Scuba Knife, Scuba Shears, Dive Gloves in Cozumel???

[tridacna]

Hi Daniel. Your profile shows you have very few dives. Nit-picking would not be necessary to anyone with any amount of dive experience to know that hoods are just fine and to know that there are endless debates about gloves (and to a lesser extent knives) on a protected reef. There is no reason to wear a hood but for warmth....at least, I can't think of one.

When I go to Cozumel, I use my hood to prevent my head from butting into the reef or to hold onto sponges for that perfect photo moment. I oftentimes fill it with sand or rocks if I need ballast to prevent a runaway ascent. It's also useful to use as a parachute to slow you down when you descend. I stuff my backup light inside and voila I have a miner's lamp! There are umpteen uses for your hood - it's not just warmth you know... :shocked2:

 

[MMM]

When I go to Cozumel, I use my hood to prevent my head from butting into the reef or to hold onto sponges for that perfect photo moment. I oftentimes fill it with sand or rocks if I need ballast to prevent a runaway ascent. It's also useful to use as a parachute to slow you down when you descend. I stuff my backup light inside and voila I have a miner's lamp! There are umpteen uses for your hood - it's not just warmth you know... :shocked2:

Heh! Then there are there is the ability to not hear quackers and other chest-thumping "look here's". Or your computer's warnings. The air that fills up (if you haven't got an exhaust) to make you look very "pointy-headed". But these aren't my main reasons....

 

[pidgiepoo]

When I go to Cozumel, I use my hood to prevent my head from butting into the reef or to hold onto sponges for that perfect photo moment. I oftentimes fill it with sand or rocks if I need ballast to prevent a runaway ascent. It's also useful to use as a parachute to slow you down when you descend. I stuff my backup light inside and voila I have a miner's lamp! There are umpteen uses for your hood - it's not just warmth you know... :shocked2:

This post has turned into quite a discussion about hoods. I was just wondering if using your hood to hold onto sponges for a photo could damage the sponge? I'm not a photographer, so would have no reason to use a hood for this purpose. Also,it wouldn't be realistic for me to fill a hood with rocks/sand for weight(?) purposes.I'd forget it was there and have it in my eyes/mouth when I took the hood off.
Daniel-I'm 60 years old and "culd cair les bout mi englsh". I just enjoy reading the posts on Scubaboard and occasionally participate for fun. Your "nit picking" will not deter me from joining in, but it will make me try to do better in the future. Of course, that will depend on if I remember to take my Aricept before I get on the computer.

 

[daniel1948]

Language is, of course, a living, changing thing, and grammar and usage change with time. Some folks insist on "correct" usage, while others feel it doesn't matter. My quarrel with common internet practice is when people write rapidly and then post without reading what they've just written, and the result is they sometimes say just the opposite of what they intended to say. The purpose of language is communication, and careless writing often flies wide of its mark.

I could not imagine why hoods would be discouraged, but when someone writes that gloves and hoods are both allowed only for warmth, I do a double-take and wonder "HUH???" There'd be less misunderstanding and a higher quality of discourse if people read what they'd typed before posting.

 

[Christi]

So this is a reef protection issue? This is such a BS rule.

Here's what they should regulate instead: Divers who don't tie off their SPGs, computers, octos and dangling cameras. These morons float above the reef destroying corals, sponges and almost everything else in their wake. I've seen this so many times, it's sick. And what makes it worse is that often the gear is rented out by those same sanctimonious folks who tell everyone not to carry a knife.

How about regulating morons who can't control their initial descent and go crashing into whatever is below the boat. And then fin violently away from the debris.

I've been diving for a long time. I have never yet seen a diver use their knife as an anchor in the sand. What an absolutely BS rule.

Just as the DM's are supposed to enforce the marine park regulations, they should also be sure their divers aren't dangling and dragging on the reef.

As far as out of control and inexperienced divers go, we don't know how good/or bad a diver is until we get them in the water. I do have a policy that I am very strict about...and that is that all new divers with less than 15 ocean dives must go with a private DM for at least the first day. After that, we reserve the right to require them to dive with a private DM based on how they do. We've also been known to require a private DM after the first day with a more "experienced" diver who had such buoyancy control issues. Of course if they aren't honest with me about their experience when they fill out their paperwork or communicate with me via e-mail, there's nothing we can do about it until we see for ourselves.

 

[don Francisco]

Adding to what Christi's said, One may not dive in the marine park except with a DM authorized to take divers into the park. The DM's are expected to enforce the rules, which may place them in the uncomfortable position of playing cop to their clients.

It isn't only an issue of park rules. The reefs in Cozumel are the major source of liveliood for the residents of this island, and the DM's are the custodians. They have a vested interest in keeping the reef healthy and beautiful for generations to come, while we're only visiting for a few days and may never come back.

In any case we're guests in their park and should not only be mindful of the rules, but conduct ourselves with the same level of respect as we would when visiting someone's home.

 

[BTravlin]

Adding to what Christi's said, One may not dive in the marine park except with a DM authorized to take divers into the park. The DM's are expected to enforce the rules, which may place them in the uncomfortable position of playing cop to their clients.

It isn't only an issue of park rules. The reefs in Cozumel are the major source of liveliood for the residents of this island, and the DM's are the custodians. They have a vested interest in keeping the reef healthy and beautiful for generations to come, while we're only visiting for a few days and may never come back.

In any case we're guests in their park and should not only be mindful of the rules, but conduct ourselves with the same level of respect as we would when visiting someone's home.

I for one would not want to be in the position of the DM's. They have to enforce the rules and protect the park that is their own backyard and they have to do this by correcting their customer's poor habits or skills. This has to be exceedingly tough to do when a large portion of your income depends on tips. Yes, a lot of people will take a thoughtful tip or constructive criticism in the appropriate manner and change their behavior accordingly while others, being the idiots they are, will react negatively. The poor reaction on the part of the idiot then hangs a dark cloud over the rest of the day. Odds are the idiot will stiff the DM on the tip too. Just one of the many reasons I'll remain merely a receational diver.

 

[tridacna]

Just as the DM's are supposed to enforce the marine park regulations, they should also be sure their divers aren't dangling and dragging on the reef.

As far as out of control and inexperienced divers go, we don't know how good/or bad a diver is until we get them in the water. I do have a policy that I am very strict about...and that is that all new divers with less than 15 ocean dives must go with a private DM for at least the first day. After that, we reserve the right to require them to dive with a private DM based on how they do. We've also been known to require a private DM after the first day with a more "experienced" diver who had such buoyancy control issues. Of course if they aren't honest with me about their experience when they fill out their paperwork or communicate with me via e-mail, there's nothing we can do about it until we see for ourselves.

I've dived with you so I know that you (for one) are not part of the problem. My issue is a blanket ban on knives and gloves thinking that that will solve some kind of problem. The reef damage caused by divers with no buoyancy control or dragging their octos and SPGs all over the reef is clearly greater. If you are going to regulate, do it the right way. Have DMs check that divers do not enter with dangling equipment. Have a few cheapo octo ties available before they sink. I get so frustrated watching these goofballs decimate corals and sponges after I've been told to leave my knife broadsides.

Yeah, we're pretty snappy up here in the NE with -20 degree weather...

 

[MMM]

Well, it was -42C here today with the windchill. You want to see snappy...

 

[FishOutUvH2O]

I do have a policy that I am very strict about...and that is that all new divers with less than 15 ocean dives must go with a private DM for at least the first day.

I hear you've even required newly certified divers to do "check-out" dives before you'll let them out with a group?!?!

. . . Of course if they aren't honest with me about their experience when they fill out their paperwork or communicate with me via e-mail. . .

Come on now, nobody lies like that! And if someone did lie like that, they could probably expect to get a stern lecture from Pedro Pablo the entire way out to Palancar. . . I'm just saying that's what might happen if someone were to do that!:blinking: