Diver Dennis
Contributor
Hi Catherine. We were in Palau at the same time you were, as Mike pointed out. We were on the Eclipse so a buddy was not as much of an issue. I do agree with you about having a "self dependant" buddy. We were in Micronesia for a month and only dove in a group in Yap, but Mike was our DM, and one day in Palau. On the Eclipse, Charlie was our DM and she stayed with Kim all the time unless she dropped back to let me know there was something to see. Other than that, although I kept them in view most of the time, I was essentially solo diving.
In Chukk, we had the same DM for the 2 of us for the whole week and as you can see from my pictures, I was way behind them all the time. Rio did the same as Charlie and stayed with Kim. The only time we both had a DM was on the San Francisco Maru which is a very deep dive and can require anywhere from 20 to 60 or more minutes of deco depending on bottom time. SOP for Blue Lagoon Divers is to take an extra AL80 (with reg) down with us apart from the hang bottles.
The thing I liked about Blue Lagoon Divers is that they always take new guests on a shallow wreck first. The don't tell you this but the Fujikawa Maru is the first dive because they want to SEE how experienced you are. i've done quite a few dives but I welcomed the check out dive. IMHO this should be done a lot more if not all the time.
Anyway. Taking pictures I like to solo dive but that dosen't mean you have to be out of sight of a group you're with. When I needed a model, I would just work it out with Kim before the dive. I think it was mentioned that you might forget to manage you air, watch your depth etc. Maybe if you are inexperienced but after diving a while watching your guages is done, by me at least, unconsciously. So taking care of myself is not a problem. But sometimes it's tought to keep an eye on your buddy all the time, so I understand what you mean by having a person to dive with, just not in the same sense as a dive buddy. Hope this makes sense.
Sorry I missed you and James but I'll catch you next time.
Dennis.
In Chukk, we had the same DM for the 2 of us for the whole week and as you can see from my pictures, I was way behind them all the time. Rio did the same as Charlie and stayed with Kim. The only time we both had a DM was on the San Francisco Maru which is a very deep dive and can require anywhere from 20 to 60 or more minutes of deco depending on bottom time. SOP for Blue Lagoon Divers is to take an extra AL80 (with reg) down with us apart from the hang bottles.
The thing I liked about Blue Lagoon Divers is that they always take new guests on a shallow wreck first. The don't tell you this but the Fujikawa Maru is the first dive because they want to SEE how experienced you are. i've done quite a few dives but I welcomed the check out dive. IMHO this should be done a lot more if not all the time.
Anyway. Taking pictures I like to solo dive but that dosen't mean you have to be out of sight of a group you're with. When I needed a model, I would just work it out with Kim before the dive. I think it was mentioned that you might forget to manage you air, watch your depth etc. Maybe if you are inexperienced but after diving a while watching your guages is done, by me at least, unconsciously. So taking care of myself is not a problem. But sometimes it's tought to keep an eye on your buddy all the time, so I understand what you mean by having a person to dive with, just not in the same sense as a dive buddy. Hope this makes sense.
Sorry I missed you and James but I'll catch you next time.
Dennis.
