Wth?

[Basking Ridge Diver]

Actions speak louder than words, don't tip in these situations.

The issue to me is the service provider has no idea why they got stiffed. Have a problem? Speak up.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

lol tips aren't required in OZ at the level they are in the US but appreciated of course. If the DM is an employee and not a "volunteer" minimum wage means they don't need the tips to live. People find diving in OZ expensive which is largely due to wages paid. More likely to find "volunteer" DM's are doing it because they get free fills, free boat dives on the day trips and cheaper gear from the LDS.

Yep.. know what you mean CoolTeck. We've been known to toy with DM's when we felt they needed it. I was on a boat dive and fish was not feeling well so stayed on shore. A newly certified DM was also a paying customer on the boat. The captain tried to team me up with her. I refused and said I would be diving as a third with two other divers we were traveling with. Long story short... they teamed her up with their DM and he babysat her and did a very short dive as she blew through her gas.

We had another newly minted DM tell us on the boat ride... "I am a DM now so that makes me the dive leader and so you have to do what I say!" Since the DM was not on the boat in an official capacity one of our group grinned and said in our private dive brief "We'll start with the starburst pattern then form up and......" When we got to the bottom we all headed in opposite directions but stayed in visual range of each other. When the DM got the point we reformed and the DM followed meekly along. We all knew each other and that the DM had way fewer dives than the least experienced of us. Our group traveled and dived a lot together. The message here is that DM's aren't infallible, should get the respect they deserve for their skill set. IMHO one of the fundamental skills of a DM is to recognize when help is or is not needed before they try to take over!

 

[phoenix31tt]

but I still cannot figure out how he shut both of our left posts off without us knowing in a matter of seconds.

they move pretty quickly... as they're helping you stand up or move along the boat or whatever they make sure the air is on. I mean i guess they have to cover themselves but, if i were a DM and i saw somebody diving doubles, i'd assume just a little that they know what they were doing... and instead of turning on air just kindly ask them to ensure their air is on

During the rest of the trip, pretty much every member of the crew dropped by during the surface intervals to look at my crazy gear configuration. They had obviously never seen or heard of anything like it.

i get that all the time... i didn't expect to get it in cayman islands but i did... not because they haven't seen a bp/w before... but they haven't seen a red/black wing with red bp and webbing hehe

 

[Storker]

We had another newly minted DM tell us on the boat ride... "I am a DM now so that makes me the dive leader and so you have to do what I say!" Since the DM was not on the boat in an official capacity one of our group grinned and said in our private dive brief "We'll start with the starburst pattern then form up and......" When we got to the bottom we all headed in opposite directions but stayed in visual range of each other. When the DM got the point we reformed and the DM followed meekly along.

 

[Iralub]

Would be interesting to know where in Australia. My experience has been that in NSW and Victoria you are less likely to get the over the top controlling DM.

So many people go to tick diving the GBR off their bucket list that the dive industry there is over regulated. They get a huge number of backpackers working their way around the country on the "backpack trail" to fund their "gap year" adventure. They have limited funds to pay for the cheapest course possible and get out to do day trips and still be able to party in the evenings. Then there are the tourists who come to OZ and "just have to dive the reef" as the cheapest add on they can get. These groups tend to be low experience, high risk divers.

Next throw in a young DM who has bought into the romance of "make diving your career" and is working for virtually nothing Too many incidents so many tourist dollars at risk so the government has stepped in and started over regulating. You must surface with 50bar in your tank, you must carry a snorkel, you must have a DM leading, must record pre and post dive gas pressures, sign in and out etc... All this creates the situations the OP and boulderjohn describe.

Liveaboards, Lady Elliott, The Solitaries, Stradbrook draw the more serious divers. Regulations are still followed but DM's tend to be more experienced and less inclined to interfere with competent divers. We have even managed to convince a DM not to notice our group of 4 lag behind until we separated completely to do our own dive

I have heard the DM's joking about the idiotic antics, questions and so on they deal with on a regular basis. I understand the frustration that creates BUT if the DM's aren't able to recognize who does and who does not need help IMHO they need to get another job before they turn a benign situation into an emergency in stead of the reverse!

This was indeed in qld, day boats on the gbr. And I agree it is very overegulated there - you must carry a snorkel (but don't have to wear it- mine was in bc weight pocket), must come up with at least 50 bar (no problem, my air use is lower than most), must have certain points included in dive briefing, etc. But on the other hand it is apparently ok to have 8 introductory divers per instructor!

I don't envy the dms on the day boats, it looks like a very hard job chasing after inexperienced divers every day. Aside from this one incident I thought the DM did a pretty good job. Another DM on the same boat (I did another trip a few days later) did an even better job and was great at finding really cool critters (and didn't interfere with anyone's equipment without asking)

---------- Post added October 1st, 2015 at 07:21 PM ----------

Actions speak louder than words, don't tip in these situations.

We don't tip in Australia as a rule and there was no mechanism for tipping on the boat. Apart from this incident the DM did a fairly decent job, considering he had to deal with 8 inexperienced divers. (I think I was the most experienced in the group, which sets a very low bar!)

 

[boulderjohn]

This particular DM had never experienced anyone diving with doubles and had no clue that the left post is reversed.

..., if i were a DM and i saw somebody diving doubles, i'd assume just a little that they know what they were doing... and instead of turning on air just kindly ask them to ensure their air is on

I don't have any idea how the DM in this case was trained, but the PADI DM training manual specifically says not to touch technical diving gear without clear permission from its owner.

 

[Bob DBF]

I don't have any idea how the DM in this case was trained, but the PADI DM training manual specifically says not to touch technical diving gear without clear permission from its owner.

I believe they should not be touching anyone's gear without clear permission.



Bob

 

[Freewillow]

We had another newly minted DM tell us on the boat ride... "I am a DM now so that makes me the dive leader and so you have to do what I say!" Since the DM was not on the boat in an official capacity.

I am always amazed to realize how stupidly arrogant people can be!. Hard to believe.........................I can tell you that it would not work with a single person in our french/latin culture .

 

[Neilwood]

I believe they should not be touching anyone's gear without clear permission.



Bob

I would agree with that with one proviso -if I am in life threatening danger, I would hope for assistance without specific permission

 

[phoenix31tt]

I believe they should not be touching anyone's gear without clear permission.



Bob

we must always be considerate to these guys though... lets face it... they face way more incompetent divers on a daily basis than competent ones... it takes way less energy to just ensure everyone's air is on (most of them just do that neways), that to go around asking everyone's permission to turn on their air.