Scare in the Caribbean

[ehallman]

Here is a short scary story for you all. I was diving 3 weeks ago in the caribbean at a major resort, about 4 miles out on a wreck in about 60 feet of water. Almost all the divers where on their first resort dive( 7 people) We went down for around 20-30 minutes when the instructor signaled for everyone to surface.

We surfaced to find our dive boat gone. The boat pilot took off. We could see him very far away on the horizon about a mile away. He couldn't see us. Then he disappears. Luckily we had the wreck buoy to hang onto. About an hour goes by and we hear someone yelling in the water. It was one the guys on our dive boat, we had thought he surfaced with his wife who was having problems and re-boarded the boat.

The instructors had no idea the guy was out there and neither did we. He was out drifting on his own. Now after about an hour, a storm hit, with driving rain and 8-10 foot swells which lasted a good half hour.

After about 2.5 hours in the water, we were finally rescued, the dive boat pilot's only explanation was that he attempted to go after a buoy that came loose. (At least that is what the resort told us) We never got a satisfactory answer as to why we were left.

If it were you, what action would you take against them?

 

[ronbeau]

Here is a short scary story for you all. I was diving 3 weeks ago in the Caribbean at a major resort, about 4 miles out on a wreck in about 60 feet of water. Almost all the divers where on their first resort dive( 7 people) We went down for around 20-30 minutes when the instructor signaled for everyone to surface.

We surfaced to find our dive boat gone. The boat pilot took off. We could see him very far away on the horizon about a mile away. He couldn't see us. Then he disappears. Luckily we had the wreck buoy to hang onto. About an hour goes by and we hear someone yelling in the water. It was one the guys on our dive boat, we had thought he surfaced with his wife who was having problems and re-boarded the boat.

The instructors had no idea the guy was out there and neither did we. He was out drifting on his own. Now after about an hour, a storm hit, with driving rain and 8-10 foot swells which lasted a good half hour.

After about 2.5 hours in the water, we were finally rescued, the dive boat pilot's only explanation was that he attempted to go after a buoy that came loose. (At least that is what the resort told us) We never got a satisfactory answer as to why we were left.

If it were you, what action would you take against them?

I would never dive with them again. I am surprised you did not mention the name of the dive operator so other people will not have to learn the hard way.

 

[Missdirected]

I certainly wouldn't be paying for the trip. Did you use a card? I read a couple other posts of yours.... What is the name of this company? Are they headquartered in the US? Have you tried calling the company? How long did it originally take the boat to get you to the dive site? When you were rescued was it the same boat that had dropped you off?

 

[StreetDoctor]

please post names!

 

[ScubaSteve]

Here is a short scary story for you all. I was diving 3 weeks ago in the caribbean at a major resort, about 4 miles out on a wreck in about 60 feet of water. Almost all the divers where on their first resort dive( 7 people) We went down for around 20-30 minutes when the instructor signaled for everyone to surface.

We surfaced to find our dive boat gone. The boat pilot took off. We could see him very far away on the horizon about a mile away. He couldn't see us. Then he disappears. Luckily we had the wreck buoy to hang onto. About an hour goes by and we hear someone yelling in the water. It was one the guys on our dive boat, we had thought he surfaced with his wife who was having problems and re-boarded the boat.

The instructors had no idea the guy was out there and neither did we. He was out drifting on his own. Now after about an hour, a storm hit, with driving rain and 8-10 foot swells which lasted a good half hour.

After about 2.5 hours in the water, we were finally rescued, the dive boat pilot's only explanation was that he attempted to go after a buoy that came loose. (At least that is what the resort told us) We never got a satisfactory answer as to why we were left.

If it were you, what action would you take against them?

Some things I am curious to know.

1. Who was the resort and operator.
2. Where was the wife of the guy who was floating on his own that you thought got onto the boat?
3. Did the guy swim back to the buoy when you saw him? Did the DM go to help him? Was he in distress?
4. Why did the DM call the dive at 20-30 minutes?
5. What was the surface like when you entered the water? Did the 10' swells come up immediately after 1 hour on the buoy?
6. The storm lasted half an hour so the seas must have been very rough when you were rescued. I certainly hope you all had safety sausages and whistles. 10' swells will make it tough to find a diver that breaks loose from the buoy.
7. What buoy came loose for the captain to chase. You were holding onto the wreck buoy. Did they specify?

As said by others and my point # 1, the big question is who was this?

 

[underwasser bolt]

i agree with scubasteve001. too many loose ends that make no sense in this story. makes you wonder . . .

 

[shark_tamer]

If this a PADI resort, I would report them to PADI ... or any other organisation.

We do indeed want to know this center's name ... Isn't what this forum all about ? To let everybody else know about the good and the bad things happening in the scuba community ?

 

[ehallman]

I know everyone wants to know the name of the place, but I can't disclose it at this time for legal reasons. The point of the post was to get advice on what action to take. The bottom line to the story is that pilot of the boat left the dive site for no good reason, he was completely incompetent. He started his engine to go after the mooring buoy, when we were down, then probably thought he made a mistake, stayed away from the site and in the mean time drifted too far away to see us, then the storm hit making it impossible to locate us.

The wife that was onboard went back to the boat because she was too scared to dive once she got in the water. The sea was calm when we went in, and had calmed down immediately after the storm.

 

[ScubaSteve]

I know everyone wants to know the name of the place, but I can't disclose it at this time for legal reasons........

It sounds like you have already decided on a course and taken action if lawyers are involved. Our only option now would be to break the incident down so it could possibly be avoided in the future.

........then the storm hit making it impossible to locate us.

Did the boat not have GPS coordinates on the wreck? If it was too bad for the boat to be in then surely the coast guard would have been called out. I can not imagine anybody saying that it is too bad for a boat but should be fine for a half dozen divers floating on the surface....but then who knows.

 

[Missdirected]

I know everyone wants to know the name of the place, but I can't disclose it at this time for legal reasons.

Hrmmm, I noticed in another post/another thread you were asking about attorney's.... Have you actually started legal action and the attorney has asked you not to speak of the incident or did a particular member of SB tell you to state this?

Anyway, if this is a large company you need to start with the top people there and see where that gets you. Again, are they US based or not? What exactly did the resort say when you told them of this fiasco? Did you book the dive through the resort? What did the instructors, as you stated, have to say while you guys were in the water?