own, you might have had an entirely different experience. Incidently, how did your daughter find the experience?

 

[caseybird]

Get your daughter her own wet suit and BC. Can you imagine an op trying to maintain a good choice of gear in that size?
There are no scuba laws, or rules. There are no scuba police. There are guidelines. If you agree with the 40 foot guideline, don't dive below 40 feet with your daughter. You can float above the group. Make sure the DM knows what you are doing. Don't do any swimthroughs until you have done many more dives and feel confident. I wouldn't take any 10 year old through a swimthrough.

One of the facts of Coz diving is a first deep dive followed by a shallow second dive. Most of the first dives are at least 80 feet deep. Therefore you will either have to forgo the dive, or get a private DM to guide you at the shallower level. Most coz reefs have shallow portions, so with a good operator, this shouldn't be too hard to arrange.
Get computers and understand how to read and operate them.
I've seen BlueXTC lead excellent dive trips for younger divers. They will listen to you and help create a safer dive. You should also try to arrange a shallow dive with an instructor before you get on a boat. This will give you both a chance to straighten out your gear and weighting.

I've done a lot of diving with young kids, they are learning sponges and it fun to see them discover the underwater world. But you, the adult, MUST make the decisions on how to conduct the dives. Make the best choices you can, then stick to them. Don't be hustled into doing something you aren't confident with.
Have fun, kids are great. Your daughter will be swimming rings around you when she is fifteen. It's cool!

 

[BTravlin]

Just returned from Cozumel and PDC where I did my first dives after OW cert. In some ways the experience seemed a bit "off" and I wanted to see what people thought. I'd been reading the forums a bit but I really had no idea of what to expect. <SNIP>

Hi, viz. Yes, some things were definitely off but I'm only going to hit the high points.

1. Since you and your daughter were newly certified divers, the dive op and DM should have gone out of their way to ensure that the two of you were fully comfortable with all aspects of boat and drift diving including weighting, back roll entries, safety stops, etc.

2. The DM should never have given you the SMB. As a new diver you had no business dealing with that and the DM should have known better.

3. But most importantly, you now realize that you are in charge of your dives and you are responsible for your safety and the safety of your daughter.

Dives ops are there to provide you a service and they are working for you. Make sure that you clearly communicate with the dive op what your dive experience is and what you are looking for and what you expect. If they don't give you complete answers that make sense THEN LOOK ELSEWHERE. Once you arrive and begin your dive trip make sure they are performing the way they said they would. If not, stop them and ask questions until you are back on track. If they aren't doing what they said they'd do and you're uncomfortable THEN GO ELSEWHERE. Your 10 year old daughter is not at a point where she can take care of herself in these situations so the responsibility rests with dad. Speak up and keep asking questions until you are BOTH comfortable.

Yes, your safety is your responsibility but a good, reputable dive op that knows you are new divers will go out of their way to make sure you have a safe, enjoyable dive experience. I would guess that you will make many trips to Coz since you live in Houston and Coz is very convenient to you. There are many good dive ops to choose from there and you can research them here on SB. My personal favorite is Blue XTSea and I can assure you that your dive experience would have been much safer and more enjoyable with them.

I envy you getting to dive with your daughter. None of my kids have any interest in diving but I'm hoping that will change someday.

Welcome to diving! Take care and have fun.

 

[speuci]

Agree with above, would also suggest that you prioritize the purchase of a computer (i like wrist style for easy access) and pickup a nitrox cert. When you dive in boat groups that dive air, nitrox will generally provide you with an additional buffer of time (and to the extent that you dive the same profile as air breathers, less nitrogen loading).

On the bright side, you learned VOLUMES on this trip from all the questionable occurances!! Those experiences will pay dividends in future diving (glad you came out ok!)

 

[deborahdelamar]

Just a little FYI.........there are two photos of their dive boats on their website, both of which they own. One shows their "Miguelito" large boat moored at a pier and another shows their fast boat "Lucky". (just sayin')..........

Sorry Betsy. I navigated the site via the menu on the left -- missed the top pull-down menus -- and didn't see those photos. Once again, I sit corrected.

 

[Nitrodiverrr]

Integrated weight systems in BC's were either uncommon or not yet made when I received my OW cert. In OW class we were taught the proper way to drop a weight belt while standing on ground and we practiced how to redon a weight belt while laying in the bottom of the pool. Is there no longer any training in OW classes in how to use a weight belt ? What agency issued you your OW certification ? IMHO your instructor should have provided training in the use of a weight belt regardless of whether or not is mandated by the agency issuing the certification.

 

[sharky60]

I agree that your experience is not "typical" of Cozumel dive op operations. We have dove with several ops over the years and have never been mislead by standard proceedures.

All dive ops I've been associated with have always been extra attentive to new divers, especially younger ones.

I have also NEVER signed up with a dive op that did not have me fill out a form of some kind asking for my PADI number and experience level.

I also can't belive if you were renting equimpent, they did not provide you with computers on your pressure guages...way behind on the times.

As far as never using a weight belt, as far as I'm concerned, this is your instructor's fault. Although most new BC's have intergrated weights, and most divers are using them nowdays, the use of a weight belt is BASIC SCUBA and should have been at least covered during OW training.

Both my wife and I have lost one of our weight pouches from our BC and are using weight belts to dive with. I have talked to several diver that have the same situation, so a weight belt is NOT obsolete by any means and should be covered in any basic scuba class.

Back rolls should also be covered in an OW class. Maybe not actually doing them, as most folks don't get to do a boat dive for their certs, but it should be covered. I would guess that 80-90% of my boat dives, in almost a 30 year career of diving, have been with a back roll entry. Very seldom do I dive off a boat large enough to do a stride off.

 

[DandyDon]

I think virtually all rental BCs require weight belt. Buy some keepers if you are going to rent.