Thoughts after my first time with Aldora

[IncreaseMyT]

That individual and their buddy need to surface when the time comes and get back on the boat.

The problem here is in the Marine Park if you are not coming up next to the SMB then you can get ran over. So the DM is afraid to trust that someone will stay close to the SMB while ascending. Especially since everyone is doing safety stops.

Not saying I don't like your idea, we do it on drift dives in Jupiter all the time, but everyone carries a SMB as well.

So I can see why they don't want people surfacing without them, unless they knew for sure you could stay by the SMB but I can tell you sometimes it is not easy because the current is so much less on the bottom where the DM is holding the reel connected to the SMB.

The trick is, if you're an air hog, just stay 10 feet higher than everyone else on the dive. You don't really need to be right on the bottom anyway, at least not the whole dive.

 

[ryanski]

Good report!

 

[GameChanger]

I have never experienced a Dive Op that mandates going up as a group based upon the lowest remaining air level of a certain diver. I have heard this about Aldora's group ascent protocol over the years and I scratch my head wondering why they have this policy. (It's their biz and their policy and I respect that).

I have used two different Dive Op' s in Coz and probably twenty or so throughout the various venues I have dived in the modern era. (I started diving in 1970). Every pre-dive briefing by every Dive Op I have used clearly states that you dive your air/computer and you AND YOUR BUDDY go up at XXXpsi. They encourage you to shoot your own DSMB, but if you cannot for some reason (another topic...) the DM will shoot his/hers at depth and you ascend and follow along. The Dive Op boat will pick you up separately from the group, who are paying attention to the DM's location and DSMB. (At least that's the plan...those pesky photographers being the exception).

I am a gas hog. I have always been a gas hog. I am very proficient and comfortable shooting my own DSMB from depth or at the SS. To be honest, the "ascend as a group" policy gives me cause to not use a Dive Op, as good and well-reviewed as they may be. It's good to have choices and options though.

JMHO/YMMV

 

[ggunn]

My wife/buddy and I are pretty good on air, but I always have an SMB with me and I deploy it whenever we ascend separated from the group either spatially or temporally. The op we dive with lets buddy pairs ascend when one of them needs to for any reason; last year I had a regulator problem early in a dive and had to call it. We ascended and let the others finish their dive. It works for us.

 

[ReefHound]

The problem here is in the Marine Park if you are not coming up next to the SMB then you can get ran over. So the DM is afraid to trust that someone will stay close to the SMB while ascending. Especially since everyone is doing safety stops.

Seems every op but Aldora manages to do it without divers being run over. The way it works is DM shoots smb and sends LOA buddy team up. Boat captain sees smb and knows to expect divers soon so as soon as they surface he comes over and picks them up. Doesn't matter what the currents or wind is doing, the divers are going to have protection of the marker or the boat. The divers aren't going to have to float over the group for ten minutes until everyone else ascends.

 

[IncreaseMyT]

How does the boat see the buoy though? They could be anywhere, the Captain doesn't know where they will come up, because they are coming up early.

They are used to 55 minute dives, so if you come up at 42 minutes, you're most likely going to come up next to a boat that isn't even yours.

So this poses another risk for operator, they want to get to their diver, but now you are in a spot where another operators divers are going to come up any minute, creating a hazard for others.

I know I have came up next to another boat and got yelled at lol It depends on how bad the current is, in mild current it is not an issue. But if its rocking, you could be a 1/4 mile away from your group in no time.

 

[NDL_Diver]

I don't see it being an issue in Cozumel South to deploy your SMB and go up with a buddy. There are plenty of boats that can pick you up if your dive boat does not see you.

Cozumel North is a different issue. Your dive boat misses your SMB, in 15 minutes you could be lost. While diving North I carry a signal mirror, horn, and a Nautilus locator/marine radio. I don't carry my Nautilus on Cozumel South but have it in ghe boat if we go around and do sites like Rasta's.

 

[NDL_Diver]

How does the boat see the buoy though? They could be anywhere, the Captain doesn't know where they will come up, because they are coming up early.

They are used to 55 minute dives, so if you come up at 42 minutes, you're most likely going to come up next to a boat that isn't even yours.

So this poses another risk for operator, they want to get to their diver, but now you are in a spot where another operators divers are going to come up any minute, creating a hazard for others.

I know I have came up next to another boat and got yelled at lol It depends on how bad the current is, in mild current it is not an issue. But if its rocking, you could be a 1/4 mile away from your group in no time.

If you come up next to another boat, you have the call your boat on the radio. Easy.

 

[IncreaseMyT]

If you come up next to another boat, you have the call your boat on the radio. Easy.

Well my point is that most people in Coz do not have an SMB, if everyone has an SMB that is different.

 

[Norrm]

Well my point is that most people in Coz do not have an SMB, if everyone has an SMB that is different.

That has not been my experience, most divers carry SMBs in Cozumel and in most locations where there is drift diving, they are required. Certainly if a dive buddy pair intends to surface away from the group they will need at least one, preferably one that is deployed from depth in areas where there's a lot of boat traffic such as Cozumel.

We came up once away from the group, our boat was nowhere in site. We both inflated our SMBs, sat back and waited. Within a few minutes another boat came by, asked us who we were diving with, and took out his cellphone and called, they were there within a few minutes.

No big deal. There's only so far you're going to drift if you stay with the group until the first divers start to ascend, it's not like you'll be down there for another hour.