Night Dives Dos and Don'ts

[Dadvocate]

Hi, everyone!

I decided to stay in the Philippines this summer and dive locally in between my rounds of golf. Diving enthusiasm took off and I logged nearly 50 dives in six weeks leaving my clubs at home. I am happy to say that I am now in the 100 plus dive group having logged my 100th in Puerto Galero a few weeks back.

But this is not the reason I am writing. During this summer of diving two things happened in the water that have given me cause for reflection—the first happened to me on a night dive in Dumaguete off Negros Island and the second deals with the diving practices of a couple of Germans we were diving with in Moalboal on Cebu Island.

Regarding the incident on the night dive in Dumaguete, I would first like to preface things by saying that the dive shop and crew were outstanding the entire time my girlfriend and I were there along with my visiting sister and her boyfriend. In fact I am not even bringing this up to be accusatory. The simple truth is that I may well have been the major cause of my own stress on this dive, even if there are other mitigating circumstances connected with the dive shop and/or the DM. I hope to understand from the perspective of others here at SB so that I might learn something about how I approach night dives and about what my expectations should be on these dives.

This dive was my third of the day. The first two were at Monsod and Dauin sanctuaries (Max depths 22.6 meters & 21.6 meters respectively and with bottom times of 65 and 64 minutes). For this night dive I had a surface interval of 1 hour and 50 minutes after my second dive, leaving me in pressure group B by my calculations.

The dive itself was my second night dive ever and I was a bit nervous as the current had been somewhat unpredictable over the last couple of days. Additionally, the dive group was larger than I would have preferred for a night dive. We were 8 divers to 1 DM. On top of that, all of the divers were on Nitrox, leaving me and the DM diving air. No matter, the DM told us that the max bottom time would be 45 minutes and that if there were overly strong currents we would end the dive appropriately. Many in the group were anxious for night shots. I was one of only two divers without a camera of some sort.

Because we were a large number of divers, the DM told me I would be his buddy along with another diver who did not have a partner and the rest would be with their parners. I had been diving with both of them early on that day and the day before so this didn’t seem too much of an issue at the time, even though our buddy had a big camera.

As we descended to about 12 meters in the first 3 minutes of the dive, I quickly noticed that the size of the group coupled with their cameras made things crowded and haphazard. I got a couple of good swift kicks in the face and felt very confined when I realized that it was dark and confusing with everyone bustling for views and pictures of the interesting nudi branches, crabs and other life forms. At the 9th minute I was at 23.8 meters and feeling really crowded in. I didn’t want to stay that deep so I ascended slightly to give myself more room. Also, given the commotion, I decided for my own safety and air consumption to swim at a wider breadth of the group always keeping them and their collective luminescence in sight.

This strategy worked well for about 10 minutes until we hit an artificial reef made up of tires submerged between 15 to 21 meters. When we found these tires the current took on a whole new fury. I was neutrally buoyant and checked repeatedly that I was staying calm and not using up too much air. I made a couple of attempts to get in closer to the tires, but the mayhem from before continued as the DM spotted a few frog fish perched inside one of the tires. I again decided to swing wide of the group as I felt my frustration and anxiety growing with the ever present feeling that I was being squeezed this way and that by fins, bodies and cameras. In fact, I came incredibly close to a lion fish atop one of the tires which gave me an additional fright.

Content to wait out the dive I kept a reasonable distance from the group while also noting the location of both my buddy and the DM (my default other buddy).

I reached 100 bar and signaled my DM. I was at 40 minutes into the dive. I fully expected him to signal back okay and then start bringing us together in a few minutes to end what was only supposed to be a 45 minute dive. My no deco time was still at 9 minutes at that point so I remained at 15 meters.

Well, the time just kept ticking… I then tapped my tank when I was at 6 minutes no deco time and then again at 5 minutes. I was now at 44 minutes bottom time and must have been breathing more anxiously because I was now at 60 bar. Then I realized that I had missed a signal somewhere. All the other divers were gone somewhere except for my DM and my other buddy who were both much deeper than me and not looking like they were interested in surfacing.

I shot my dive light back and forth in their direction to get the DM’s attention. I was now at 4 minutes no deco time and still stuck at 14 meters. The current had kicked up sand and debris so the visibility was cloudy and misleading. Finally, when I reached 3 minutes no deco time, the DM told me to go up a bit and do a safety stop while he stayed with my other buddy as he shot photos at around 21 meters. I felt kind of lonely in that moment but was more than willing to oblige at that point.

I did my safety stop trying to keep them both in view mainly because I had no idea where the boat was. I knew where the shore was, thankfully, otherwise I would have been much more concerned. I was very fixated on keeping my buoyancy and not shooting too quickly to the surface. So I let the current do with me what it wanted to. At times I could see them. Other times I couldn’t see them at all. They were still deeper than me which meant that the surface current was pulling me farther away from them. I didn’t know what else to do. I wasn’t going to tire myself by kicking against the current to let them catch up.

Staying calm I extended my safety stop to 5 minutes and tried to signal to my DM that I was going up. I’m still not sure if he saw that signal to be honest.

I exited the water with a dive time of 59 minutes (72 with residual time form the last dive), 30 bar, and a look of bewilderment. A couple of the other divers who had surfaced at 45 minutes asked if I was okay. I nodded that I was. Mostly I was confused at how I had gotten myself into a low air situation on a night dive I believed was well under control until the last 15-20 minutes, most of which were not supposed to have happened based on the plan of 45 minutes.

Later at the dive shop I expressed my displeasure at the length of the dive, that the others had exited without my knowing, and at being of lesser priority than the guy with the camera and Nitrox.

The DM responded that it was my fault because I had not stayed close enough on the dive to see the signal for the others to go up. Perhaps that is true. I don’t know.

Am I wrong in thinking that “45 minutes” stated in the dive briefing is the max time one should dive, especially for a recreational night dive? What should I have done differently? Is 7 divers to 1 DM too much for 1 DM to handle?

I’ll mention the second situation in another post.

Thanks

 

[Cacia]

wow

what strikes me is that you were thinking about all the right things even being so new...

Give yourself a big pat on the back.

Now...My advice is

avoid buddying with a DM, especailly one responsible for so many people. He thought that was the right desicion, but it was not, he overestimated himself and how much he could keep up with.

get your own partner so you can have input in your profile! because you are dialed in and need to be in charge of yourself, not relying on others that seem to not bring anything to the table for you.

Not a new *situation*, btw...get used to it and make sure you cover your own bases, you are the best one to do that.

PS: you are irritated because you saw all this coming...and deferred to another's judgement, we call that a "trust me" dive.

 

[nereas]

Well, this was certainly a long story, sort of like those by Sahrzad (Sheherazade) in the 1001 Arabian Nights, but like her husband, I could not stop listening!

When you reach your pre-determined SPG limit for the dive, you should signal to your buddy(ies) that you are low on air and heading up. You do not need to wait for them.

My signal for this, at night, is to get their attention with the light, then point the light at myself, then pound my chest twice for "low on air," then hold up how many fingers for remaining pressure, then point to myself, then signal up with my thumb, then wave to them goodbye.

This is as if to say, "I am low on air, with XX bar/psi remaining, I am going up, goodbye."

If they are good buddies then they will follow you, and then all is fine and dandy. If they do not, then they are either not good buddies, or else they did not understand you in the first place, which would not surprise me, since it was night. Either way, I would not wait for them to begin your ascent once you have become low on air.

Hopefully by seeing you ascend, they will then get the message and this will clear up any doubt.

Next time, don't wait so long before you begin your ascent. Looks like you made it this time, Allah be praised (as they say in the 1001 Arabian Nights!)

Remember too, that you are responsible for yourself, and nobody else is.

It looks like you have also quickly discovered that to be paired with a photographer is the same as diving solo without a buddy. The same is true of spear fishermen! Those things are good to know, and to avoid.

 

[MeiLing]

While the rest of the operation you dove with might have been first rate, I'd have a serious bone to pick with that DM! Don't buy for a minute that it was your fault, I think he's covering his own butt because he made a mistake! A big one! Unless, he spent the whole 14 minutes over his own plan chasing you as you swam in the opposite direction, he's dead wrong! The plan is the plan! Everyone's supposed to follow it including him and his buddies - all of them!

Like Catherine said, it did become a trust dive! I think we all do trust dives throughout our dive experience, but most of us have followed those who've used good judgement. It's always good to be aware of what's going on, and everyone should. Kudos to you for doing the right thing, even though your DM's judgement was severely lacking.

Oh, and that is not just a night dive don't! A plan should be followed on every dive, not just at night!

 

[Dadvocate]

Thanks for the feedback, guys!

And sorry for the length of the post.

I put lots of notes and scribbles in my logbook knowing that I was going to post here when I got back to Manila. In the end I know you are all right. I am responsible for myself and I do think that the DM was thrusting all the blame on me. 45 should be 45, as the other divers apparently understood. For the most part I follow the protect myself rule carefully, but somehow this got jumbled with other things going on spurred on by my lack of experience overall in dark environments.

It was something about that night environment and my desire not to surface too far from the boat. I was totally disoriented and was fearful that I would get swept off somewhere “Open Water” style out into nastier currents. There was a real conflict in leaving behind the only two people that I knew, relatively speaking, were in the same situation as I was… even though they really weren’t in my situation at all.

I did make my own decisions finally, which I am happy about. But now I have a sour taste with night dives, something I will need to get over later on since the first was so wonderful. The worst part in this is that best buddy (my girlfriend) is now even less enthusiastic about night dives than before. I’d love to get more experience with her so that we could analyze these things together, but this experience and my obvious dissatisfaction have made her even less willing to give it a try.

Again, thanks for the ear. I needed to get that one off my chest.

Dadvocate

 

[Bubble Junky]

The DM responded that it was my fault because I had not stayed close enough on the dive to see the signal for the others to go up. Perhaps that is true. I don’t know.

No, it's the DMs responsibility to make sure everyone sees his signals.

It seemed a bit chaotic down there, which can often happen on night dives, especially with so many photographers in the water. When I brief a night dive, I stress that the group should stay in formation - that I am at the front, then allocate buddy pair numbers, and ask them to stay in that order behind me. I say that I will point out things to buddy pair 1, they can then point it out to buddy pair 2, they point it out to buddy pair 3 etc. This can sometimes help keep things less chaotic.

A good idea for you might be that the next time you go for a night dive, hire a private DM for you and your girlfriend. This might cost a few extra pennies, but it'll be a much more enjoyable experience, and you can both get more comfortable with the whole night diving experience. Big numbers on night dives, esp with current, can be, as you found out, chaotic.

 

[MikeFerrara]

Don't dive in herds.

When you hit your turn/ascent pressure or decompression limits, just give the "thumbs up". No one should be confused. It means the dive is over.

 

[TSandM]

This really doesn't sound like a well run dive at all to me.

Buddying up two other divers, with very different needs/expectations of the dive, with the dive guide whose attention and purpose are not focused on his buddies, seems like a recipe for unhappy divers or worse.

The mob quality of the dive separated you from your buddies, which is bad.

We often discuss the proposed time for a dive as part of the pre-dive planning, but usually it's not set in stone. "About 60 minutes or so" is more typical. But I have dived with operations that say, "45 minutes, and if you're five minutes overdue, we'll have somebody in the water looking for you," and there, you meet your deadlines.

If your "45 minutes" was based on your decompression status, then it was a deadline and should have been respected. It doesn't sound as though you went into deco, though -- just got close to the limits on your computer. It also doesn't sound as though you were really low on gas until you got anxious. Nonetheless, if it was time to end the dive and you wanted to end it, your buddies should have ended it with you.

It's very common, at least in what I've observed, for tropical dive ops to send people up alone. I don't like it and won't do it, but that's one of those things that should have been discussed ahead of time. In this case, I think it was really ill-advised to send a diver to the surface alone, in the dark, in current; did the DM know if you had any way to signal the boat, if you ended up a long ways from it?

Frankly, stories like this really reinforce for me why I dive the way I do.

 

[Dadvocate]

I think it was really ill-advised to send a diver to the surface alone, in the dark, in current; did the DM know if you had any way to signal the boat, if you ended up a long ways from it?

This scenario was what I wanted to avoid as well. It seems on reflection that underwater signals at night can get confusing, as some have pointed out to me already. I understood this going in, and made sure to point the light at myself when making the signals I did. In my mind at least, I feel as though I communicated my desire to surface well enough to be understood, though I apparently should have followed through on this by myself earlier on in the dive. My repeated tank banging as I reached 6,5, and 4 minutes no deco time should have been at least cause for DM consideration, even if my other signals for low on air got lost in translation. I don’t see how this could have been the case as the DM did signal back “okay” when I showed him 50 bar. Maybe that meant in his mind that all is “okay” and I should relax. I wasn’t relaxed though, which did not get to the DM effectively for whatever reason.

Maybe my concept of low on air is somewhat skewed. I want to be out of the water with no less the 30 bar on any recreational dive, so a signal of 50 bar by anyone in the group has always been the signal for everyone to move to 5-6 meters to do a safety stop. When this didn’t happen I became anxious, which only compounded my situation.

In terms of having a surface signal, no, I don’t think he was aware of me having anything other than the night diving flashlight we were given before the dive. I have a yellow whistle attached to my BCD that is really loud, but I can’t say for sure if he knew that I had this. I also wore a red flashing signal light on my tank. That’s it.

As it turns out, I surfaced near the boat when I did reach the top, so in that sense I suppose the boat was well positioned. About 3-4 minutes later the other two surfaced nearby as well, so I assume this was all part of “the plan”.

Knowing what I have learned about the Philippines and diving, the notion of leaving the group and surfacing alone needs to be more palatable for my own good will and diving enjoyment. At the same time, I side with you that this is poor practice in the long run and inviting potential problems. I’m in the PADI rescue diver course now, and what I am learning is that this is never a good idea, regardless of the depth or the size of the group, not to mention those with Nitrox mixes and really neat underwater electronics.

Thanks for your feedback.

Cheers!

 

[charlesml3]

I've been in a similar situation where I was the only diver without a camera. It does get very chaotic and I can't stand people kicking me or bumping into me down there. Just annoys the crap out of me. So in that situation I tend to hang towards the back. I make sure I keep one of the group fairly close by in case I need help but that's about all I do.

-Charles