Training Scuba Ranch Incident Report

[Pi_grim]

I was there today. 3' vis at the boat. On a Friday. With no classes and no one else in the water

Visibility varies depending on depth and other factors (from terrible to not as terrible, lol) but I’ve never seen Athens as a better alternative and I am equidistant from both.

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To your question: they lost a student - that's negligent. Whether or not that negligence contributed to her death is tbd, but on it's own, that's negligence.

I don’t disagree that someone was negligent. That much is abundantly clear, a family lost their child because of that negligence.
My point is that ScubaToys didn’t lose a student, their instructor did. That is not to say they’re not negligent. I’m not a lawyer, but in my opinion, the instructor is clearly the negligent party. I don’t know, and have seen no information to clarify, how their instructors are hired or vetted.

As you mentioned, factual information regarding this incident has been painfully difficult to gather. Nothing on the local news, a virtual blackout on social media platforms, including the axing of the original thread on this platform and little more than opinion and conjecture with the exception being the police report from this thread.

I found a mask and snorkel out there a couple of weeks ago, in the area of the incident, and can’t help but wonder if it was hers.

 

[kammel78]

I don’t disagree that someone was negligent. That much is abundantly clear, a family lost their child because of that negligence.
My point is that ScubaToys didn’t lose a student, their instructor did. That is not to say they’re not negligent. I’m not a lawyer, but in my opinion, the instructor is clearly the negligent party. I don’t know, and have seen no information to clarify, how their instructors are hired or vetted.

As you mentioned, factual information regarding this incident has been painfully difficult to gather. Nothing on the local news, a virtual blackout on social media platforms, including the axing of the original thread on this platform and little more than opinion and conjecture with the exception being the police report from this thread.

I found a mask and snorkel out there a couple of weeks ago, in the area of the incident, and can’t help but wonder if it was hers.

Does the report mention actions by Scuba Toys? No. Does common sense and the shop's reputation predispose people to assume that they have some negligence? You've read the comments in the other thread.

How do you know where the incident was?

They recovered her mask, snorkel and weight belt on 8/19, so unless you found and turned them in between 8/16 and 8/19, no.

 

[Pi_grim]

Does the report mention actions by Scuba Toys? No. Does common sense and the shop's reputation predispose people to assume that they have some negligence? You've read the comments in the other thread.

How do you know where the incident was?

I was across the lake at the northernmost pavilion

They recovered her mask, snorkel and weight belt on 8/19, so unless you found and turned them in between 8/16 and 8/19, no.

How do you know this to be accurate?

 

[kammel78]

I was across the lake at the northernmost pavilion

How do you know this to be accurate?

It's in the incident report.

Could you tell anything about when they started looking for her?

 

[Diver566]

This is laughable. Scuba Ranch may not be Caribbean quality diving but suggesting that Athens is an improvement is ridiculous.

Please explain how ScubaToys is negligent based on information in the report.

How is it laughable? Athens has 30 wrecks, SR has like 5 vis was 15 feet yesterday which is better that SR ever has been. Zero accidents in the 40 years it's been opened when SR has had 3+ deaths. There's a dive shop at Athens instead of just a shack to check in at. There's bright orange ropes connecting wrecks at Athens. I can't see anything SR has over Athens other than you can dive deeper but when you can't see more than 2 feet past 30 feet what's the point?

 

[Pi_grim]

It's in the incident report.

Could you tell anything about when they started looking for her?

When we arrived at the check-in a deputy pulled through behind us. The girl at the counter was outside and she told us someone was “missing off of the ScubaToys dock.”
We moved down to the north pavilion and by the time we had geared up the helicopter was arriving. Helicopter took off, we jumped in and when we surfaced, someone told us they were shutting it down for the day.

On the way out we spoke with someone that was there the entire time of the event and pretty much everything he told us was bs which is one of the reasons for my skepticism.
I logged 6-8 foot vis that day and I was in the top third of the water column, presumably similar to what the victim was in.

I see the recovery of the gear a couple of days later in the report, I missed it the first time. Thanks for pointing that out.

FWIW I was at Athens in late July and logged 4-6 vis. Athens does have more “wrecks” but it has zero fish or plant life. Sighting an occasional turtle would be considered a great day.

To each their own….

 

[Diver566]

When we arrived at the check-in a deputy pulled through behind us. The girl at the counter was outside and she told us someone was “missing off of the ScubaToys dock.”
We moved down to the north pavilion and by the time we had geared up the helicopter was arriving. Helicopter took off, we jumped in and when we surfaced, someone told us they were shutting it down for the day.

On the way out we spoke with someone that was there the entire time of the event and pretty much everything he told us was bs which is one of the reasons for my skepticism.
I logged 6-8 foot vis that day and I was in the top third of the water column, presumably similar to what the victim was in.

I see the recovery of the gear a couple of days later in the report, I missed it the first time. Thanks for pointing that out.

FWIW I was at Athens in late July and logged 4-6 vis. Athens does have more “wrecks” but it has zero fish or plant life. Sighting an occasional turtle would be considered a great day.

To each their own….

I agree the vis wasnt great at ASP in the summer months but that's just due to rainfall amount they had. Vis was 30 feet in April, and it was 15 feet yesterday when my wife and I went. So if you just plan your dives accordingly instead of just showing up out of the blue and check their posted conditions on their site, you'll have a better experience. Yeah they don't have fish but they do have lots of turtles through the tire graveyard. We saw at least 10 back in April. Crawfish only really come out at night there but there are hundreds. New owners are great too. Not trying to glaze them or the park but new walk in shore diving area is nice and the new bright ropes with wreck tag info is a nice touch. We also go to SR at least once a year for a deeper dive and we haven't had much luck with finding a good day of vis. Last time I called SR about conditions they said it was 15 ft then we get out there and it's less than 5. Kinda salty on the misleading conditions we were told but probably won't go back until the vis gets better if it ever does.. Not a bad facility by any means just my personal opinion Athens has more to offer and is safer for newer divers or anyone in general. Hope this accident hasn't hurt SR too much because the owners are very friendly and would like to go back at some point when it's clearer

 

[kammel78]

When we arrived at the check-in a deputy pulled through behind us. The girl at the counter was outside and she told us someone was “missing off of the ScubaToys dock.”
We moved down to the north pavilion and by the time we had geared up the helicopter was arriving. Helicopter took off, we jumped in and when we surfaced, someone told us they were shutting it down for the day.

On the way out we spoke with someone that was there the entire time of the event and pretty much everything he told us was bs which is one of the reasons for my skepticism.
I logged 6-8 foot vis that day and I was in the top third of the water column, presumably similar to what the victim was in.

I see the recovery of the gear a couple of days later in the report, I missed it the first time. Thanks for pointing that out.

FWIW I was at Athens in late July and logged 4-6 vis. Athens does have more “wrecks” but it has zero fish or plant life. Sighting an occasional turtle would be considered a great day.

To each their own….

What was the version of events you heard from the person there and what led you to believe it was bs?

Only issue I have with Athens is the owner. IYKYK

 

[Diver566]

What was the version of events you heard from the person there and what led you to believe it was bs?

Only issue I have with Athens is the owner. IYKYK

The original owners have retired and is run by guy named Alex now. If the new owner is who you're talking about I'm curious cuz he seemed super friendly and knowledgeable when I talked to him lol. Old owner was kind of a nut, never really cared for him. He retired after his TV show came out apparently. Havnt seen him in years over there.

 

[kammel78]

The original owners have retired and is run by guy named Alex now. If the new owner is who you're talking about I'm curious cuz he seemed super friendly and knowledgeable when I talked to him lol. Old owner was kind of a nut, never really cared for him. He retired after his TV show came out apparently. Havnt seen him in years over there.

Calvin Wilcher. You can look him up.