Hello Everyone,
I decided to write this Commentary, after thinking long and hard about a few situations I have seen in the last few months, diving, scheduling events, and talking with The Beach Crabs.
And remember, this is only meant as a guideline and a reminder, of how dangerous our sport is. On the forums, it is fun, informative, and everyone has a great time. This is great for the Surface Interval. We must not loose sight of some serious and dangerous situations that we face every time we gear up, go through the surf, and drop down into the ocean.
We, The Beach Crabs, are doing something wonderful for the dive community. We schedule a variety of dives, picnics, and events. We welcome new divers, as well as seasoned divers, with open arms, to our scheduled functions. Lately we have seen an increase in divers, new inexperienced, semi experienced, and well experienced.
As we grow, we need to do a couple things, to assure we maintain a safe, informative, and welcoming environment, surrounding our activities.
This is very important! Our events are open to anyone that shows up, and wants to dive. So, I thought it would be good to bring to your attention a few factors that need to be considered.
Here are a couple guidelines for attending dives anywhere:
For New Divers
Discuss the particular diving procedures with the more experienced divers, before going. (Gear, buddy checks, signals, emergency procedures, etc.) Be sure you let the other divers know your experience level. Find an experienced buddy to help take you in, and guide you on the dive. (Someone well trained and with experiences enough, to help you. Preferably a Divemaster or Instructor, if this is your first time.) Please announce you plan to attend dives, before hand, because there are not always Divemasters or Instructors attending every dive. If you feel uncertain, at anytime, feel free to call the dive off. We will understand, and it is OK to do so.
Night Dives- Please get enough experience during the daylight hours, as well as, the proper training and advice, before attempting a night dive. Night dives are a whole different level of diving. There are numerous consideration to take into account. Some are lighting, signaling, entry and exits, emergency procedures, navigation, the buddy system, just to name a few of a long list.
For Divers that attend the events regularly
Ask questions! If you are unfamiliar with someones diving skills, ask. Get to know the person you are buddied up with. If you feel you are unqualified to lead them, let them know, and find someone more qualified. If conditions look like they are above your experience level (i.e.-navigation, rescue, conditioning, experience, etc.) call the dive. This is a big part of diving in SoCal. You have to be able to say yes or no, to diving a certain dive site, at the given time.
The #1 rule in our sport, should be:
Don't get too confident! You can never have enough experience! Remember the ocean is strong, unpredictable, and uncaring! We add curves to this, by using gear, and going down where we are the visitor. Think about this!
There is so much more to this subject. I could write for days. I hope this is useful, and that it contributes to our safe practices, having great times, and enjoyment in this beautiful thing we call Diving!
Here is to many more happy, adventurous, and memorable dives and events in the future.
And as always, if anyone has any questions, comments, or complaints, feel free at anytime, to contact me. I will always be here for you.
Thanks,
Rick
I decided to write this Commentary, after thinking long and hard about a few situations I have seen in the last few months, diving, scheduling events, and talking with The Beach Crabs.
And remember, this is only meant as a guideline and a reminder, of how dangerous our sport is. On the forums, it is fun, informative, and everyone has a great time. This is great for the Surface Interval. We must not loose sight of some serious and dangerous situations that we face every time we gear up, go through the surf, and drop down into the ocean.
We, The Beach Crabs, are doing something wonderful for the dive community. We schedule a variety of dives, picnics, and events. We welcome new divers, as well as seasoned divers, with open arms, to our scheduled functions. Lately we have seen an increase in divers, new inexperienced, semi experienced, and well experienced.
As we grow, we need to do a couple things, to assure we maintain a safe, informative, and welcoming environment, surrounding our activities.
This is very important! Our events are open to anyone that shows up, and wants to dive. So, I thought it would be good to bring to your attention a few factors that need to be considered.
Here are a couple guidelines for attending dives anywhere:
For New Divers
Discuss the particular diving procedures with the more experienced divers, before going. (Gear, buddy checks, signals, emergency procedures, etc.) Be sure you let the other divers know your experience level. Find an experienced buddy to help take you in, and guide you on the dive. (Someone well trained and with experiences enough, to help you. Preferably a Divemaster or Instructor, if this is your first time.) Please announce you plan to attend dives, before hand, because there are not always Divemasters or Instructors attending every dive. If you feel uncertain, at anytime, feel free to call the dive off. We will understand, and it is OK to do so.
Night Dives- Please get enough experience during the daylight hours, as well as, the proper training and advice, before attempting a night dive. Night dives are a whole different level of diving. There are numerous consideration to take into account. Some are lighting, signaling, entry and exits, emergency procedures, navigation, the buddy system, just to name a few of a long list.
For Divers that attend the events regularly
Ask questions! If you are unfamiliar with someones diving skills, ask. Get to know the person you are buddied up with. If you feel you are unqualified to lead them, let them know, and find someone more qualified. If conditions look like they are above your experience level (i.e.-navigation, rescue, conditioning, experience, etc.) call the dive. This is a big part of diving in SoCal. You have to be able to say yes or no, to diving a certain dive site, at the given time.
The #1 rule in our sport, should be:
Don't get too confident! You can never have enough experience! Remember the ocean is strong, unpredictable, and uncaring! We add curves to this, by using gear, and going down where we are the visitor. Think about this!
There is so much more to this subject. I could write for days. I hope this is useful, and that it contributes to our safe practices, having great times, and enjoyment in this beautiful thing we call Diving!
Here is to many more happy, adventurous, and memorable dives and events in the future.
And as always, if anyone has any questions, comments, or complaints, feel free at anytime, to contact me. I will always be here for you.
Thanks,
Rick
J/K, seriously though I've never seen this and it's pretty awesome. Super thorough, who taught you this? Props to them and to you for bringing it up. BTW word got around that you kick ass underwater, 
