Diver lost in Cozumel today

[rkfatheree]

NEVER! That was just one dive and something unusual happened every single day I dove with them.

RK, that dives sounds like a sort of cluster. You going with the same op again?

 

[roboman]

I have seen several quotes about currents and down welling, I can attest that I experienced both.
We received an extensive briefing that made much more sense AFTER the dive.
I was in Group 1 off the Sand Dollar green dive boat. We descended together, achieved neutral buoyancy at about 60', cruised the reef briefly and crossed it to descend the Santa Rosa wall. I found myself quickly descending and having to adjust my BCD to maintain 90' in depth. Our DM was constantly rattling his noise maker to direct group members to stick together and closer to the wall. At 97', I saw several divers 30 - 40' below me. I am not aware if they were from our excursion at all.
As our group began to get scattered, our DM ordered us to surface without a decompression stop. This concerned me, but it had been part of our briefing, so I followed suit. Our group was picked up with out incident. It was not until much later that we realized that someone from Group 3 was missing.
These are my PERSONAL observations:
There was no FORMAL assignment of dive buddies as I am accustomed to on US dive trips. (I identified with an apparent rookie who was seated next to me and stuck close to him throughout.
There was no FORMAL recognition of diving experience. This was left to individuals, and could have been emphasized to ensure diver safety.
Our dive lasted 16 minutes.
Other Group 3 divers reported that they could not locate the DM while descending and surfaced and returned to the boat without any significant dive time.
Another diver lost track of his wife momentarily because he was returning his camera to the boat and the DM took her down without him.
The pre-dive briefing was stern, so the DMs obviously knew that the conditions could become difficult. All groups had difficulty staying together once they entered the water and there appeared to be a rush to descend ASAP in order to avoid the effects of the strong current.
What I do not know is the physical condition of the diver lost, nor her experience level. I do not know if she had her own equipment or the miniature fins and rental gear that they issue at the dive shop. (I have GIANT fins and I am a strong swimmer and I am in good aerobic shape.)
I do not know anything of that actually transpired with divers in Group 3.
I did not get to speak directly to the spouse of the missing woman. I wish to extend my supreme sorrow and regret. It is an unimaginable loss.
RP

Just initial reports that came up in discussion on the local forum. Not much is known here now. Perhaps someone can add info? From a thread on crazy currents happening this week, and I will bold the part about the missing diver...



The latest from that discussion is that she was not found before dark.

 

[rkfatheree]

Riviera Maya & Playa del Carmen are not drift dive locations. (We have taken the ferry from Playa del Carmen to Cozumel for that purpose in the past.) You should be absolutely fine there - just get a good dive shop/boat recommendation from someone you trust.

 

[Craig66]

There is nothing wrong with Coz for a new diver. Just be up-front with the dive op about your experience, and pay a few extra pesos for some extra attention from a private divemaster for the first couple dives.

It's definitely worth it.

I would agree fully with all you have said and hope that people will not come away from this thinking that Coz is dangerous. When one considers the number of uneventful dives that occur in Coz daily I would hazard a guess that per dive hour it is probably one of the safer dive destinations. Hire a private DM until you feel comfortable , meet with your dive op on arrival to discuss your needs and you should be fine.

I would also add that currents this time of the year tend to be a little more challenging and so perhaps choosing the spring to fall travel time might be a safer bet - also less likely to lose dive days from Norte conditions. Finally I think the wacky weather we had the last 6 months has probably made this season a little rougher with higher than normal ocean temps etc...

 

[Craig66]

I have seen several quotes about currents and down welling, I can attest that I experienced both.
We received an extensive briefing that made much more sense AFTER the dive.
I was in Group 1 off the Sand Dollar green dive boat. We descended together, achieved neutral buoyancy at about 60', cruised the reef briefly and crossed it to descend the Santa Rosa wall. I found myself quickly descending and having to adjust my BCD to maintain 90' in depth. Our DM was constantly rattling his noise maker to direct group members to stick together and closer to the wall. At 97', I saw several divers 30 - 40' below me. I am not aware if they were from our excursion at all.
As our group began to get scattered, our DM ordered us to surface without a decompression stop. This concerned me, but it had been part of our briefing, so I followed suit. Our group was picked up with out incident. It was not until much later that we realized that someone from Group 3 was missing.
These are my PERSONAL observations:
There was no FORMAL assignment of dive buddies as I am accustomed to on US dive trips. (I identified with an apparent rookie who was seated next to me and stuck close to him throughout.
There was no FORMAL recognition of diving experience. This was left to individuals, and could have been emphasized to ensure diver safety.
Our dive lasted 16 minutes.
Other Group 3 divers reported that they could not locate the DM while descending and surfaced and returned to the boat without any significant dive time.
Another diver lost track of his wife momentarily because he was returning his camera to the boat and the DM took her down without him.
The pre-dive briefing was stern, so the DMs obviously knew that the conditions could become difficult. All groups had difficulty staying together once they entered the water and there appeared to be a rush to descend ASAP in order to avoid the effects of the strong current.
What I do not know is the physical condition of the diver lost, nor her experience level. I do not know if she had her own equipment or the miniature fins and rental gear that they issue at the dive shop. (I have GIANT fins and I am a strong swimmer and I am in good aerobic shape.)
I do not know anything of that actually transpired with divers in Group 3.
I did not get to speak directly to the spouse of the missing woman. I wish to extend my supreme sorrow and regret. It is an unimaginable loss.
RP

Your experience was horrible and it is a miracle that more were not hurt. Unfortunately you experienced what is somewhat typical of cattle boat ops that serve cruise lines. As a new diver and a pod person I had the experience of diving both in Grand Cayman and Coz. I do not recall the dive op in GC but in Coz it was Sand Dollar and the dive was as chaotic as you describe - minus of course the currents and tragic outcome. My dive in GC was as chaotic. It is for this reason that I firmly believe that when you talk about risky diving there is no dive that is riskier than the typical cruise dive. Hurried dive ops, large numbers of rushed divers with rented gear and often very inexperienced (although this is not always the case). I do not cruise anymore but if I did I would only dive at a port if I could dive with a dive op that runs dives for Local divers.

 

[ibj40]

well reading all this threads it definitely changed my mind about going to Cozumel

my question is what about Mayan Riviera and Playa del Carmen, are they better for new divers?

As an experienced driver who has been to both CZM and the mainland, I would have to suggest that, if you are unsure about your qualifications, a mainland dive location is better suited for you than CZM. My first exposure to CZM was back in the 80's, and dove there continuously throughout and up to the 2000's. Having dived it on all sides (West, North, East, and South), I can assure you that you may experience conditions that you are not prepare for.

In the late 90's/early 2000's, we began to dive along the mainland, primarily Puerto Aventuras (PA), as well as Playa del Carmen. We have not dived Cancun nor Akumal/Tulum. If you would like to experience the marine life and warm waters of the Mexican Riviera, but have concerns with the drift diving that you have experienced there through the postings within this thread/message board, then I would strongly suggest you investigate diving the mainland. We go back to PA annually, and dive with Dive Aventuras Mexico scuba diving vacation packages Puerto Aventuras

The reefs and the conditions may not duplicate CZM, but if you are a beginning diver wishing to experience the Mexican Caribbean, PA is the place.

 

[Davemohio]

KellyT,

Thanks for posting.

Forgive me for generalizing:

Is it valid to assume that many/most cruise ship divers are primarily vacation divers? Say diving maybe once or twice a year? Or less?

If that is the case, why did the charter go to Santa Rosa Wall? Just wondering.

 

[t4e]

Riviera Maya & Playa del Carmen are not drift dive locations. (We have taken the ferry from Playa del Carmen to Cozumel for that purpose in the past.) You should be absolutely fine there - just get a good dive shop/boat recommendation from someone you trust.

T4, I still suggest hiring a private DM to help you learn at Coz - but diving PDC is okay if you want less.

As an experienced driver who has been to both CZM and the mainland, I would have to suggest that, if you are unsure about your qualifications, a mainland dive location is better suited for you than CZM. My first exposure to CZM was back in the 80's, and dove there continuously throughout and up to the 2000's. Having dived it on all sides (West, North, East, and South), I can assure you that you may experience conditions that you are not prepare for.

In the late 90's/early 2000's, we began to dive along the mainland, primarily Puerto Aventuras (PA), as well as Playa del Carmen. We have not dived Cancun nor Akumal/Tulum. If you would like to experience the marine life and warm waters of the Mexican Riviera, but have concerns with the drift diving that you have experienced there through the postings within this thread/message board, then I would strongly suggest you investigate diving the mainland. We go back to PA annually, and dive with Dive Aventuras Mexico scuba diving vacation packages Puerto Aventuras

The reefs and the conditions may not duplicate CZM, but if you are a beginning diver wishing to experience the Mexican Caribbean, PA is the place.

thank you all so much for the advise

 

[jd950]

T4, I think as a new diver you can dive Cozumel. There are some ops that seem to work with many newer divers...ScubawithAlison comes to mind, who will keep you to sites that are appropriate for your experience. And any op should be able to accommodate you in that regard if you communicate clearly with them. For me, personally, I would avoid the larger, resort-based operators. No offense to them they are just not my style. I think you could get more personal service and attention from a smaller op, and that would make you more comfortable. You might want to talk to Aldora, Scuba with Tony and other similar operations that run smaller boats.

You can also stick with Playa, Puerto Aventuras, Puerto Morales and so on for no or less current. Perhaps even stay there and take a day trip over to Coz for a couple dives.

Please keep in mind that the conditions in Cozumel over the past 10 days were far more aggressive than I have seen in several trips there over the past several years, and while there last week I spoke with a number of folks with more Cozumel experience than I have who said the same thing.

 

[DandyDon]

From another thread...

Between messages here & on Tripadvisor it looks like they had their own equipment & it was relatively new. Being both rookies & learning to use the equipment could be a contributing factor, but that applies to just about any activity from diving to photography etc.

See message 77 here.

Diver Missing - Cozumel Forum - TripAdvisor

Ok, I was wrong in my rental gear guess. Still, new gear, new destination, etc. - a weight check dive on arrival is always a good idea. But these newbies were taken straight to Santa Rosa Wall...?!