Trip Report Why I Won't Be Returning to Cozumel-Part 1,2&3

[Streydog]

Water toxicity is indeed a 'thing.' Some mentally ill people, such as a minority of schizophrenics, engage in polydipsia - excessive drinking. This can lead to electrolyte depletion, such as lowering sodium levels in the blood to dangerous levels. This is more dangerous if it is done rapidly. For that matter, rapid correction can also be dangerous - so a patient with this problem may be put on fluid restriction rather than just give some salt tablets, or an I.V. solution with substantial sodium, to take.

In South Tx during highschool during 2 a -days they would not have water for us, they would give us crushed ice and we would need to suck on it, so we would not drink too fast. We also had a salt tablet dispensor by the water fountain in the locker room. I worked for the highway department as well and we would take salt tablets there too.

 

[ggunn]

In response to: "The dive guides in Mexico don't care if you're on air or Nitrox."

That is a very serious accusation on the professionalism of every dive guide in whole Mexcio.
Far more interesting then determining which gender is more dangerous to coral reef.

I have dived in many countries mainly in SE Asia and never ever came across such a remark on local dive guides. As I have never dived in Mexico so could anyone confirm this "blanket statement" please? Hard to believe to be honest.

That depends on how the comment was meant. If it was intended to say that the DMs do not have a preference as to which gas you are diving, I agree with the statement. If it was intended that they are oblivious to it, I do not.

 

[Dan]

As long as DM and divers use the same gas and everyone is diving on the same dive profile, DM would know if you are violating the NDL or not.

If I violated my NDL, my SUUNTO D4 would lock out, but my Shearwater Teric would just warn me that I’m a bad boy and not lock out.

 

[ggunn]

As long as DM and divers use the same gas and everyone is diving on the same dive profile, DM would know if you are violating the NDL or not.

If I violated my NDL, my SUUNTO D4 would lock out, but my Shearwater Teric would just warn me that I’m a bad boy and not lock out.

Sometimes there is a mix of gases being dived, and that's OK as long as the DM sets up the dive on a conservative air profile or everyone is diving his correctly set computer.

 

[mediumone]

Is that something to brag about?
I guess they have better materials to work with. What about all the rats, disease, filth, drugs, crime, stench, is that the same?

Huh? Bragging? You can't be serious.
Simply a statement of fact.

 

[uncfnp]

The DM’s don't care as in you are allowed to dive the gas you choose. For Coz that is typically air, 32 or 36. But the DM’s typically are aware which divers are air vs nitrox.

In both Cozumel and Florida the boats I dive are often a varied group and each individual is responsible for their own NDLs.

 

[boulderjohn]

The dive guides in Mexico don't care if you're on air or Nitrox.

That is a very serious accusation on the professionalism of every dive guide in whole Mexcio.
Far more interesting then determining which gender is more dangerous to coral reef.

As is true of all gross generalizations, it cannot be true in all cases.

Looking back on my own experiences, I am pretty sure that the DMs were always aware of what I was using. In many cases, it did not matter that much because I was the only one using nitrox, but there were many dives where it did matter. In what was probably the most memorable dive in my history in Cozumel, we could not do the dive if we were not on nitrox. In other cases, those of us on nitrox were warned that the dive would come close to our MOD, and we should act appropriately.

A couple decades ago, the standard procedure for most Cozumel operators was to allow nitrox only on one of the dives on a 2-tank dive. On one occasion, the DM would not allow me to use my single nitrox tank on the first dive, because the planned maximum depth was 80 feet and my MOD was 110. He was afraid I would lose buoyancy control and plummet all the way past my MOD and instantly die an agonizing death. It was just too dangerous, he said in his stern lecture.

 

[Lorenzoid]

The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Western European nations and their allies represented the "First World", while the Soviet Union, China, Cuba, and their allies represented the "Second World".

Yes, I'm aware of that.

 

[ggunn]

The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Western European nations and their allies represented the "First World", while the Soviet Union, China, Cuba, and their allies represented the "Second World".

Of course these are sweeping "us and them" generalizations which were created by those from the "first world" and which are pretty much meaningless. Every country has areas that are "civilized" as well as those that are not.

 

[boulderjohn]

Of course these are sweeping "us and them" generalizations which were created by those from the "first world" and which are pretty much meaningless. Every country has areas that are "civilized" as well as those that are not.

I recommend one of the most powerful books I ever read--Howard Gardner's Leading Mind's: An Anatomy of Leadership.

Gardner makes what at first seems to be an obvious statement--An effective leader communicates well with his or her audience. He then goes on to the more complex (and startling) conclusion that with a highly diverse audience, you have to be as effective as possible to all segments, which is close to impossible. The mistake potential leaders make, especially highly intelligent people, is ignoring a specific segment of that diverse audience, a segment that turns out to be the most important. They are the people whose outlook on life is frozen at what child development scientist Jean Piaget identified as the 5-year old mind. At the 5-year old level, children typically see the world in extremes. Things are black or white, good or bad, right or wrong, etc. It is not until they get older that they can recognize gray areas--the complexities that truly mark the way our world works. Sadly, some people never get over that 5-year old thinking, and Gardner says those people form the most critical portion of the audience, particularly in a voting audience.

For those people, once they have categorized something as good, no attribute of it can ever be even slightly bad. Once something has been determined to be bad, no part of it can ever be good. Potential leaders too often ignore that segment of the population because they dismiss their thinking as simplistic and not worth mentioning. The effective leader, however, must be sure to address that segment of the audience, even if it means, in essence, lying through oversimplification. You can see it in politicians who do understand it, leaders, for example, who refer to the forces of good opposing the evil-doers, telling the world of the need to confront the axis of evil, because we cannot let that evil prevail. When a leader describes the true complexity of a situation, the 5-year old mind perceives it as a lie, an attempt to hide the truth.