ScubaSteve1962
Contributor
That's not true. I just dove at Samana in the Dominican Republic and no DM went with us. We didn't want one, and didn't need one, so it worked out just fine. We also were able to dive without the DM in Roatan (twice), Belize (twice), Costa Maya (twice), and Aruba, all boat dives. There was a DM on the boat, but because my dive buddy is a master instructor, they were more than happy to herd cats and let us do our own thing. We were out of sight of the DMs the majority of the time and perfectly happy about it.
Were you the only 2 on the boat or did they go off with the other divers? Was it your choice. Some will give you that choice, but that doesn't mean they weren't required to be there. In the states, you may have divers from different ops on a boat with no one from the op aboard, just a DM and the Captain if you don't hire a guide there will be none.