humanFish
Contributor
OK,
So I was recently in Mexico for some diving. We show up at the shop to load our gear up on the trailer and what not....standing around with others and there are a couple guys there talking and once seems pretty nervous. Saying things like:
"Well, what am I supposed to do on the surface to breath if they aren't giving me a snorkel"
"But I'm not supposed to go below 40 feet"
"I need to do my navigation specialty, will they let me do that on this dive?"
etc., etc.,
So my buddy and are discussing this and thinking, hey, this guy isn't yet certified. We notice on the dive shop waiver that you can essentially sign your life away and go diving with proof of certification. Bad sign! I am really thinking to myself that this diver is unprepared for this type of diving giving that the currents have been swift, visibility bad, and square profile of first dive to depth of 65 feet. This would be his first dive in these waters, in rented gear, without the advantage of fine tuning his weighting. I'm thinking that I "should" say something. But then I think that I don't want to be the knowitall or whatever, and ultimately he's making his own decisions, etc.
So, we get out to the reef, get another dive briefing...current is swift, we are to go dwon as a group, come up as a group..being that surface current is also strong. There are 8 divers aboard plus the DM.
the dive -
we descend, all is well....except the vis is not great and the current is strong...and we are kicking into it as to not be swept off the reef. So, we are workign pretty hard, seeing some cool stuff. The group as a whole is spreading out a bit. My buddy and I drop behind a ledge to escape the current and to watch some schooling jacks above us, two more buddy groups join us, but not the nervous diver and his buddy or the DM.. We are all hanging out there, still finning in place and what not when there is a strong double tug on my fin. This is about 15 minutes into the dive. So I turn around and here is the DM sharing air to the uncertified diver. The DM makes a slashing motion across his throat and points to the diver he is sharing air to, then indicates they are heading to the surface and they turn and go.
OK, so I turn around and one of the buddy groups is gone, and the other four of us begin our ascent and do a drifting stop. We drift on the surface for several minutes until the boat sees us, then we board. The other buddy group has not surfaced or has and has gone drifting topside...we don't know. Anyway, they surface 15 minutes later...they should have surfaced when they found themselves alone, per the pre-dive briefing...
During the SI, it is begins to become clear that the buddy team in question is preparing to dive again! For some reason they did not, I'm not sure if the DM told them they didn't have permission or whatever...and anyway, the OOA diver was by now feeding the fish.
LESSONS LEARNED:
I should have mentioned something to the diver. Just given him a bit of a warning that maybe he's over his head and shouldn't be diving before his training was complete...and quite possibly after some ocean experience in a calm environment.
I should have really questioned the wisdom of even going out on the boat with an uncertified diver when this really wasn't a "discover scuba" type of dive.
I'm not going to hold my tongue any longer..and will probably not dive with ops that are taking out uncertified divers that do not have an instructor along with them. I know that Mexico is a foreign country and has different interpretations of the "rules"...I'm just glad no one got hurt.
I talked with the DM later that day and said that he had looked at the diver's guage an saw that he was OOA. The diver himself did not even realize it. He really dodged a bullet I guess. The DM also said that a direct ascent was necessary as the panicked diver breathed down the DM's tank in the time that it took to alert us of the situation.
anyway...that's the story...for the most part...
So I was recently in Mexico for some diving. We show up at the shop to load our gear up on the trailer and what not....standing around with others and there are a couple guys there talking and once seems pretty nervous. Saying things like:
"Well, what am I supposed to do on the surface to breath if they aren't giving me a snorkel"
"But I'm not supposed to go below 40 feet"
"I need to do my navigation specialty, will they let me do that on this dive?"
etc., etc.,
So my buddy and are discussing this and thinking, hey, this guy isn't yet certified. We notice on the dive shop waiver that you can essentially sign your life away and go diving with proof of certification. Bad sign! I am really thinking to myself that this diver is unprepared for this type of diving giving that the currents have been swift, visibility bad, and square profile of first dive to depth of 65 feet. This would be his first dive in these waters, in rented gear, without the advantage of fine tuning his weighting. I'm thinking that I "should" say something. But then I think that I don't want to be the knowitall or whatever, and ultimately he's making his own decisions, etc.
So, we get out to the reef, get another dive briefing...current is swift, we are to go dwon as a group, come up as a group..being that surface current is also strong. There are 8 divers aboard plus the DM.
the dive -
we descend, all is well....except the vis is not great and the current is strong...and we are kicking into it as to not be swept off the reef. So, we are workign pretty hard, seeing some cool stuff. The group as a whole is spreading out a bit. My buddy and I drop behind a ledge to escape the current and to watch some schooling jacks above us, two more buddy groups join us, but not the nervous diver and his buddy or the DM.. We are all hanging out there, still finning in place and what not when there is a strong double tug on my fin. This is about 15 minutes into the dive. So I turn around and here is the DM sharing air to the uncertified diver. The DM makes a slashing motion across his throat and points to the diver he is sharing air to, then indicates they are heading to the surface and they turn and go.
OK, so I turn around and one of the buddy groups is gone, and the other four of us begin our ascent and do a drifting stop. We drift on the surface for several minutes until the boat sees us, then we board. The other buddy group has not surfaced or has and has gone drifting topside...we don't know. Anyway, they surface 15 minutes later...they should have surfaced when they found themselves alone, per the pre-dive briefing...
During the SI, it is begins to become clear that the buddy team in question is preparing to dive again! For some reason they did not, I'm not sure if the DM told them they didn't have permission or whatever...and anyway, the OOA diver was by now feeding the fish.
LESSONS LEARNED:
I should have mentioned something to the diver. Just given him a bit of a warning that maybe he's over his head and shouldn't be diving before his training was complete...and quite possibly after some ocean experience in a calm environment.
I should have really questioned the wisdom of even going out on the boat with an uncertified diver when this really wasn't a "discover scuba" type of dive.
I'm not going to hold my tongue any longer..and will probably not dive with ops that are taking out uncertified divers that do not have an instructor along with them. I know that Mexico is a foreign country and has different interpretations of the "rules"...I'm just glad no one got hurt.
I talked with the DM later that day and said that he had looked at the diver's guage an saw that he was OOA. The diver himself did not even realize it. He really dodged a bullet I guess. The DM also said that a direct ascent was necessary as the panicked diver breathed down the DM's tank in the time that it took to alert us of the situation.
anyway...that's the story...for the most part...
We were in a pretty remote spot and not a lot to choose from...but I totally agree. If I had more time in the area I may have called the dive...but when you only get a couple days of diving in a short trip I guess you take what you can get...you know what I mean. Still, I can't believe some dive ops take people out with proof of certification like this....incredible. 
