Key West: Amateur Hour?

[_kurt]

No diver should ever be without a computer/gauge or intimate knowledge of planning dives and diving plans.

This is what really blows my mind. Sure, it's nearly impossible to get bent when the sand is at 30' but who goes diving without at least a watch?

I'm guessing that operator didn't put a guide in the water. Is that right?

That's correct. There were divemasters on the boat but they stayed there. Another factor is that the boat was packed full. Every tank rack was taken. I guess this was my lesson on "cattle boats". The only other Newton 46 I've dived from was much, much less chaotic but that shop put guides in the water and didn't pack the boat to capacity

Thanks for the feedback. It gives me some things to think about for my next dive.

 

[Akimbo]

Sadly, standards have fallen short in every industry including medicine and public safety since the Covid Pandemic began. Every business and institution I can think of is off their game. Not making excuses, only making an observation.

 

[Jcp2]

This is what really blows my mind. Sure, it's nearly impossible to get bent when the sand is at 30' but who goes diving without at least a watch?


That's correct. There were divemasters on the boat but they stayed there. Another factor is that the boat was packed full. Every tank rack was taken. I guess this was my lesson on "cattle boats". The only other Newton 46 I've dived from was much, much less chaotic but that shop put guides in the water and didn't pack the boat to capacity

Thanks for the feedback. It gives me some things to think about for my next dive.

Name and shame so we won’t make the same mistake.

 

[drrich2]

That's correct. There were divemasters on the boat but they stayed there.

Combine that with cruise shippers and you've got a recipe for drama.

Disclaimer: I've been on a number of cruises and love them. No 'pod people' jokes.

I've dove a number of places where 'free' guides often aren't automatically put in the water; California, North Carolina (but Olympus Dive Center had paid guide service really cheap), Key Largo can be (I used Rainbow Reef Dive Center), and regarding some destinations I have not dove, you'd want to check if diving Boynton Beach or West Palm Beach, IIRC from other's reports.

It seems to me places that get more advanced divers and/or a lot of local divers rather than casual occasional diving tourists are less likely to put a 'free' guide in the water or include scuba tanks in the default boat trip price. This isn't always made clear, and many people who've only done the casual dive tourist thing in destinations that cater to that, and don't spend time on ScubaBoard or the like, could easily not know that. It's not hard to imagine that they expect to be provided necessary gear.

I'm not judging it right or wrong; my opinion on the subject won't change anything in the real world. It is what it is.

I question whether this is the first time this has happened to that operator, and whether more ought to be done in terms of communication in advance to avoid such situations. Just speculating.

 

[boulderjohn]

I have a suspicion. Might be way off base; I want to run it by you.

I'm guessing that operator didn't put a guide in the water. Is that right?

When I was still teaching OW classes, I had several occasions while teaching the dive planning portions of the class when students told me that their experienced friends had told them that they only had to learn that stuff for the class. Once they were diving "in the real world," they didn't have to do any of that because the divemaster plans the dive and leads it. All you have to do is follow the DM.

I am sure that is how a lot of people do all their diving, so when they come to an operation that does not supply a DM, they don't know what to do.