At the risk of getting my ears boxed too, I have to agree with Dave's point in the OP. (and, since I haven't lived and worked on the island in years, there's no potential buisness-related conflict of interest here, just one guy's opinion).
But, I think he didn't take it far enough. The problem with the conditions this time of year aren't just with the number of days the port are closed, but all the days when they probably should've been, or were pretty close to it, resulting in them falling somewhere between miserable, and downright dangerous.
I never had a problem with days the port was closed, because I always hated dealing with a herd of often unskilled, out-of-shape divers, in difficult and dangerous surface conditions. I can't recall how many times we'd get the word that the port was closed, and I'd be thinking, '"thank God", but later get the word that they located us one of the bigger boats to squeeze me, a divemaster, and all our clients onto, and we'd often be diving in conditions none of these people had any buisness being in (but it was that, or start refinding money, and that ain't happening !)
Of course, many of the tourists often had a different perspective (never realizing how close they were to getting brained by the ladder or boat engine), as they only had to worry about themselves, and they were concerned with getting their full week of diving in (and fair enough), but for me, being one of those that had the responsibility of simultaneously making sure everyone had a good time, and keeping them safe, I found winter diving down there to often be a real chore, or worse.
If I were to go down there again to dive, I'd avoid all the winter months like the plague.
But, I think he didn't take it far enough. The problem with the conditions this time of year aren't just with the number of days the port are closed, but all the days when they probably should've been, or were pretty close to it, resulting in them falling somewhere between miserable, and downright dangerous.
I never had a problem with days the port was closed, because I always hated dealing with a herd of often unskilled, out-of-shape divers, in difficult and dangerous surface conditions. I can't recall how many times we'd get the word that the port was closed, and I'd be thinking, '"thank God", but later get the word that they located us one of the bigger boats to squeeze me, a divemaster, and all our clients onto, and we'd often be diving in conditions none of these people had any buisness being in (but it was that, or start refinding money, and that ain't happening !)
Of course, many of the tourists often had a different perspective (never realizing how close they were to getting brained by the ladder or boat engine), as they only had to worry about themselves, and they were concerned with getting their full week of diving in (and fair enough), but for me, being one of those that had the responsibility of simultaneously making sure everyone had a good time, and keeping them safe, I found winter diving down there to often be a real chore, or worse.
If I were to go down there again to dive, I'd avoid all the winter months like the plague.
Coz diving may have started that 50 years ago with athletic adventurers, but so many things could go wrong over there with soft snow birds. Even with injured divers recovered alive, getting an ambulance over there would take longer.
