Washington doctor and son drown - Cabo, Mexico

[Mr. Manfrenjensenden]

Dive Cabo takes larger groups and it felt more chaotic below. Everyone was doing their own 'thing' and there were 2 or 3 dive guides trying to watch out for 10-15 divers who were not staying close together or even at the same depth. DC only dives on air in AL80s, although again you can rent an AL100, which cuts your bottom time down even more. TBH I remember very little about either dive with them. I was a little narced on the first dive, but the second was well and truly out of it to the point where I couldn't read my dials, but there was probably some CO2 narcosis there too from the exertion of swimming to try to stay together as a group. They don't drop anchor, instead everyone goes out from the boat and descends in the open. This isn't great if the current's strong and makes it hard to stay as a cohesive group. However they do stage bottles below the boat, so you can hang and decompress if you need to, and sure enough there were 3 or 4 people who incurred ~10 minute deco obligations. They had a really short surface interval between the dives (31 minutes) which was pretty problematic and cut the bottom time down even more.

That said, my first trip out there with manta was not great. There are two seamounts, one at ~125 and one at ~185ft, and they can only be found with a GPS co-ordinate. Not sure exactly how it happened, but we moored on the wrong one, and started on down the line in a strong current into the blue. I started getting anxious at ~120ft when I still couldn't see the bottom, and at ~160 I could just about make out the bottom and I was VERY unhappy, I left the line at ~167ft (and a PPO2 of 1.63), signalled I was aborting and went back up to the top.

.....

As I said, with DC it was pretty chaotic underwater, and the group was very spaced out over ~40 vertical feet and a couple of hundred horizontally. The three/four dive guides WERE vigilant, two of them saw I was behaving oddly and came to check me out, (but I knew I was narced and so just came up 20 feet and all was good,) but I can easily see how someone on the periphery could have got into trouble and been missed until it was too late, especially in low viz and moderate current.

I'm amazed that this dive protocol could be considered ok. Run it enough times under these conditions and a bad outcome seems nearly assured.

 

[UTscuba]

As a follow up, I just got back from Cabo and was diving with a local diver who was friends with the tec divers who did the body recovery.

The story that is doing the rounds, and I'm repeating this third hand so give it whatever credibility you desire, is that the son dropped his camera on the ascent and then started descending to retrieve it and the father saw and followed him and things went wrong from there.

If true then I don't think the shop can be blamed for the situation.

 

[Sam Miller III]

Such events are often identified as the "Domino effect."
One minor event compounds in to a number of larger events cumulating in a massive tragedy..
sdm

 

[markmud]

Such events are often identified as the "Domino effect."
One minor event compounds in to a number of larger events cumulating in a massive tragedy..
sdm

If the third hand report is true:

And the first domino was a camera. Wow. Plan the dive and dive the plan, even if you need to hire tech divers to go get your camera later.

Again, the recurring story is: someone dies over a camera.

I believe all of my scuba gear is ditchable and replaceable. Even my brand new Perdix AI.

markm

 

[wgw04024]

How unfortunate.

 

[JohnnyC]

Sad. The accident slope gets real unforgiving real quick sometimes.

 

[Dan]

If the third hand report is true:

And the first domino was a camera. Wow. Plan the dive and dive the plan, even if you need to hire tech divers to go get your camera later.

Again, the recurring story is: someone dies over a camera.

I believe all of my scuba gear is ditchable and replaceable. Even my brand new Perdix AI.

markm

I tether my camera onto BCD chest right D-ring & wrist. If I need to free up my right hand from the camera, I’ll clip the camera directly onto the D-ring

 

[Bob DBF]

Dive Cabo takes larger groups and it felt more chaotic below. Everyone was doing their own 'thing' and there were 2 or 3 dive guides trying to watch out for 10-15 divers who were not staying close together or even at the same depth.

I'm amazed that this dive protocol could be considered ok. Run it enough times under these conditions and a bad outcome seems nearly ass

These are all certified divers, responsible for their own dive. They are dive guides not your personal DM or instructor, they show you pretty fishes and assist whenever they can, including saving your ass if they can, but they are not directly responsible for anyone's safety but their own.

Because one thinks, or wants, someone else responsible for their safety does not make it so.


Bob

 

[peeweediver]

These are all certified divers, responsible for their own dive. They are dive guides not your personal DM or instructor, they show you pretty fishes and assist whenever they can, including saving your ass if they can, but they are not directly responsible for anyone's safety but their own.

Because one thinks, or wants, someone else is responsible for their safety does not make it so.


Bob

Agree. However, I have been a bit amazed at how many times I end up showing folks on the boat the expandable clip I use for my camera. It can't be lost, just dropped and then pulled back up. It is helpful to new camera people to remind them that there is equipment that they should have so they never chase a camera down. I did drop my wide angle lens once in Socorro and, amazingly, I caught it with my fin. Could never repeat that in a million years.

Rob

 

[Bob DBF]

Agree. However, I have been a bit amazed at how many times I end up showing folks on the boat the expandable clip I use for my camera

I have a similar restraint for my camera, and the camera isn't worth much, just use it mostly as a point and shoot so I can show non divers why I like diving so much.

The important point is that all divers should have their priorities ingrained. Before you consider any action outside your dive plan, you have to check your gas, time at depth, and depth, as these can limit your life if you make the wrong choice of action. As @markmud implied, no gear is worth your life.


Bob