Are there idiots on every dive boat?

[HowardE]

Those who have said "Yes" must be diving on the wrong boats, or in overly dived areas by tourists, and "resort divers"

 

[Divedoggie]

Its easy to classify people as "idiots". There are newbies who are not idiots, simply inexperienced.
Then there are experienced people who are disrespectful of the reefs and sealife, your safety, and their own personal safety, and are generally oblivious. My experience is that you run into these people occasionally, but not on every diveboat!

 

[SteveAD]

my definition of an idiot:

someone who knows better (or should) and does it anyway

 

[PoseidonsGirl1106]

Yes......absolutely.....but that goes back to who certified them?

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I don't think so, I've been on boats with 15-20 people I don't know and maybe just lucky but none of them were idiots at least in my range of vision or hearing. I also don't know what AOW has to do with someone's skills. I was just talking to my instructor about our upcoming classes this weekend. I'm assisting with 5 OW and 4-5 rescue students. (My final practical for DM, BTW!) And we were discussing the skill levels of the rescue students and how prior training was going to be a factor. Two of these guys are experienced but were never taught the proper way to adjust a mask. You know the red ring syndrome. They were never taught different finning techniques and up until now dove with the same people all the time. So to say AOW has any bearing on skill level is kind of misleading. AOW means nothing more, at least in the PADI system, than that you did 5 more dives geared to a specific purpose with an instructor. So if someone has AOW and is plowing, dragging, yoyoing, or using a flutter kick over a silty bottom does not mean they are an idiot. It may mean that their instructor, for whatever reason, never went beyond getting em in, getting their money, and getting them out.

 

[louisianadiver]

ugh..if everyone was just right that would be too much pressure on me. I need some cover.

Perfect answer, Catherine! -Clay

 

[JCDdiver]

Well put. Divers are but a sample set of the overall population...you shouldn't expect anything different than you deal with everyday.

Good point. I'm such an idiot, I didn't think of that.

 

[Ron Brandt]

Those who have said "Yes" must be diving on the wrong boats, or in overly dived areas by tourists, and "resort divers"

Apart from jumping off a friends boat on a lake where there are three of us, all my boat diving seems to be in Cozumel.

But on that note ,I would also like to mention that there are idiots at most everyones local dive sites as well...this poll is about boats but could very well be about diving anywhere.

Ron

 

[dlndavid]

Those who have said "Yes" must be diving on the wrong boats, or in overly dived areas by tourists, and "resort divers"

I'm with you on this one Howard, the SoCal boats had some pretty good people on board.

 

[Wayfarer2]

my definition of an idiot:

someone who knows better (or should) and does it anyway

That’s a pretty good definition, there are people who are just not as together or experienced as others on a boat but it doesn’t make them idiots.