jklassy
Registered
Um... I have to say I have a totally different perspective. I do not at all agree that the Siren fleet is safely operated. I did a Siren liveaboard out of Komodo and I saw the craziest and least safe procedures that I have ever seen on a liveaboard dive operation. I didn't comment on Scubaboard at the time because I was a little intimidated - everyone seemed to think Frank and the crew and the boat were great. However, I am not at all surprised to see that the Siren fleet has experienced tragedy. They were so lax in safety procedures, I seriously thought about kissing the ground when we got back to land, and I am not that kind of person. We had several people blown from 100 feet to the surface with no safety stop, or blown so far away we could barely find them, and the Siren fleet had no interest in providing them with oxygen or any other standard assistance. We had divers who came out of the water terrified because they absolutely should not have been diving in the conditions they were in. I'm an experienced diver and I was right next to our dive guide, and we were all literally grabbing the coral to prevent us from being blown from 60ft direct to the surface. Sadly, none of the crew, dive masters, etc on the boat had ANY experience at all in the Komodo region. So, they take us to some of the strongest currents I've experienced in 1000+ dives over 12 years, and they throw inexperienced divers out there with dive guides who have never even been in that area before. How does anyone think that is a safe operation?? I could be lulled into thinking the Siren boats are safe if I'd been diving in perfectly calm warm pristine waters with no current. But when you see the kinds of conditions I saw, and you see that they throw inexperienced divers in the water with dive "masters" who've never even done a single dive in the area, you start to understand that they don't have a very solid focus on safety. And then when you see recreational divers come out of the water terrified for themselves or their loved ones they've seen blown off the dive site, and you see Frank and crew take a totally nonchalant attitude toward such incidents over a period of days, you start to understand that WWDS really doesn't give a **** about safety!