Sueno Del Mar Dive Resort Roatan, Honduras On Feb 17/15 we (4 of us) arrived on Roatan and went to look for a Dive shop.We came upon Sueno Del Mar Dive Resort and while asking our usual questions, we asked how many would be diving the next morning.We were told by Ray (owner) that there were 4 people from the Cruise ship ((1 Diver (Father) 3 snorkelers(Mother and 2 kids)). Next morning we arrived with our C cards and filled out the necessary papers. Soon after more Divers were coming in, by this time there were 13 total and we were still waiting for the 4 from the cruise ship.The Dive Instructor (Stuart) seemed flustered and was yelling at staff to fill bottles and get other gear ready. He came and spoke to us about the amount of people and asked us not to judge them solely by how things were this morning, We actually thought that he was going to tell us that he wouldn't be able to accommodate us and we would need to book in at another time.Stuart said he knew it was a lot of people and had given the other Dive Master the day off.He felt it would be ok because he had an "honorary" Dive Master to help him, only because this man had been coming there for 16 years to Dive with them. We proceeded with loading the skiff with equipment, our friend who had only 14 dives and had not dove for over a year,was instructed by Stuart to put his rental regulator & BCD on his tank.He was struggling with the proper steps and was promptly yelled at by Stuart for not knowing how to hook up the gear properly.I have never seen a Dive company belittle a diver in front of people, this type of behavior was inappropriate and does not build confidence.After waiting an hour for the Cruise ship guests to arrive and outfit them with gear we were finally loading everyone on the boat.The family was seated on the bow. We sat at the back of the boat next to the Boat Captain and Dive Master.As we headed out from the dock, within a few minutes the Boat Captain was concerned with the weight of all the equipment and people on the boat (17 total including 3 guys who had just completed their OW certification).The wind was picking up and the swells were getting larger.As we continued the waves were coming over the sides and we were taking on water.The DM and BC were now arguing.The BC told the DM that he(Stuart) "Was putting people's lives in F*****g danger and that we should go back". Stuart told the BC that he had done this before and bullied the BC ,and took over the operating of the boat.My husband said to Stuart" This may be a poor time to ask you where the life jackets are, but where are they?" Stuart responded with "Your BCD's are your lifejackets" We noticed that the divers behind us had put on their BCDs. One of our lady friends was going to snorkel, she was not offered a life jacket. We proceeded through the buoys on the reef and Stuart tried to turn the boat to the left so we could continue over to the other side of the island.When he did this, there wasn't enough power and the boat was swamped by a big wave.Stuart yelled put your BCDs on and as the boat started to sink he yelled stand up.The boat filled with water and capsized. The BC turned the air on to my tank just seconds before we went down. The children and the Mother thankfully had life jackets on, however the kids were screaming and crying while bobbing on the surface. Our lady friend without alife jacket was pulled onto the capsized boat by the DM, but he swam to the rescue boat as soon as they arrived and she was knocked off from the top of the boat by another wave. Our other friend without a lifejacket was told to hang onto another diver.There were 3 rescue boats that were there immediately, Our friends without life jackets were taken on the rescue boat while the divers with their inflated BCDs floated.Even during this rescue I could hear Stuart arguing with Ray(boat captain of one of the rescue boats) about gathering the floating personal items. Ray said "I amlooking after rescuing people not the stuff".My husband and I were the last to be brought out of the water.My husband was brought in the boat with all gear attached. They attempted to bring me over the side but it wasn't working so I unclipped my BCD and tank and then I was brought in by the motor.I assumed they grabbed my gear and put it on the boat.Once on shore, we began retrieving gear that had been washed to shore and also picked up by 4 guys in Kayaks. We retrieved most of our gear and personal items, minus my new regulator.Someone had shut off my tank and removed my regulator and first stage, but left my new BCD on the tank before it reached the shore.Immediately we spoke with a police officer on the beach about what had happened, also spoke with a diver that was out retrieving gear.No one seemed overly concerned about it.As gear was coming in, I was standing beside the DM and when he found his gear he commented that he was glad he got his stuff back because it was worth $1600. I Couldn't believe he was more concerned about his gear than he was about the well being of the survivors. After about an hour we were transported back to the dive shop in the back of a small truck.On Feb 19/2015 morning we went to the dive shop to find out what they intended to do about our lost/stolen gear and belongings. The DM said to us " I take full responsibility for what happened yesterday" but neither the Owner, DM, or staff even expressed an "We are sorry" and they seemed more concerned about their boat and gear that was rocking in the waves on the reef.They replaced small items, such as towels, masks, fins but were dragging out the time to replace the first stage and regulator, with the story that they had an idea who had the regulator and had put the word out that the Dive shop would like to buy it back.They did order/ and shipped a replacement to our home, but not without the persistence of us coming into their shop every couple of days over a 3 week period.After much reflection and discussion about everything that went wrong that morning and what we have all learned.We are incensed that it just seems business as usual, the DM still has his job, and that this "mishap" was treated so casually. This could have turned out very badly, with injuries or possibly death.We trust Dive Shops and Dive Masters to a certain extent to exercise good judgment and safety to be a top priority on land and while diving.This PADI endorsed shop failed miserably.We trust shops with this designation to uphold standards and to ignore this incident is negligent.We were told this is not the first time that one of their dive boats has sank, clearly history is just repeating without a plan to prevent further incidents.Nothing will change if people don't speak up and report dangerous practices!!!
All in all we should have not went out that day - all the warning signs were there we were just eager to dive as we just arrived on the island and the first time we were in the water was when the boat capsized.
We had a great trip to Roatan after switching to another dive op.
All in all we should have not went out that day - all the warning signs were there we were just eager to dive as we just arrived on the island and the first time we were in the water was when the boat capsized.
We had a great trip to Roatan after switching to another dive op.
