Thoughts after my first time with Aldora

[Dave Dillehay]

With regard to the Aldora's East Side diving when the port was


Dave, I heard the reason Aldora no longer parks their boats on the east side and circumnavigates the official port closures (which means the entire island) is because Aldora recently got slammed with a 20,000 Peso fine for doing so. I realize you have divested 100% of your interest in Aldora and no longer have any skin in this game but perhaps you can shed some truth about this fine that was supposedly assessed and paid and made the new owners change their practices?

I do not think there was a big fine and no one has said we can't dive the eastside, as we have in the past 15 years. Aldora just wants things to cool down and have a polite conversation with the Port Captain. We have a strong argument and it is Aldora's full intention to resume the east side diving soon.

Dave

 

[ReefHound]

What was meant by "Aldora can't dive the other side even if the port captain is stupid."?

 

[Dave Dillehay]

What was meant by "Aldora can't dive the other side even if the port captain is stupid."?

Sorry about the context issue. I was referring to our inability to dive the east side when the wind splits the island…regardless if the port captain is stupid OR NOT. That was a not intended for any port captain. Should have added "or not".

Dave

 

[ReefHound]

Sorry about the context issue. I was referring to our inability to dive the east side when the wind splits the island…regardless if the port captain is stupid OR NOT. That was a not intended for any port captain. Should have added "or not".

Dave

Ok, thanks for the clarification. It had also sounded to me like the port captain was being called stupid.

 

[ChrisM]

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.

This may be repeating as I haven't gotten thru 7 pages, but this. I dive with an op that does the same, my buddy is typically my wife and we each have SMBs that can be deployed from depth. If we are the air hogs that trip (always over an hour, it's all relative), we ascend and I would NEVER ascend in Coz without a DM buoy or my own buoy floating above me. That's just common sense. Last time there was a guy that had to go up abut 20 minutes sooner than everyone else. He waited while we finished. I've been the waiter too.

But am I reading that this op routinely has a DM share air with a LOA diver as a matter of course? I think in a buddy pair, and they want to do that a bit to extend a dive, that's no big deal to me. But a DM doing this early on creates a possible snowball effect in the event that the the DM needs air to provide to another diver in an emergency and some of it has been used for LOA purposes. Likelihood of these circumstances all coming to pass is admittedly low. But isn't that true of all accidents before they actually happen? I mean we all charged all of ur electronics on liveaboards at night without thinking of it cuz what're the odds? All or nearly al diving accidents are IMO the cumulative effect of numerous small "mistakes" that add up to one big disastrous mistake. Remove any of the small mistakes, the snowball may not get going. I disagree with this policy (if I am reading it right) strongly

 

[deepsea21]

I would NEVER ascend in Coz without a DM buoy or my own buoy floating above me.

Well said. Anyone diving should carry and know how to deploy a DSMB. They aren't expensive and are not difficult to deploy. Any DM can show a diver how to deploy his/her DSMB and most are thrilled to do so as it one less deployment they'll have to make of their own getting a high volume air consumer to the surface and the boat safely. After about 2-3 successful deployments it becomes second nature. Often several people in a dive group who have DSMBs will deploy them as they are preparing to end their dives because not everyone is going to surface in a tight group and 4 or 5 DSMB's on the surface in relative proximity to each other are more visible than 1.

 

[uncfnp]

It interests me in the group or buddy/individual ascent arguments that the against camp uses the argument that the diver is incapable of a safe ascent without a chaperone or that they don’t carry DSMBs. Well obviously the diver(s) that do not have the skills should not do it. These divers should stay with the guide provided.

But, as I have said before, if they have the skills AND the equipment there is zero reason to force them into a group ascent.

 

[ChrisM]

I do it for practice several times on a Coz trip, even if the DM has shot his. I taught my wife how to do it in case it's needed.

I've watched people ascend SMB-less in coz, including las November's trip, and I cringe watching it.

 

[fishi]

It interests me in the group or buddy/individual ascent arguments that the against camp uses the argument that the diver is incapable of a safe ascent without a chaperone or that they don’t carry DSMBs. Well obviously the diver(s) that do not have the skills should not do it. These divers should stay with the guide provided.

But, as I have said before, if they have the skills AND the equipment there is zero reason to force them into a group ascent.

The only thing worse than getting your dive cut short is being the one that is low on air, and ends the dive for everyone. I have been both. Yes the policy sucks. I think everyone would change it if they could but we are not the ones that would have to live with themselves if they lost a diver or two. That would suck too. They dive in some pretty remote areas. Just my 2 cents.

I think 3Ps is fantastic, but I like Aldora too. Just choosing one dive op would limit my Cozumel adventures. You are right though. Coming up in a group sucks.

 

[deepsea21]

I've watched people ascend SMB-less in coz, including las November's trip, and I cringe watching it.

I cringe watching the turtles ascend and surface for air! Anyone who thinks they can surface without a DSMB deployed need look no further than the various turtle rescues that keep turtles in tanks because they experienced a boat hit and lost their ability to adjust their buoyancy. At the end of the day, a diver surfacing without a DSMB to increase visibility is no different than a turtle surfacing.

Furthermore, once the DSMB is deployed and you're hanging at the 15' safety stop, before surfacing start yanking on the line so it stands up nice and tall over and over instead of letting it lay on its side on the surface (especially important if there is some wave action on the surface as a 4-5" wide DSMB can't be seen laying on its side in the trough of waves). You'll see good DM's doing this with their DSMB's. Properly weighted to the minimum, one can exhale and give it a yank and then inhale so yanking on it doesn't screw too much with your buoyancy.