Two Japanese divers found alive off Palau

[Diver0001]

According to the article, one of the two was a DM.

Hazime Telei, Palau's director of Public Safety, said dive master Masahiko Murakami, 23, and tourist Hirokomi Nakayama, 35, began their dive around 11:30 a.m. Sunday.


No mention if the other diver give the DM a tip.

I think I might have misread it. I took it to mean that there were two japanese tourists, one of whom happened to be a DM. Not that there was a local DM present.

R..

 

[Divmstr223]

Interesting that a DM would stray so far from the boat......Maybe with the vis as good as it is down there, they just head out in one direction and keep going, then just surface at the end of the dive...lol...I know there were large swells, but a good DM would have navigated underwater a bit better and made his way back close to the boat before surfacing....just my .02

So glad they are okay and will learn from any mistakes they may have made....

 

[DandyDon]

Interesting that a DM would stray so far from the boat......Maybe with the vis as good as it is down there, they just head out in one direction and keep going, then just surface at the end of the dive...lol...I know there were large swells, but a good DM would have navigated underwater a bit better and made his way back close to the boat before surfacing....just my .02

So glad they are okay and will learn from any mistakes they may have made....

I've seen it. DM & tourist surface 1/2 mile from boat, thinking the boat will pick them up just fine and the tourist might appreciate the tour. And we know how fast the sea can change from 2-3' waves to 7s. Not defending a DM who would do such without signaling devices - just saying I've seen it.

 

[pakman]

DM on duty or on vacation, just seemed questionable that he's diving without proper signalling devices in an area known for some strong currents. That being said, they were doing the Peliliu Express which I believe is considering one of the roughest dives in Palau thanks to some wicked currents *(never dove there myself). Do a SB search and I think you'll find a number of hair raising stories about Peliliu including a SB member finding a diver sans mask and reg out mouth at the bottom during some ripping current!

 

[Diver Dennis]

The currents are very fast there Pakman. Plus the seas were rough. Peleliu is known as a "macho" type dive as the conditions can be very bad and you can see the same things on other Palau sites. It is still a great site and very dive-able.

Great sig by the way... he he

 

[Mike Veitch]

Interesting that a DM would stray so far from the boat......Maybe with the vis as good as it is down there, they just head out in one direction and keep going, then just surface at the end of the dive...lol...I know there were large swells, but a good DM would have navigated underwater a bit better and made his way back close to the boat before surfacing....just my .02

So glad they are okay and will learn from any mistakes they may have made....

Peleliu is a drift dive. It is a piece of reef that sticks out into the ocean. You drift along the wall and stop at the crest to watch the action. Once you let go you drift along the reef top and launch your sausage/smb. The current then pushes you into the open ocean where hopefully the boat has spotted your marker. There is no way to get back to a boat when the current is running....the boat follows the bubbles...

That said, it can be extremely dangerous to dive there, if seas are rough. We called many a dive due to large seas....

The dm's mistake was not during the dive but deciding to dive there when conditions too rough.

Yes, Peleliu has had many accidents of this nature...personally i hate that dive

 

[AXL72]

I wonder if the camera had a built in flash?

If so, I would imagine there are some blacked out photos on the camera after trying to shoot a flash at a passing boat or plane...complete with some wicked waves in the foreground.

 

[Diver0001]

The dm's mistake was not during the dive but deciding to dive there when conditions too rough.

Exactly. I wonder if consulted local sources, what they said and why he decided to make the dive in those conditions and without a blob. I also wonder if it was a dive boat with an experienced captain/crew and if so why the captain didn't call the dive.

Also, I think we need to remember that some DM's are not experienced divers. I don't know anything about this guy, obviously but I wonder if we would have judged him less harshly if it turned out that he was very inexperienced.

There is also a lesson in there. Plastic cards, no matter what is printed on them, don't keep you safe. It doesn't matter if you're OW certified, or an instructor or a tek-diving super-hero; the foundation for safe diving is always going to be good judgment, good skills and good/complete equipment. Fortunately even beginning divers can excel at showing good judgment, which is arguably the most important of all skills.

R..

 

[vkalia]

the DM didn't carry any emergency SMB or signalling device? I thought fish n fins/ ocean hunter had a good reputation and I would expect something like that in Palau would be mandatory!:06:

I think Ocean Hunter was involved in the rescue, and was not the operator in question - the article says that the name of the boat operator has not been released.

V.

 

[pakman]

I think Ocean Hunter was involved in the rescue, and was not the operator in question - the article says that the name of the boat operator has not been released.

V.

Oops, my bad.. thank vlakia for pointing out that mistake.