Russian honeymooner missing - Thailand

[Phil_C]

There is obviously a lot of missing information here - and I think that critical amongst the things I would like to know would be group sizes and buddy arrangements. It isn't clear if his wife was also a qualified and experienced diver, but I would have assumed that on a "honeymoon dive" they would have buddied together and been diving as a pair.

So at the least she would know when they had become separated and if she had witnessed something happening before losing sign of him. I am surprised that if they were diving as a buddy pair she didn't raise the alarm earlier if they had become separated and she could not re-locate him. Sadly as they are Russian we may never know for sure due to the language difficulties, and she or the other divers are unlikely to make comments in any forum which is in English.

I know dive training is supposed to be universal but when I returned to diving I initially trained (and still dive) with a Russian owned and operated dive centre (last dive with them was yesterday). We see many divers trained in Russia and there is a very macho and Gung Ho attitude to many of them with scant regard paid to tables, depths and dive times. I know this was a shallow dive, in a relatively benign environment, and we do not yet have any idea what happened, but it may be that 150 plus dives and own gear does not necessarily equate to good diving skills. I will ask a Russian instructor I know if anything has filtered back through the Russian message boards and so on, but as this was a recreational dive abroad they may not have picked anything up either. - Phil.

 

[mrx3000]

So are the groups diving in buddy pairs or small groups?

Virtually all diving is in small groups (if you pick a right dive shop, you could be one on one with your dive guide). Russian-led dive shops seem to be quite busy, so "1 on 1" is unlikely, you would most likely see a group of 4-5 divers with a guide. There is probably not a whole lot of "buddy discipline" - everyone relies on the guide to take care of them.

As a slight aside, on my last dive in Thailand (just a few weeks ago) there was a number of Russian groups (i.e. both guide and divers). One group that sat next to me, 4 or 5 divers (2 couples and may be one more, not sure) were either on "discover scuba" or may be their first open water dive with one instructor/guide for all of them, from what I overheard during their dive briefing. Their instructor was an extremely cheerful and confident girl - good thing, I suppose. I was a bit worried for them. Conditions that day were not all that benign - we had sporadic strong current (strong enough that all you could do is grab a rock and hold), it also brought some really cold water and what looked like a flurry, visibility going to almost zero from time to time. Dive depths about 60' or so.

 

[Phil_C]

As a slight aside, on my last dive in Thailand (just a few weeks ago) there was a number of Russian groups (i.e. both guide and divers). One group that sat next to me, 4 or 5 divers (2 couples and may be one more, not sure) were either on "discover scuba" or may be their first open water dive with one instructor/guide for all of them, from what I overheard during their dive briefing. Their instructor was an extremely cheerful and confident girl - good thing, I suppose. I was a bit worried for them. Conditions that day were not all that benign - we had sporadic strong current (strong enough that all you could do is grab a rock and hold), it also brought some really cold water and what looked like a flurry, visibility going to almost zero from time to time. Dive depths about 60' or so.

And that just frightens the life out of me ! discover scuba should be at a ratio of no more than 4:1 I think according to PADI standards but I would have thought this unrealistic in any other than really benign waters. And surely your last comment about dive depths of 60' cannot be allowable according to any agency standards and certainly not safe for a DSD type diver.

Throw in poor visibility, strong currents and cold water and you have conditions I would not consider suitable for DSD or even OW first dives if they haven't been prepared. I also see this sort of thing often, so I guess it is no wonder that there are frequent unnecessary diving related accidents and incidents.

But back to this particular incident - I had dinner with a couple of the Russian staff and instructors last night and nothing has filtered onto the networks or message boards they use - so nothing useful has come out yet to throw any light on what may have happened here. - Phil.

 

[fich777]

It isn't clear if his wife was also a qualified and experienced diver, but I would have assumed that on a "honeymoon dive" they would have buddied together and been diving as a pair.

I'm from his family... We are all still in shock.
His wife is not a diver, she never been even on a boat. I do know exactly about that day, but usually she waits him in a hotel. Actually it was not real "honeymoon", they've been together a very very long time, so this dive was not a special one.

 

[jord1990]

Did they find the body? And what about currents at that spot ? I find it odd if they haven't found anything in such a shallow location. Is there a possibility that he wanted to disappear?

Jord

Sent from my HTC One X+ using Tapatalk

 

[fich777]

Did they find the body?

Yes, some days ago. In 100+ kilometers from the site. Aqualung and suite were there too...

 

[chillyinCanada]

100+ kilometers?! Wow. Are they sure they know where they lost him in the first place? Must have been more current than originally reported. So sorry for your loss, may I hope you can find some small consolation in him having been recovered.