Scuabamau diving accident

[scubafanatic]

This statement could use some more detail. I have never dived with either and know nothing of these dives. Are you talking about normal recreational dives to the more challenging sites (say Barracuda or Maracaibo), or do you speak of something else?

I've never used this dive op either, but I mainly meant advanced recreational dives to the more challenging sites, just as you suggested. I suppose there are patrons of Scubamau who haven't been outed yet with respect to their profiles......maybe not to 300 or 400 ft deep, but who knows, maybe let's call it 'somewhat beyond 150' that they may have been accustomed to be allowed to do if the shop was comfortable with their abilities. So the question is, what will be the policy to those who may have been used to 'somewhat beyond 150' dives...and what will be the policy to 'not beyond 150' ? Shops specialize to gain an edge, so was this shop reliant on a higher % of more aggressive divers, and if their business model has now changed, will they just become just another unremarkable buried-in-the-pack average Coz dive op ? BTW, I enjoy deep dives, so it would be a shame if there was an overreaction in Cozumel to excessive paranoia and everyone moves to a 50' for 30 min/pod person profile.

 

[Mike]

I've never used this dive op either, but I mainly meant advanced recreational dives to the more challenging sites, just as you suggested. I suppose there are patrons of Scubamau who haven't been outed yet with respect to their profiles......maybe not to 300 or 400 ft deep, but who knows, maybe let's call it 'somewhat beyond 150' that they may have been accustomed to be allowed to do if the shop was comfortable with their abilities. So the question is, what will be the policy to those who may have been used to 'somewhat beyond 150' dives...and what will be the policy to 'not beyond 150' ? Shops specialize to gain an edge, so was this shop reliant on a higher % of more aggressive divers, and if their business model has now changed, will they just become just another unremarkable buried-in-the-pack average Coz dive op ? BTW, I enjoy deep dives, so it would be a shame if there was an overreaction in Cozumel to excessive paranoia and everyone moves to a 50' for 30 min/pod person profile.

I must be really naive. I had no idea there was a secret dive club in Cozumel

 

[Okie Mike]

Opal's Dream Dive Shop should move to keep the goodwill that exists on TripAdvisor.com under the name "Scubamau". That goodwill does not belong to the new "Scubamau". Another interesting question is who gets the web domain (which houses the current email addresses as well)? The traffic generated by these items is huge and should not be ignored. There is so much more to a name now than there used to be.

When I dove with them in August, I emailed with Opal, but once I got there, Victor handled everything (very well, I might add). Opal will be missed for sure, but with proper marketing, the shop can survive.

 

[Texas Torpedo]

I must be really naive. I had no idea there was a secret dive club in Cozumel

Of course there is.. You must have not dove enough locally.. Believe it or not.. It's not just a Cozumel thing..

 

[Laurie S.]

Opal's Dream Dive Shop. Has some nice artwork for the logo.

Wow, I was going to suggest Opal's Dream as a possible name. Cool, I like it!

 

[Laurie S.]

Laurie, they are still monitoring Opal's email address, if you did not get a response, I would try again, it might not have gotten through to them.

I dove with the Boyz this past week, bittersweet for me because my communications began with Opal in July and I just fell in love with her personality via email and couldn't wait to meet her. They were very professional in how they handled communicating the accident to me and that along with wanting to help keep Opal's Dream going for a lady I'm sad I didn't get to meet, I dove with them and had the best experience. Victor, Joseph, Eddie, Julio, Monkey and everyone else...they took excellent care of us and I'm looking forward to diving with them for many years to come

I'll keep trying and will also try reaching Victor on facebook. We're not in Cozumel until the first week in January, so I have plenty of time. Thanks!

 

[DandyDon]

I'll keep trying and will also try reaching Victor on facebook. We're not in Cozumel until the first week in January, so I have plenty of time. Thanks!

Victor posted the new shop sign on FB. Is this the profile you are messaging? https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002091799219

I am having some acceptance issues with the name and sign. I guess it's okay, but seems off to me.

 

[Laurie S.]

I just sent him a private message on facebook and did a friend request. I like the name, but not the logo so much.

 

[Simon-]

I have no knowledge of the old shop or the people, but going on the proposed name and logo, it seems a bit "wishy-washy".

 

[ggunn]

I've never used this dive op either, but I mainly meant advanced recreational dives to the more challenging sites, just as you suggested. I suppose there are patrons of Scubamau who haven't been outed yet with respect to their profiles......maybe not to 300 or 400 ft deep, but who knows, maybe let's call it 'somewhat beyond 150' that they may have been accustomed to be allowed to do if the shop was comfortable with their abilities. So the question is, what will be the policy to those who may have been used to 'somewhat beyond 150' dives...and what will be the policy to 'not beyond 150' ? Shops specialize to gain an edge, so was this shop reliant on a higher % of more aggressive divers, and if their business model has now changed, will they just become just another unremarkable buried-in-the-pack average Coz dive op ? BTW, I enjoy deep dives, so it would be a shame if there was an overreaction in Cozumel to excessive paranoia and everyone moves to a 50' for 30 min/pod person profile.

On the other hand, and I don't have a dog in this hunt, it could be a wake up call to all the dive ops as to their exposure to liability when they take customers on dives that are beyond what maybe should be their acceptable level of risk. I don't think that taking excessive chances with death and disability defines a dive op as being "remarkable", at least not in a positive way. As others in this thread have pointed out, there are ways to do extreme diving with precautions and equipment in place and with divers who have experience with those measures where the risk is mitigated, but what happened this time, with these divers, on this dive, wasn't it. If what happened here has the effect of making dive ops take a long hard look at their policies, both official and unofficial, and conduct themselves in a safer manner, then that, at least, is a positive result, IMO. YMMV and DSFDF.