Raining students at Vortex

[ScubyDoo]

I was just at Vortex the weekend before last. We were there on a Friday to avoid those types of crowds, and it seemed to work pretty well.

Why was the other class descending on your buoy? I know...your asking the same question. I think I would have immediately indicated to the instructor that he/she and thier group were unwelcome guests on an already occupied platform. It seems fairly obvious this instructor did not have a clue what he/she was doing. I feel sorry for thier students!

Im a new diver and not sure what diving etiquette would call for in a situation like that, but considering the safety implications, this instructor should be pointed out to the staff at Vortex. I dont know if there is anything they could do, except perhaps deny them entry to the park in the future!

 

[ScubyDoo]

Originally posted by ohiodiver
Hey Stacy, I feel the same way. We're going to be certified at Vortex in about three weeks. The only thing I'm hoping is that it is not quite as hectic there during the week. Anyone know that to be true or false?

We dove there on a Friday morning the week before last. We got there about 8:30 so we could stake a claim on the hillside for our group, as well as stake a claim on a platform. We had a big group (12 OW students, 4 AOW students, 3 DM's, 2 Instructors, 2 pleasure divers, plus a few moms & dads, etc.) Needless to say we needed a lot of room.

We were the first group there and had no problems whatsoever!

We knew Vortex would be crowded on Saturday, so planned to go to either Morrison or Cypress Springs. We ended up at Cypress which was a bit crowded, but only because its so much smaller than Vortex. But everyone minded and kept clear of other groups and we had no problems there either....except freezing my butt off.

 

[Rick Murchison]

Originally posted by ScubyDoo
We ended up at Cypress which was a bit crowded, but only because its so much smaller than Vortex. But everyone minded and kept clear of other groups and we had no problems there either....except freezing my butt off.

So that was y'all... looked ok to me.. My bunch were the ones with the white shelters - I do hope they were all well behaved all the time. I didn't see any gross or inconsiderate conduct out of any other group there, so y'all did good!
Rick

 

[ScubyDoo]

Hey Rick,

So that was your group at Cypress on Sat. Feb. 23rd? I dont really know how many other groups were there besides ours. The only one that I really remember well was the group which was in the shallows most of the time. Im not sure what they were working on, but I distinctively remember thier instructor barking "Oral inflate - Power Inflate" over and over. Was that you?

I do recall on my last OW dive, there was an advanced class doing skills on the platform next to ours. When we began our underwater exploration I swam fairly close by the corner of thier platform, so I made a conscious effort to keep my eye on them until I was clear. I was probably a good 6-7 feet away from them, but wanted to be sure I didnt embarrass myself or my group.

Like they say at Disney......Its a small world afterall!!

 

[icemyst7]

Well I don't have to worry about Vortex anymore. They changed our dive to Fort Pickins. Oh well I guess that I can do Vortex some other time.