dive plan....HOW? waiting on charter to reveal location

I called several dive charters in PCB, they all said basically the same thing, " we can't tell you where, until right before the dive, because we have to factor in weather and other conditions...etc etc. but it will be a two tank dives and two wrecks....etc.... "

1. So without knowing where you are going, how can you do a dive plan?
2. How late can you wait and do your dive plan?
3. Will (and how soon) will the DM give us all the necessary varibles, e.g. tell you the depth of the wreck and when to come up etc.

I have read enough threads in this forum, to know the diver owns the responsiblity, not the Captain or DM, etc.,,,

Any and all thoughts appreciated

If condiftions are "iffy," it is not uncommon for dive ops to delay their decisions until it is time for the boat to pull away from the dock. You can't blame them, but you can blame Mother Nature.

Most of your dive plan can be worked out without even knowing the dive site. Things like gear checks, lost buddy protocols, emergency procedures, hand signals, etc., are not site-specific.

Usually you will know the dive location when you arrive to sign in and load your gear on the boat. At that point you can chose your gas (if you're breathing something other than air) and plan the dive. The ride out to the dive site is usually long enough the finalize the dive plan.

Most of the time you have a pretty good idea of the dive before you drop anchor, but a lot of dive ops don't give the dive brief until the engine is shut down. If you really have questions that you need answered, you can bug the dive master for details even before you pull away from the dock. You may have to be persistent, because the dive master may respond to your questions by saying, "I'll brief all of that when we get to the dive site." Just persist and tell the dive master you want some details now.

Remember: you're paying for the trip, so get the information you need, when you need it.

I guess I should know what PCB stands for but I don't.

You can do a dive plan just before you get in the water at a minimum. There are several aspects of it you would do then anyway such as buddy checks and equipment checks.

You know the general type of diving you will be doing at the dive location now...warm water/cold water/drift and whether it's deep or shallow, etc.

You know whether or not you will bring your own buddy or if it will be an insta buddy. You know your own preferences regarding buddy protocol, lost buddy, etc.

On many boats as was mentioned you don't find out the destination until you get on the boat (in many cases) if it's weather dependent.

In a very limited way your plan may be dictated. Follow a DM or don't go below a certain depth, whether it's a live pickup or an anchored boat. Where the wreck or marine life is located will be given to you in most cases unless it's a self directed shore dive.

Here it is not at all uncommon to not know the site until we get there. The captain knows where he is gonna take us but he doesn't know if that is where we'll dive. They might get out there and the local conditions are too bad to dive there so they'll try a different spot. Had one where the weather was pretty bad and it wasn't until we got to the "safe" site that they evaluated the site, canceled the charter and returned to dock.

I generally try to see what region the charter is scheduled for and how many dives. I then have a basic idea of the type of diving that might be done. For example the "Friendly Friday" charter in the bay is probably not gonna be going to 100' sites.

The boats out here will tell you (one even has it as a 3D contour map) what the depths are so if you need to do additional planning you can do it there. Nothing says you have to be the first in the water.

Granny Scuba:

I called several dive charters in PCB, they all said basically the same thing, " we can't tell you where, until right before the dive, because we have to factor in weather and other conditions...etc etc. but it will be a two tank dives and two wrecks....etc.... "

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Sounds completely fair to me and quite common for places with dodgy weather.

This is a bog standard simple recreational dive plan - it takes 20 seconds to make one before kitting up. All you need is a maximum depth of the site, whether the boat is moored or live and thats pretty much it for a basic plan.

Granny Scuba:

I called several dive charters in PCB, they all said basically the same thing, " we can't tell you where, until right before the dive, because we have to factor in weather and other conditions...etc etc. but it will be a two tank dives and two wrecks....etc.... "

1. So without knowing where you are going, how can you do a dive plan?
2. How late can you wait and do your dive plan?
3. Will (and how soon) will the DM give us all the necessary varibles, e.g. tell you the depth of the wreck and when to come up etc.

I have read enough threads in this forum, to know the diver owns the responsiblity, not the Captain or DM, etc.,,,

Any and all thoughts appreciated

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For some of the more experienced people here, not knowing the exact dive site until the last minute is no big deal. The dive plan for them will simply be "point us to the water."

For the newer divers, not knowing can be quite a cause of stress and anxiety. To avoid this, try asking your charter a few days in advance what are some of the possible locations based on current conditions and what are potential alternates. Then you can get information on those sites and form a basic plan with your buddy ahead of time. Write down information you think is important about the sites on wet notes and then take it with you on the boat. Whenever the final choice is made by the captain, you can add whatever information from the DM that you feel is pertinent to the plan you've already got and make your final decision before you splash.

Many people will feel much more relaxed and in control by having this chance to review stuff ahead of time. Always remember too, if something about the dive site bothers you, speak up before you get in the water. If the issue can't be resolved to your satisfaction there is always the option to sit the dive out. A lot of people will push their comfort level because they dont want to waste their money, but IMO, it's a bigger waste to pay for something that stresses you.

Granny Scuba:

1. So without knowing where you are going, how can you do a dive plan?
2. How late can you wait and do your dive plan?
3. Will (and how soon) will the DM give us all the necessary varibles, e.g. tell you the depth of the wreck and when to come up etc.

Click to expand...

One quick question...where is PCB?

Your dive plan...creating a dive plan has been done pretty well at the last minute. You may learn details at the last minute that will impact your dive plan. For instance you may know you're going to wreck 'x', put until the DM ties off to wreck 'x' you will not know the vis, currents and where the boat is tied off to wreck 'x'. The DM will then tell you, we're tied off to the bow of wreck 'x' at 90fsw, the vis is approx. 60ft, there is a mild current of 1 knot, and current is moving from the stern to the bow.

There are other variables that you are in control of. For instance, when to ascend. This is dependent upon you and your buddy. If you are both relatively new and your on AL80's and the wreck lies in 90fsw, air may be your limiting factor. You and your buddy can determine this prior to your dive. You can say whoever gets to 1000psi first or if we hit our NDL's first of the most conservative computer, could easily be pre-establised as part of your dive plan. The DM may only say to not exceed the limits of recreational diving or make sure you get back on the boat with 500psi.

You can do some digging to find out what typical profiles in PCB are and make sure your gear is ready for diving in PCB. If divers typically carry SMB with reels and pony bottles, you may want to make sure you have SMB with reel and pony bottles.

If you're concerned about NITROX, you could simply go with 32% which will give you a MOD of 109fsw at 1.4 ppO2. A charter that caters to recreational divers isn't going to be going for real deep dives. 32% will cover a lot.

Finally if you are that uncomfortable about planning the dive, ask the charter if a DM will be diving with you or see if you can't hire a DM for the dive until you get more comfortable with planning and execution of dives.

A little tidbit. If you're diving wrecks (again, where is PCB?) you can start off deeper on the wreck and then imagine diving upward spirals around the wreck. Hopefully your using a computer. This is multilevel diving and air will be your limiting factor. I've had dives where I've maintained 1 minute of NDL for most of the dive!

Well, Granny Scuba . . .

If the dive shop in Panama City Beach tells you that, you can be pretty much assured that you'll be diving on the "Black Bart" and "Bridge Span 14", or is it "19", I don't remember.

Seems that most of the big boat charters have forgotten that there are other sites. The reason you'll probably be diving on these two sites is that they are the closest to the bay, therefore giving the charter the shortest ride to the site . . . so it's easier for them to run more than one charter per day.

Oh, they'll ask, "So, where do you want to go today?", and then proceed to sell you on the "Bart" and the bridge span. Mention another site and they'll look at you as if you have two heads.

Check in with the "Dive Locker". They actually take divers to other sites.

Ah, but to answer your question . . .
. . . in-shore dives, the cheaper ones, will max out at about 75'. The off-shore dives may get you as deep as 110'.

Plan for 80' or 100' and you'll be in the ballpark. You can refine your plan once the site is announced.

Hope ya have a good dive or two.

Safe dives . . . . . . . .
. . . safer ascents ! ! !

the K

Well, there are kind of two ways to do a basic plan. One is to decide what the maximum parameters are with which you are comfortable, and then communicate to the charter operator what those are, and ask if the sites he generally goes to work with those. For example, when we were in Cozumel, we dove 32% and an MOD of 100 feet. This meant some of the sites people commonly want to dive (eg. Devil's Throat) were out of the question for us. The operator knew before we came that we were going to do this, so they chose sites that were compatible with our restrictions.

The other way is to wait for the information about the site and the proposed plan, and see if it meets your needs or wishes. To do this well, you need to understand quite a few things about your diving and about what proposed dives mean to YOU. For example, if the proposed site is a square profile dive on a wreck at 100 feet, there really is no option for a shallower or simpler dive, and you have to evaluate the gas supply you have, your consumption rate, and your tolerance for narcosis to decide on the appropriateness of the dive for you.

For new divers, especially if you want to remain conservative and appropriate to your experience level, I think it's really important to let the operator know ahead of time what you want to do, so you don't end up on an expensive boat trip, faced with a dive you really don't think you ought to do.

The Kraken:

Plan for 80' or 100' and you'll be in the ballpark. You can refine your plan once the site is announced.

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This is actually the key for those questionable location boat dives. A quick chart/table/spreadsheet with the NDL and your SAC for each depth will allow you to create the plan on the fly, understanding your depth limiters.