Swim throughs - what could possibly go wrong?

[Wookie]

I notice school funding votes. The school board wants a football stadium, even though the school has no team. Build it and they will come. The taxpayers reply, no, you may not have a stadium, for if you build it and they come, then we shall have to pay for them, too. The vote is no. The folks who want this stadium ask again. the answer is still no. The third time the stadium builders ask, the vote is closer, but still no. The stadium builders are now heartened, because they will soon get permission to build their stadium, perhaps not on the 4th vote, or the 5th vote, but surely by the 6th vote, we'll be getting permission to build this stadium that the taxpayers have said 5 times that they don't want.

The parallels of this thread is that the OP wants permission to dive in swim-throughs. He wants this without overhead training. I think we're on the third thread. Like a child negotiating for a toy or a snack his mother denied him, he is setting conditions that may or may not be realistic, but they are his very limited conditions anyway.

Assuming:

• There is only one clear path and no chance of getting lost;
• The floor is course sand that won't silt even with a group of divers swimming through the cavern;
• It is so spacious that many divers can pass through at the same time;
• The cavern has multiple large entries and exits; and
• It is well illuminated.

What are the risks of diving in these "caverns"? What could go wrong?

Like a child who wants the toy his mother said no to, the negotiations will take place as long as the child thinks he can wear mom down. It will start with promises to only use the toy between the hours of 2 and 4 on Saturday afternoons, then promises to only look at it on the nightstand, then promises to have it but not use it until the 18th birthday, and the promises and negotiating tactics become silly.

We're at silly.

As I said in another thread, do anything you feel comfortable doing. There are no scuba police to stop you. Be sure to set it up so that no one gets hurt looking for your corpse, and if you have loved ones, be sure you care for them if anything untoward should happen to you. That applies to all diving, BTW, and in life in general. If someone is relying on you for something, make sure that if you aren't there to do what they are relying on you to do, make arrangements to have someone else take care of business for you.

 

[Peter Guy]

This is a picture of recreational divers in the Lanai Cathedrals -- an overhead that is very often dived by very beginner divers. Could something bad happen? Yes. Is it very likely anything bad will happen? No.

What is your risk tolerance?

 

[Lorenzoid]

My problem is "how do I know the OP's presumptions are correct", not whether I think they are correct or not.

My understanding of the post is that the OP asked us to ASSUME they are true for purposes of a theoretical discussion. If people don't want to play along because the assumptions are out of line with reality, then that's their prerogative.

This thread is silly. I could just as easily have started one that says, "Assume no one ever needs to use my octo. What could possibly go wrong if I don't have one?"

And what would be wrong with starting a theoretical discussion with that assumption, even though it is out of line with reality at present? Maybe, for whatever reason, someone wants to constrain the discussion to all things that could go wrong EXCEPT an out-of-air situation. I don't see why it's wrong to put constraints on a discussion for purposes of keeping it focused.

 

[Subcooled]

You don't need our permission.

But you asked for advice. A healthy choice. Read this and this.
Especially read the latter one.

- Just make sure the surge will not make you the ball in pinball.
- Many other hazards have been listed above. Many more untold hazards may exist.
- Some study, practice, formal training, and equipment would lessen the risks.

It's a free world (and that includes the right to assume risk under water or get drunk or eat fast food), but consider the social dimension of your choices. Consider the consequences to your family, local diving community, rescue team, and local tax payers. Those groups may legitimately try to deny you.

 

[tursiops]

I don't see why it's wrong to put constraints on a discussion for purposes of keeping it focused.

OK, what if I said, let's assume you are not going to post anything unless 100% of the readers give it a "Like"?
Would you still post? Remember, you've got to hold to the theoretical assumption....

 

[RJP]

"Had to" ? Did someone have a gun to your head?

Always love to play semantics with "life and death" situations.

You're right... no one has ever forced me to save their mother's life, or retrieve their son's body, etc.

Unfortunately, divers who were exercising "personal responsibility" have put me in situations where I "had to" decide whether or not I should put myself at risk to rescue them or retrieve their bodies.

(Please advise if I have missed anything else important - like grammar or spelling - in this post.)

 

[kcjon]

What do you guys who stick to the no overhead ever theory do in places like Cozumel where almost every dive has a swim thru? Do you leave the group and go above? Do you tell the dive guides that is inappropriate and unsafe to take rec divers thru these? Just curious?

 

[RJP]

View attachment 176779

This is a picture of recreational divers in the Lanai Cathedrals -- an overhead that is very often dived by very beginner divers. Could something bad happen? Yes. Is it very likely anything bad will happen? No.

What is your risk tolerance?

Cathedrals was was my logged dive #5.

 

[drrich2]

Panic is one concern. Example would be someone afraid of snakes seeing a sharp-tail eel and mistaking it for one, or freaking out when approached by the large green moray in Jax's example. The issue is, diver panics, attempts to bolt for the surface (bad in its own right), and hits the ceiling, then really panics, and so on.

Issue here is the mentality of the individual diver. For some that scenario would seem exaggerated and silly; for some it could be lethal. Seems like a few years ago I saw a thread where a diver was found dead 'stuck to the ceiling' of a cavern that's supposed to be easy. And drowned divers' bodies found without the weights ditched are another example of how panic makes situations dangerous that ought not to be.

If you swim too near the ceiling, even if space doesn't demand it, your tank valve can snag on something. That could freak someone out.

Also in another thread, someone posted about a wreck penetration (the Oriskany, I believe it was), and diver exhalation bubbles dislodging an overhead bristleworm (which I don't think stung anybody, but obviously it could've). My point it, people with no overhead training might not consider their bubbles might stir something up.

And as others have alluded to, many swim throughs are down by vacation divers new to the local site, on a 'trust me' basis, and it's up to you whether to do that. I've done swim throughs, and I've not done them. I'm chubby and in gear my girth is greater than the average diver, so swimming through tunnels concerns me.

Got this recurrent fear of being half-way through a fairly tight swim through and a big green moray popping out in close quarters (and yes, I wear split fins and don't know the back kick...).

Richard.

 

[ianr33]

Always love to play semantics with "life and death" situations.

You're right... no one has ever forced me to save their mother's life, or retrieve their son's body, etc.

Unfortunately, divers who were exercising "personal responsibility" have put me in situations where I "had to" decide whether or not I should put myself at risk to rescue them or retrieve their bodies.

(Please advise if I have missed anything else important - like grammar or spelling - in this post.)

You're post is quite acceptable to me.

Carry on.