Close Call in Bali - know your DM and Dive Operator very well

[veron]

My friends and I just got back from what we thought would be great mola mola dive trip. We planned our dive to the dot. We had a very rigid selection process for our dive operator. Aside from price and the feedback other divers gave, we checked out their website, facbook, location, etc..

When we first got to the dive shop we did notice that they seemed very professional and organized, which we really appreciated. We booked a 2 day dive which was an experience. i'd like to share with you guys what happened.

To give you a brief, there were 4 divers and all has atleast an advance certification. We have almost 200 dives each and has been diving for 5 years or so in Philippines and in different parts of the world on a regular basis.


On Day 1 Dive 1, my buddy was low on air. Back home we are used to PSI rather than bar. He showed his guage to the DM and the DM gave her octapus for him to use. Instead of heading for safety stop, she still continued to go around and take the rest of the divers around. Probably a good 5 minutes before taking our safety stop.

On Day 1 Dive 3, we had 2 DM's with us. It was funny how they seemed to be arguing under water about which direction to take.

On Day 2 Dive 1, we went to Crystal Bay (it would be our second time to go there). Before dropping in the water, DM's briefing was that the current is strong and if we are sure we wanted to go. We of course said sure if we can see the Mola Mola there. We went on with the dive as planned. Current was very very strong that it required us to hang on to corals so we don't get washed away. Close to finishing our safety stop, a down current (downswelling) suddenly came and started to pull us down. Our dive profile went from 10-15 ft to 30ft and then all the way down to 65 ft in 10 seconds or less. The 4 of us were stuck in the whirlpool for around 10min while our DM was already up in the boat.

One couple hanged on together and at some point had to use an octapus because one of them was low on air. My buddy and I got seperated from them. From 65ft we saw them drift so far away from us. We climbed up a wall and my buddy was low on air too. After much struggle all four of us got out safely (thank, God).

While recapturing what just happened and what we felt during that 10 min, it was there that we learned:
1/ DM did not know where the nearest chamber was
2/ most DM would take their rescue and DM certification together (probably this is a practice - not sure if it's the best one)
3/ the 2 different DM's assigned to us only had 1 month and 3 month experience each in Bali.
4/ Onset the DM new that we were in search of the mola mola. after the dive he says mola mola will not come up in a current like that (what the hell were we there for then??)

Anything could have gone wrong in that 10 min. since we all survived, we know we did something right.

We can only treat this as a lesson learned. When doing trips outside your turf:
1/ ask about the DM's credentials and their length of experience in the area
2/ know where the hospital is and chamber just in case you need it

I couldn't really say that the DM was well experienced or not but 1-3 months diving in Bali may not be enough to be a good dive guide and to know the water conditions very well. Between these guys or myself, i'd probably still choose them to guide me. But knowing what i know now.. we might have gone with some other dive operator.

We went with Atlantis Bali for our dive.

 

[naivete]

just want to know what things did you guys do when you were stuck in the whirlpool. thanks

 

[Bubbletrubble]

Thanks for sharing your story.

On Day 1, Dive 1, your buddy was "low on air":

• It's irrelevant whether the SPG was marked in bar or psi. Zero is zero, regardless of the units being used.
• IMO, you and your buddy need to assume responsibility for your own gas management. Showing one's gauge to the DM and then sharing air with the DM is pretty unusual behavior in my book. Why didn't your buddy switch over to sharing air with you and then initiate ascent immediately? It should be understood that if a diver is low on air or reaches turn pressure, then both buddies in the buddy pair will initiate their ascent, including a safety stop (gas supply permitting). I'm not sure why you guys were waiting around for the DM to tell the group to ascend. It's clear that you and your buddy did not have a gas plan in place. You guys have more than enough experience to know better.

On Day 2, Dive 1, you were diving in strong current:

• It sounds like you were uncomfortable diving in those tough conditions. If so, why didn't you and your buddy abort the dive? It seems kind of silly to put yourself in such a bad/uncomfortable position.
• Separation of the buddy teams really shouldn't be an issue. Buddy teams should be able to operate independently of one another. Tough conditions (low vis and/or high current) increase the likelihood of buddy group separation. That being said, it is imperative that buddies within a buddy team remain together. That cannot be emphasized enough.
• The downwelling that you experienced during your safety stop was unavoidable (since you hadn't aborted the dive earlier). You and your buddy did what you had to do to deal with it. I couldn't get a clear picture of the underwater topography at that particular dive site...but you mentioned that there was a wall. With downwellings, it can be helpful to move off of the wall since the down-current tends to hug the wall. One take-away lesson is that you and your buddy should be adopting a very conservative gas management plan -- to allow for unexpected challenges, such as a downwelling or eddies/whirlpools. Sites featuring high current and possible downwellings demand conservative gas plans.

I'm not really clear on the role of the DM in Bali. I know that in some parts of the world, diving is conducted from small boats. There is an in-water DM to guide the dive, and there is a crewmember (captain?) who remains aboard the boat during the dive. Is this how things were done during your trip? The reason I ask is that, where I'm from, the captain is ultimately responsible for site selection.

I'm not sure how the DM's experience level is relevant to what happened to you guys. On a vacation, if a DM accompanies us during a dive, I'll generally only rely on him/her to point out interesting critters. I don't rely on the DM for my gas plan. If conditions are too rough, I don't wait for the DM to call the dive. My buddy and I will abort the dive regardless of what the DM does. That being said, if you had known that the DM was so inexperienced, would you have decided to sign up for the dives anyway? I suppose asking the dive op about the DM's experience prior to signing up for the dive would be helpful.

When researching a dive op (even before signing up for a dive), it's good practice to inquire about the nearest hyperbaric chamber and medical facilities (hospital, clinic, etc.)...and whether the boat has emergency oxygen supplies.

 

[tracydr]

I would never count on a DM to be anything but a guide to show you the sights. Considering your buddy ran ooa on the first dive, I would think a high current dive was beyond their skill level and should have been skipped.
A DM in Cozumel shared air with my EX on every dive we made. After that, he thought it was a great idea and made it a practice to run his tank dry and then run mine dry. I thank God he never killed us!
In many places the DM doesn't even get in the water with you. You need to be able to take care of yourselves or take some more classes.
Not being mean, just trying to keep you guys alive. I do think it sounds like the DMs were questioning your abilities to do that last dive since they asked if you were sure you wanted to do it.
There are some remote places where you don't have a chamber to bail you out in a reasonable amount of time. Pemba Island, Africa and Galapegos are two I've been to that come to mind. We had somebody get DCS in Galapegos and he had to ride back 12 hours while on O2 and the rest of our boat lost out on a day of diving.

 

[vladimir]

I'm not sure how the DM's experience level is relevant to what happened to you guys. On a vacation, if a DM accompanies us during a dive, I'll generally only rely on him/her to point out interesting critters. I don't rely on the DM for my gas plan. If conditions are too rough, I don't wait for the DM to call the dive. My buddy and I will abort the dive regardless of what the DM does. That being said, if you had known that the DM was so inexperienced, would you have decided to sign up for the dives anyway? I suppose asking the dive op about the DM's experience prior to signing up for the dive would be helpful.

One of the things that I do rely on a divemaster for is a good dive briefing, one that includes the topology, currents, hazards, etc. It sounds like the divemaster fulfilled this expectation by warning the OP's group of the currents. Strong currents in Bali mean there is a potential for downdrafts and whirlpools; they cannot be reliably predicted, but they are a known hazard.

Thanks, Veron, for posting this story. It must have been pretty scary, and it's a good reminder to all of us to pad our gas reserves when this risk exists.

 

[Leejnd]

I've been to Bali, and I did a total of about 40 dives there, including 12 at Crystal Bay. Here's my take on this:

Agree with BubbleTrubble - you and ONLY you are responsible for your gas management. Nusa Penida (which is where Crystal Bay is located) is one of those places where you do resort-style group dives off a boat with a DM leading, but regardless, it is always the responsibility of the diver to manage his dive. ALWAYS. As far as I'm concerned, the DMs are no more than a guide to show me the pretty fish. I do expect them to give me an adequate briefing and not do anything to put me in danger, but I don't expect them to be my babysitter, or to save me from myself if I do something stupid (like run out of air). I'm a certified diver, and I should be diving only within my training and skills, and not depending on a DM to keep me alive at a dive site that is beyond my abilities.

If you are used to PSI and find yourself diving with bar, for pete's sake, learn bar! Why go in the water at an advanced, challenging dive site without understanding one of the most crucial pieces of life-support equipment you have - your SPG? How did you plan on knowing how much gas you had, so you could make appropriate decisions? If you don't know what it says, what's the point of having it? Also, I would never let a DM make me do something I didn't want to do, or felt was unsafe.

Yes, Crystal Bay can have INTENSE currents. We were aware of that, and were briefed about it in detail. We knew what we were getting into, and we chose to accept the risk. On one of our dives, the current kicked up so strong we had to hold onto the reefs and hand-over-fist it, basically crawling back up the wall...it was challenging, but we were aware it could happen, and knew what to do, as we'd discussed it in advance.

It sounds to me like you were adequately briefed as well...and chose to do the dive. You were hit with some bad luck with that whirlpool - yikes, that sounds scary! Yes, Crystal Bay is an challenging, advanced, unpredictable dive site.

I'm sorry, but my take on this is that none of this is the fault of the dive op.

I'm not trying to be harsh, but I can't tell you how many times I've read reports from angry divers about what a bad time they had because of decisions THEY made, and then they blame it all on the DM. That's one reason why I prefer the way our boats are run out here in SoCal - the DMs don't even get in the water. You are expected to be self-sufficient - you bring your own buddy, you take care of your own gear, you plan your dive and are expected to dive your plan, and get yourself back to the boat. While I always appreciate the value that DMs bring to resort-area dives, that value involves knowing where to go and showing me stuff I wouldn't otherwise see. It does not include them being my babysitter. That's up to me - that's why I got certified.

You say you have over 200 dives, all over the world. Have these all be DM-led dives? Or are you experienced in diving without a DM? Just curious.

 

[TSandM]

This may well have been a beautiful example of the idea that an experienced diver in one environment is a beginner in another.

When we did our trip to Indonesia, it was the first time I had dived big walls in current. I got flummoxed by some up- and downcurrents, but I quickly learned to spot the places where they were likely, and how to cope with them when they happened. It's a hazard of that type of diving; all you can do is, as Bubbletrubble says, use a conservative gas plan, and have a strategy in place for coping with the issue.

I do agree that someone on the boat should have known where the nearest chamber is and how to access it. But that's why I have DAN insurance, because THEY'll know And as stated, it probably isn't a bad idea to research those questions a bit, when going to a remote location.

 

[annasea]

<snip> Showing one's gauge to the DM and then sharing air with the DM is pretty unusual behavior in my book. Why didn't your buddy switch over to sharing air with you and then initiate ascent immediately? It should be understood that if a diver is low on air or reaches turn pressure, then both buddies in the buddy pair will initiate their ascent, including a safety stop (gas supply permitting). I'm not sure why you guys were waiting around for the DM to tell the group to ascend. It's clear that you and your buddy did not have a gas plan in place. You guys have more than enough experience to know better.<snip>

While true in theory, this is not my experience of dives in the Philippines, for example. As most divers aren't familiar with the dive sites, the DM takes a group of divers down and leads them around the site. They try their best to make the dive last for everybody... including those not great on air, hence the air share with the DM. Generally, dives are 1 hour long... for everyone. It's not like drift diving in SE Florida, for example, where divers are free to break up into buddy groups and the dive boat will pick them up wherever they surface. Not defending, just explaining based on what I've seen from 8 weeks of diving in the general area.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

While true in theory, this is not my experience of dives in the Philippines, for example. As most divers aren't familiar with the dive sites, the DM takes a group of divers down and leads them around the site. They try their best to make the dive last for everybody... including those not great on air, hence the air share with the DM. Generally, dives are 1 hour long... for everyone. It's not like drift diving in SE Florida, for example, where divers are free to break up into buddy groups and the dive boat will pick them up wherever they surface. Not defending, just explaining based on what I've seen from 8 weeks of diving in the general area.

Thanks for the info, annasea.

What happens when more than one diver is low on air? Will the DM switch off sharing air between the two divers? It seems like a silly practice to me.
What about the "gas status" of the buddy of the LOA diver? If the LOA diver is sharing air with the DM, then he most likely cannot provide an emergency reserve for his buddy. Doesn't that create an unsafe situation for his buddy?

I can understand divers within a buddy team sharing air early on in a dive to compensate for uneven gas consumption, out of convenience. This would be done so that remaining gas supplies are "equalized" later on in the dive.

 

[cruiser]

After that, he thought it was a great idea and made it a practice to run his tank dry and then run mine dry. I thank God he never killed us!

How did your spouse make it a practice to run YOUR tank dry? Wouldn't this have required your cooperation?