Warning: Bad Belize Dive Experience

[ibj40]

well one who works with animal rescue..I do like to fatten them up a bit and give lots of hugs..the place where we stayed had 2 rescued..very lucky girls..and the kids are still polite..just like the kids I worked with in Africa..no $200 Nikes' but respectful, polite, and happy!...

---------- Post Merged at 03:35 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 03:10 PM ----------

Jim,
I would suggest I exhibited enormous self restraint in my response to your sarcastic and arrogant note which lacked any amount of regard for fellow divers' safety of which was my sole intention of posting, and as a result of your commentary, I have requested Steve kindly remove the post to further discussion. Although I rarely use this site, I assumed it was a venue designed for intelligent discussion about diving which might benefit and inform the entire community. Attempting to paint me as an hysterical or dramatic female lacking knowledge and a basis for fact simply does'nt work in my case kiddo. Iv'e witnessed a lot of death and destruction in my life in war torn underdeveloped countries so safety and the protection of others is definitely first and foremost for me. That is how I choose to live my life. The dive community that I know is respectful and alert to the needs and concerns of other divers so I kindly request not to hear from you again so please, let it go and move on. Thank you.

I'd just like to clarify. I never contacted or sent an initial PM to the OP nor responded to this PM, this is the first correspondence between us. Context of PM from Op to me:

"I don't give a rat's ass either , cowboy!

Our overall experience in Belize was wonderful and we are heading back in Dec. - the diving was terrific and I am working on my Instructors' license..I think I was clear that the problems were with the DO certainly not the country. by the way, I just got word from friends in Belize yesterday that the boat sank at the Blue Hole with divers onboard. perhaps you should consider reading these posts more carefully as for me SAFETY comes first. Regards"

Guess I'm a little more than curious about how you define restraint.

And am also confused as to how all this other information pertains to diving? And I hope you treat your future students who ask for clarification with a little more tact.

​

 

[peterbj7]

I just got word from friends in Belize yesterday that the boat sank at the Blue Hole with divers onboard

What boat was that (what operator), and when? I live and dive here and I haven't heard of that.

 

[Tigerman]

What boat was that (what operator), and when? I live and dive here and I haven't heard of that.

And even if its the case, the most professional captain, in the most well maintained boat can get into a random luck crap situation.
Sometimes people happen to be under your boat so you cant run the propeller and that can be what it takes to sink said boat..

 

[ibj40]

What boat was that (what operator), and when? I live and dive here and I haven't heard of that.

Just to clarify, this quote is from the PM I received from the OP, I have no knowledge of any dive-related incident in Belize. If there has been a dive-related incident, this is information known only to the OP.

 

[vladimir]

It is generally considered bad form to make a private message public.

 

[ibj40]

It is generally considered bad form to make a private message public.

Cannot disagree, but when one is unjustly accused, one should take the opportunity for defense. Note that I posted the PM only after having been attacked publicly on this forum.

Thanks for your support.

 

[diversteve]

The guy started a thread and titled it like he chose, somebody has to screw with it like it really matters, to correct it based on their own personal bias.

It's the OP's opinion, can't someone have an opinion, or do opinions have to first be approved by scubaboard mods?

First of all I changed it after consultation with the OP. She offered to change it but since the 24hr. editing window had passed was unable to.

Second as a mod, part of my responsibility is to correct titles when appropriate in order to keep our search indexing as accurate as possible.

In this case, the original title Urgent Warning: Belize led one to believe there's something wrong with the country and not one dive operator.
As this forum is indexed by Google daily, that leads to inaccurate search results worldwide.

Third I assure you that I have better things to do than apply my personal bias to this thread. Until it was reported by another member, I was unaware that it even existed.

Fourth the guy is a woman...

 

[promocop]

As the mod I think you did the right thing by changing the title. As this is a wonderful but potentially very dangerous activity we divers have the right to expect dive operators to adhere to the absolute best in divers safety! Period! These posts like all posts that critize/critique dive operations are in my opinion very valuable in helping me determine where to spend my dive dollars. Yes I expect first and foremost and completely that these dive operators adhere to the very best in diver safety. Period!

 

[DevonDiver]

These posts like all posts that critize/critique dive operations are in my opinion very valuable in helping me determine where to spend my dive dollars.

Even if they are inaccurate, misleading, biased, exaggerated or nefariously motivated?

(and before teddies get thrown.. I am not insinuating this thread is...)

When browsing online...and comparing my real life experiences with what I read, I find that:

I've seen 'glowing' reviews of shoddy dive centers - some posted by staff or 'friends' etc

I've seen 'terrible' reviews of great dive centers - some posted by competitor businesses, customer disgruntled over other issues.. or just plain wrong and on an ill-informed basis.

Some...are accurate and fair.

THAT is why many of us learn to ask questions.... (which as an aside, in this thread, are yet to be answered satisfactorily).

THAT is why many of us seek to hear 'the other side of the story'... or at least, reserve final judgement in the assumption that there is​ another side to the story..

---------- Post Merged at 12:38 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 12:33 PM ----------

Cannot disagree, but when one is unjustly accused, one should take the opportunity for defense.

On that note, I wonder if the dive center concerned is aware of this thread?

One hopes that unjust accusations aren't a trend in this thread...

 

[vladimir]

On that note, I wonder if the dive center concerned is aware of this thread?

You think a fly-by-night operator like that has an internet connection?


:joke: