Lost At Sea In Cozumel

[DandyDon]

Just out of curiosity how big of signaling devices were you carrying and did no one have a dive alert or similar?:06: I ask because we plan to go to Mexico next year(doing the keys this year ) and just ordered the new DAN signal tube. I have a neon yellow 6 footer and also carry a dive alert on my lp hose and just added a Hammerhead to my drysuit inflator/spare lp hose( I do alot of work with students and the hammerhead really gets their attention underwater). If this is not sufficient for Cozumel I'd like to know.

I think you'll be fine. The one time I was lost, my Dive Alert brought the attention of another boat.

 

[Code Monkey]

I tend to be pretty paranoid about such things. I carry a Dive Alert, Zeagle signal tube, a signal mirror, two dye packs, and (to top things off) a Personal Locator Beacon. Thankfully, in over 150 dives I've never even been tempted to get near any of this stuff. But, just in case...

 

[pfriedel]

Yeah, after floating and wondering if the itty bitty boat on the horizon saw me or not a few weeks back in Cozumel, my wife and I decided two things:

1) Having some form of signal tube is a Good Idea on Cozumel (does any op rent them? Seems like it would be a good idea), and
2) Pop the extra few bucks for a fast boat if it's an option. The dive that we had to float a while on was from a cattle cruiser with 15-16 divers and 3-4 divemasters. They were probably busy doing another pickup when we surfaced, but at that distance there was no way to tell if they saw us or not. The fast boat captains were _always_ right on top of us when we surfaced, ready with a rope to assist if needed, etc. Well worth the extra $10, even discounting all of the other benefits.

Next time I go down to Cozumel, I'm going to bring the biggest baddest SMB money can buy and possibly that rescue streamer thing I saw mentioned here the other day. We weren't floating for long (maybe 10-15 minutes, tops) and we were just North of Chankanaab so swimming to shore was a definate option, but the experience put just enough of a fear of God into me to get more serious about being noticed on the surface. Heck, I bought a cheapie Trident $8 plastic tube SMB from SCC that afternoon just so I'd feel comfortable getting back in the water the following day.

 

[DandyDon]

1) Having some form of signal tube is a Good Idea on Cozumel (does any op rent them? Seems like it would be a good idea),

They're pretty cheap. See link in my Signature area about equipment.

 

[pfriedel]

They're pretty cheap. See link in my Signature area about equipment.

Well yeah but I didn't have one when I got down there, and I'm hesitant to buy gear from a local shop when you don't have the choice you do at home. (The DAN SMB kit warms the cockles of my cheap soul oh yes it does..)

Although I'm starting to consider it a good idea to have a SMB even in our usual diving haunts (small lakes and quarries, mainly) for emergency situations where we can't make our usual surface swim back to the shore and want to get some attention.

 

[Web Monkey]

Just read you post about Ecodivers in Cozumel. Same situation happened to us last Feb! Our Ecodiver captain left us in five foot swells, none of us had large enough signaling devices and lucky us (sarcasm), it was a late afternoon dive so we had an opportunity to watch the sun set and see all the lights twinkling on the island over a mile away. I was the only diver who had NOT seen Open Water so I was less freaked than others in our group. Seems our boat captain was new and tracked another group's bubbles then realized his mistake and headed back to find us.

Have you bought a big SMB, strobe, flashlight and air horn yet?

Terry

 

[smclean]

Jim Lap: You should be in great shape with a 6' signal tube, ours were less than 6' and the wind was so strong it blew ours in half so they weren't that effective anyway. I had only a whistle. Will be more prepared next time. Have fun! Here's a little tip to help you with your trip to Mexico: At every meal we were served limes or small ones, use them on everything! The lime juice kills most of the little things in your food that can cause you to spend more time in the bano than diving!

 

[cherie]

When I was in Cozumel a couple of years ago, we were getting ready to head back in after a dive and somebody spotted a signal tube way, way off in the distance. It was some poor older fellow, probably about 55-60 years old. He had been left behind by his boat! At least that's what he told us. If we wouldn't have found him God only knows what would've happened. This was just one of the rather iffy experiences I've had while diving in Mexico. The majority have been good, safe experiences, but there's definitely a higher margin of error there.

 

[DandyDon]

When I was in Cozumel a couple of years ago, we were getting ready to head back in after a dive and somebody spotted a signal tube way, way off in the distance. It was some poor older fellow, probably about 55-60 years old. He had been left behind by his boat! At least that's what he told us. If we wouldn't have found him God only knows what would've happened. This was just one of the rather iffy experiences I've had while diving in Mexico. The majority have been good, safe experiences, but there's definitely a higher margin of error there.

And I appreciate the pick-up. You were with the group of Okies who decided to vote me off the boat, tho, right...? :lol2:

Really, a lot of us think we've been left at times, but in my case, the boat just went one way to pick up the first ones who came up, my way later. And I should not have gotten seperated from the 2 guys I was diving with.

Anyway, welcome to SB. Post an Introduction on that forum if you'd like so we can welcome you more appropriately...

 

[halocline]

I just stumbled on this thread. I've been diving with Roberta's Dive-Eco Cozumel for a few years, at least 75 dives, and have always had an excellent experience with this dive op. As her op has grown since they bought blue bubble, the range of clientele has widened, from mostly repeat customers with known diving experience and abilities to people like the original poster on this thread; referrals who come in from another dive op with an unknown history. If there was an error in judgement here by the dive op, it was the captain who allowed the evidently inexperienced diver to try descending again after initially failing. Bet he won't make that mistake again!

Once again, I can attest to the quality of this dive op from extensive personal experience. Oh, and they're hardly a "cattle boat" operation; they have a few small "6-pack" boats and had one larger boat (still not the cattle boat size) which was severely damaged by Wilma.

Now, as to the quality of "open water", all I can say is that I tried to rent it once. As I was checking it out, the blockbuster employee looked at me and said, "Dude, this is the worst movie I've ever seen, and I've seen alot" Soooo.....I put it back and got something else.