Reminder of boat etiquette as we emerge from covid

[chillyinCanada]

Exactly. Last time I did a cattle boat was in 1997. That was for OW checkout. That was enough for me. 6 packs or private boats for me after that.

I was about to say that I didn't think that I had ever been diving off of a cattle boat but then I remembered Koh Tao. A very long time ago

 

[Joneill]

Imagine bringing one of those big rolling bags on a Great Lakes 6 pack. Barely enough room for divers and their gear, let alone those big ass bags. Pretty much tells you who is a warm water diver. The locals all have soft sized bags or maybe a small crate.

As someone who has stated they never have or will dive in warm water, why would you think that bringing big roller bags on boats is a warm water diver thing?

I’m a warm water diver and I’ve never seen anyone bring a big roller bag on a boat. Not a lot of gear needed for warm water diving vs the frigid conditions that you prefer!

 

[100days-a-year]

Milk crates and 5 gallon buckets are pretty common with my warm water friends. Everything you need in gear can fit in either and they have a small footprint.
Wetsuit over your shoulder and speargun in one hand and gear in the other and you are pretty mobile.
If I was ever to travel internationally or use a cattle boat I'd probably get a softside bag. I had one for a few years but normally swapped gear from it to milk crate at the beginning of the trip.

 

[yle]

As someone who has stated they never have or will dive in warm water, why would you think that bringing big roller bags on boats is a warm water diver thing?

I’m a warm water diver and I’ve never seen anyone bring a big roller bag on a boat. Not a lot of gear needed for warm water diving vs the frigid conditions that you prefer!

"Pretty much tells you who is a warm water diver" I think what Marie meant by this is there are people in her area (i.e. the Great Lakes) that dive mostly warm water on vacation, so they don't know the local custom. When these people try to dive locally, they might bring a large bag to the dive boat, simply because they're not familiar with local custom... not because they necessarily use a large roller bag when they dive in warm water. Quite the opposite, in fact: I'm sure most "warm water divers", as they would be referred to by the locals, dive on vacation where their gear is mostly rented, so they wouldn't need to bring any gear bag on the boat.

Just my interpretation; I might be completely wrong.

 

[yle]

I was recently on Bonaire and, as usual, did some boat dives with Dive Friends. There were quite a few new employees due to the pandemic, in addition to people I knew from previous trips. My habit is to splash first or early and meet the group under the boat, usually 5-10 minutes later.

On one trip, the guide for the 1st dive was a young woman who I did not know. Before back rolling, I told her that I would see her under the boat. She replied that it was not allowed and that we would descend as a group. Fortunately for me, the other employee, who knew me well, overheard the conversation and intervened. If that had not happened, I would have been forced to comply with her rule. I saw her a couple more times over the 2 weeks and we became pretty friendly. Clearly, she was only trying to enforce the procedures she was taught by her employer.

To be fair, it's proper dive etiquette to clear this kind of thing with a guide before doing it, and certainly before announcing it in front of other guests. (If there were no guests besides your group, then this issue isn't as relevant.) It could put the guide in an awkward position if they then have to explain to the inexperienced divers in the group why they're not allowed to follow you under the boat, and instead have to wait for the guide on the surface.

I've rarely met a dive guide that had trouble sorting out which divers in their group required more attention and which didn't need so much. A good dive guide does this surreptitiously, and I'm always careful not to blow their cover.

 

[chillyinCanada]

To be fair, it's proper dive etiquette to clear this kind of thing with a guide before doing it, and certainly before announcing it in front of other guests. (If there were no guests besides your group, then this issue isn't as relevant.) It could put the guide in an awkward position if they then have to explain to the inexperienced divers in the group why they're not allowed to follow you under the boat, and instead have to wait for the guide on the surface.

I've rarely met a dive guide that had trouble sorting out which divers in their group required more attention and which didn't need so much. A good dive guide does this surreptitiously, and I'm always careful not to blow their cover.

Sounds like a good plan that any savvy diver would follow.

 

[Jaan]

We also love it when getting back to the boat with ample air the guide would help those with low air up and let us explore a bit longer under the boat. Especially in the clear 100+ viz low/no current areas where you can easily see the boat from the bottom and you're over a shallow reef. Nice to make the most of the dive and those few extra (less crowded) minutes is always a treat