Diver to diver etiquette

Greetings all,

First time post for me. I just wanted to see what the general feeling is regarding an experience I had recently.

My question is what do you do when you are on a boat with a know it all diver who may not be as great of a diver as he (or she) thinks he is ?

I was on a boat for several dives with a guy who claimed to be a "wreck diver" and had advice for everybody else, but also grabbed on the reef at every opportunity (I mean, full on grab right arouond the base of some fan coral and anything else he could find to hold on to), came up with a very low amout of pressure in his tank (to the point of damage to the cylinder and making the crew upset), and used a couple other techniques that bugged me, but were not really hurting anybody or anything.

My real problem was with the damage to the reef. I asked the crew to ask all the divers not to grab on the coral at their next dive briefing, which they did, but to no avail as the guy continued to grab on to the reef seemingly every time I looked at him.

I did not say anything to the diver directly, mostly due to the insistence of my dive buddy who said that if I said anything then I would be the "pompus, know it all jerk". I struggled with how to say something nicely and off hand, but could not come up with anything so I let it go.

So curious if anybody would share like experiences and/or ideas for future situations.

Why not just straight out ask him loudly if he's such a great wreck diver why his buoyancy on a reef sucks. There are some pull and glide situations on a few wrecks but it should be no different than on a reef. If you have to pull at everything, can't stay off the bottom or the roof, and tear stuff up you suck. Simple. And saying to such a jerk that "Hey I've seen you dive and I don't want ANY advice from you and I'm sure no one else does either" is not uncalled for.

Usually the best advice is not to ignore the problem because that only escalates it. Next time be direct but tactful, in that way, no one should ever mistake you for a pompus, know it all jerk. If the guy can't take a little helpful advice from his fellow divers then he should probably take up a new hobby, because that's the guy who's going to cause a situation where he gets himself or a fellow diver hurt-or even worse. I would advise against messing with another divers equipment which could potentially endanger the guy, eventhough he sounds like a tool.

My concern is more for EZ 2000 who had a question about etiquette. It would be a mistake to tell him/her to do the wrong kind of thing. Deep, long or not, we are taught never to mess with another divers equipment. That's Open Water Classroom day 1. It would also be prudent to bear in mind that eventually you will return topside too. If you messed with another divers equipment, you will eventually deal with that person again. I'm willing to bet would end up getting UGLY

I need to tell many guys not to touch coral while under water...
Is there some kind of a hand sign for this ?????

I hate myself when I see others do that very lightly as if they are not doing any thing

EZ_2000:

Greetings all,

... what do you do when you are on a boat with a know it all diver who may not be as great of a diver as he (or she) thinks he is?
I was on a boat for several dives with a guy who claimed to be a "wreck diver" and had advice for everybody else.... So curious if anybody would share like experiences and/or ideas for future situations.

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Keep clear of him (her) or anyone who is a know-it all. They are dangerous people with a dangerous attitude.

I agree with the valid (if somewhat restrained) criticism of the advice to mess with the "jerk's" gear. That could lead to dangerous personal injury or death, either the "jerk's" or the "savior of coral's." If someone turned off my air or inflated my BC at depth, he'd be in a world of hurt.

As for what to do with the "jerk," how about challenging him to a buoyancy control challenge for the remaining dives? The first person to touch the reef, buys drinks all night long for the other. Make the challenge loud and public. The "jerk" will see everyone's reaction to him.

If he was grabbing the coral, you should have said something to him. If he did it again, tell the crew. If he did it a third time, steal his freaking gloves!!! When he asks about them, make sure everyone knows, and make sure everyone laughs at the "rec" diver.

If he likes to grab coral....point at the fire coral..... (j/k...don't hurt people)

Hi EZ- I was on a dive at Coz we where checking a large turtle eating coral. This woman from Florida grabs onto the turtle and pulls it off the coral and tries to ride it. I raced to her and pulled one fin off. She let go of the turtle. I gave her the fin back with the proper signs to leave the animal alone. At surface I did not berate her in front of everyone. I asked her why she thought she could ride the turtle. She said her friends do it all the time. I told her the reason why this is not done and she was ok with that. The next dives where great.
My point is maybe he did not know that coral is an animal. Maybe he lied about his dive skills. Obviously his bouyancy gives reason to this. Maybe talking away from the crowd may alter his antics below. But I feel it's ok to talk to someone about it in an appropriate way first before having them shored. I know that when I was a novice at bouyancy I was given signals to come up a little quite a few times.