Watch this video of the Blue Hole of Dahab before it is deleted

[BikerBecca]

I hope PADI does not see this, they just might develop a specialty course for side breathing

Now I have the giggles and can't stop laughing.

 

[Dan]

The webbing looks like the tail of an adjustable harness shoulder strap. Is the tank clipped to the dring commonly found at the end of the strap?

I am curious about the reference to Tarik Omar. He is reputedly known as the bone collector. As the person to call after the fact, he had been referenced to have collected 20 bodies from below the arch including two at the same time. On another video he is recorded to the effect of don’t do it if you don’t know what you are doing.

We are going to do the Blue hole of dahab arch in June.

I thought that name sounds familiar. Now I remember about him from this accident:


I went diving in Dahab Blue Hole last August. There was not much to see for a recreational diver like me.

 

[Tribal]

After Reading all these comments i’m confused. Are you saying what i think you are saying?
This isn’t the right way to do it?

Pretty sure it’s a rich dude that payed a lot of money to people who earn a lot less then most of us, so he could have bragging rights in the bar.

 

[Jiminy]

I thought that name sounds familiar. Now I remember about him from this accident:


I went diving in Dahab Blue Hole last August. There was not much to see for a recreational diver like me.

He was on the monty halls show as well

 

[johndiver999]

I didn’t say he was in control. Actually the exact opposite. I was curious about Diving Dubai’s thoughts about other ways of identifying stressed divers. They were completely lost. I just didn’t see stress. The inflator hose was about the only thing I saw that indicated the diver might not be completely happy.

Signs that a diver is "having trouble" would include an erratic breathing pattern, but less obvious behaviors are good clues as well.

Holding the inflator all the time and adding and removing air frequently (especially when deep where expansion of air is very limited) shows incompetence or someone who is very insecure, also holding the regulator in mouth, continuing to use a reg with a hose that is obviously tweeked (and not adjusting it ), swimming with hands or in an uncoordinated manner and also the "look in their eyes".

Do they look stupid and dull, are they looking past you, are they staring at nothing? Do they look scared? Are they communicating or responding to commands or to (auditory or environmental stimulus) appropriately? Giving 50 OK signs is similar to what a drunk does before he pukes on you.

What are they doing? Are they making purposeful and deliberate actions or are they in a stupor (still or moving in slow motion) or making repetitive, unnecessary behaviors like signaling, checking gauges, kicking ineffectively, playing with mask, falling in water column or floating up without deliberate intent? Is the diver having troubles that requires a buddy to manipulate his BC or work his gear?

A good buddy is watching for all these behaviors so they can intervene BEFORE the buddy bolts or freaks or really endangers everyone. If I have to work somebody's BC or help operate their gear for them because they can't or won't do it, then I am calling the dive, BEFORE the situation degrades further.

 

[rabe]

hold on
the dude looks stressed before descending
a good buddy/instructor should have called the dive immediately

 

[divezonescuba]

The guys third leg is on a dog leash that is longer than his hand. It also looks like it’s in his crotch not his crack.

In Dahab, dive shops probably have people show up with the appropriate card who either didn’t earn it or printed it up themselves, as in Ben’s Vortex. Unless you do an orientation dive first, you don’t know what you are getting.

I had a guy tell me he had 500 dives and did the last one six months earlier, but couldn’t assemble a set of recreational gear properly.

We have the luxury to never take a student offshore until after we have seen them in the lake.

 

[Danseur]

Johndiver999, spot on.

 

[txgoose]

Giving 50 OK signs is similar to what a drunk does before he pukes on you.

This is a Pavlovian response because they can't keep saying, "I'm soooooooorry."

Joking aside, this was a good write-up. Thank you.

 

[Diving Dubai]

Honest question, not a debate point. He was overwhelmed I think, but he never seemed even close to panicked. He appeared fine with his situation. Or was there something that you picked up on? A different “tell” of sorts? Granted, I think he was out of control, I’m just not sure that he thought he was out of control. Seemed like he thought he actually wa okay.

Anyway, just curious of your thoughts in case I can glean something from it.

Others have answered while I slept, but my take: because ignoring the crappy dive, it is a good learning exercise

Divers are taught during OW, that the "OK" sign is both a question and an answer. Thus someone gives you the Ok sign and you respond, with either OK back or problem.

This diver wasn't panacked, some suggest he was narced in addition to clearly being overwhelmed.

He had water in his mask (clearing) buoyancy issues, kit issues, probably nervous/ out of comfort zone etc, etc.

Ignoring any Narcosis. All the rest of his minor issues can mount up and task loading and overwhelming them. A phrase was coined by our late TS&M) of "the incident pit" 1 minor problem/distraction is manageable, as other problems mount up in addition them the person sinks slowly into the pit.

The diver's constant "Ok" were (in my opinion), both him telling himself he was Ok, and when asked if he was OK didn't have the bandwidth to do anything other than automatically give an OK back. And yes any narcosis would have been yet another layer of
debilitation.

This is an extreme example, but when I'm guiding or teaching, the manner of someone's response to the okay signal is one of the identifiers. If the diver is having an "issue" and I get a clear ok or problem response to my query, I know that they've still got the band width to resolve the issue

If it's a shaky response, then I'll get closer to them, letting them work through their problem, but if it becomes apparent they need assistance - whether to simply assist with their buoyancy control while they resolve their problem, or making a direct intervention, I'm there.

I hope that helps?