60 dives in a week @ Buddy Dive?

[gypsyjim]

This story was posted in Buddy Dive's newsletter.


"Dive Number 1000 at 1000 Steps!
Tuesday, 14 September 2010 20:44

Luis Pabon, certified on 9/28/02, completed his 1000th dive on 9/7/10 here in Bonaire. With careful planning and the help of his dive group, Luis complete dive #1000 at 1000 Steps dive site, with a sign to help commemorate the event.



Luis is a staff instructor with Gypsy Divers in North Carolina and lead 12 Gypsy Divers to Buddy Dive for a week of diving. During his week stay he managed 60 dives - which comes out to about 10 dives per day - whew! At this rate, Luis should be back here in 5 years for his second millennium dive! Congratulations, Luis! "


While my friends and I has discussed this story, and we figure that it is really just a stunt by the instructor and his dive group, we think Buddy Dive should have been more cautious about posting such a story.

It would be very easy, and safe to do several short, shallow 15 to 20 minute dives, back to back on one tank of Nitrox, followed by a regular surface interval. Repeat this stunt with 5 tanks a day, and a diver could quite easily log 60 "dives", or more in a week, if logging a high dive count is their only goal.

What we take issue with is, the resort publishing the stunt dive total, without any discussion of safety issues. I have dived with Buddy dive many times, and they are a safe op, but a novice diver, BUT a novice diver, reading this story could very easily miss interpret, miss understand, and get them self very seriously hurt, trying to compete with this stunt total, by trying to do 60 real, deeper, longer dives.

 

[ScubaSam]

I agree with you, Jim. I could not believe it when I first heard and asked to have the newsletter forwarded to me.

I was disturbed and pissed when I read their newsletter. It was extremely irresponsible on Buddy's part to broadcast/brag 60 dives in a week without the profiles of the dives. A newish diver is going to think it's safe to do ten dives a day and for what...just to bump up ones dive count? What about the quality of the dives?

That kind of stupidity is absolutely lost on me. I am still about it.

 

[DevonDiver]

There have been times when, as an instructor, I've been doing 5-6 dives a day. By then end of the day, even a shallow night dive is pushing the no-deco limits.

10 dives a day for 6 days straight..... they weren't real dives..... must have been really shallow and short.

 

[gypsyjim]

I agree with you, Jim. I could not believe it when I first heard and asked to have the newsletter forwarded to me. I was disturbed and pissed when I read the newsletter. It was extremely irresponsible on Buddy's part to broadcast that without the details of the dives. A newish diver is going to think it's safe to do ten dives a day and for what...just to bump up ones dive count? What about the quality of the dives?

I am still about it.

I have friends who know the diver in the story, and they intend to bust him about his high dive count, in fun, of course, but it is, as you say, irresponsible of the resort to publish the story in such a congratulatory tone, without discussing the safety issues at all.
My friends who know Gypsy Divers are quite sure these guys were simply doing a stunt, and having fun, safely, but Buddy Dive's story does not make any of this clear, and leaves room for serious miss understanding by newer divers.

 

[wrybosome]

I don't know. Even when I was fresh out of open water I'm sure I would have figured out that he was doing short, shallow profiles. There's no other way to do 10 a day and have any kind of surface interval.

edit: I still *am* fresh out of OW, compared to many nere on the board.

 

[gypsyjim]

There have been times when, as an instructor, I've been doing 5-6 dives a day. By then end of the day, even a shallow night dive is pushing the no-deco limits.

10 dives a day for 6 days straight..... they weren't real dives..... must have been really shallow and short.

Figure 3 "dives", under 30 ft, @15 to 20 minutes long, with a very very short "SI", on one tank of EANX, followed by a real @60 min SI, you could easily do 5 tanks a day, with a "dive total" of @15 such "dives"

Easy to do 5 or 6 tanks in a day on Bonaire, so one could quite easily boost their "dive count" to 60 in a week, without getting them self hurt, by doing such short shallow dives, in quick succession. How one could do this safely, in my opinion though, should have been included in the story, somewhere. It needs to be apparent to new divers that no safety concerns were blown off, in doing the stunt count, and that was nowhere in the story published by Buddy Dive.

 

[gypsyjim]

I don't know. Even when I was fresh out of open water I'm sure I would have figured out that he was doing short, shallow profiles. There's no other way to do 10 a day and have any kind of surface interval.

edit: I still *am* fresh out of OW, compared to many nere on the board.

I am afraid that not every diver that I have met over the years would have been so sharp Tim.

 

[ScubaSam]

Figure 3 "dives", under 30 ft, @15 to 20 minutes long, with a very very short "SI", on one tank of EANX, followed by a real @60 min SI, you could easily do 5 tanks a day, with a "dive total" of @15 such "dives"

Easy to do 5 or 6 tanks in a day on Bonaire, so one could quite easily boost their "dive count" to 60 in a week, without getting them self hurt, by doing such short shallow dives, in quick succession. How one could do this safely, in my opinion though, should have been included in the story, somewhere. It needs to be apparent to new divers that no safety concerns were blown off, in doing the stunt count, and that was nowhere in the story published by Buddy Dive.

Yes, they had to be very short and very shallow dives but Buddy needs to publish that in their newsletter. Like I said, very irresponsible of Buddy to leave that information out of their newsletter and not include some type of disclaimer.

 

[drbill]

60 dives in a week? What's the big deal? I used to do 60 dives a day... er, I mean month (sorry, senior moment).

Yes, I too find this irresponsible on the part of Buddy Dive and the diver himself. They should have given information about the safety factors as a warning to other divers who might try this stunt.

Besides, I like long surface intervals so I can share my dive with others!

 

[Cave Diver]

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