Bahamas Diving-Split from Spiegel Accident

[ianr33]

Maybe it's a Florida/Caribbean thing but we run 80s here too. We have a couple 100s on hand for the hoovers but normally everyone is fine on the 80s, even when we run 120, 140 and 185ft dives.

normally?

" So we're going to drop down to 185. Normally no one runs out of air"

Interesting way to plan a dive

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

Off topic discussion has been split from this thread: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/accidents-incidents/320007-spiegel-incident.html

Some comments have been removed.

Everyone should make their own risk assessment of the practices being discussed here.

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[Dr Wu]

My resort has been running this dive since 1960 with no problems. Divers are evaluated at 90 and either 120/140 feet for air consumption before being taken down.

Honest question after looking at your site:

Do you really take guests on 225fsw cave dives while taking responsibility for monitoring their air consumption?

And what is meant by : "You will be wearing fully redundant cave diving equipment and will be thoroughly briefed on how to use it."


I am genuinely curious.

 

[idocsteve]

Honest question after looking at your site:

Do you really take guests on 225fsw cave dives while taking responsibility for monitoring their air consumption?

I looked at that quote and the post it referenced, I see 185 feet, nothing about 225 feet.

I checked the site referenced in that posters signature and see nothing about deep cave dives.

 

[Dr Wu]

I looked at that quote and the post it referenced, I see 185 feet, nothing about 225 feet.

I checked the site referenced in that posters signature and see nothing about deep cave dives.

170 foot cave dive

190 foot cave dive

225 foot cave dive


All with "fully redundant cave diving gear and a briefing on how to use it"

 

[idocsteve]

170 foot cave dive

190 foot cave dive

225 foot cave dive


All with "fully redundant cave diving gear and a briefing on how to use it"

I'm not seeing where they say they'll brief you on the use of cave diving or where they indicate they will take untrained divers beyond their levels of certification.

 

[Dr Wu]

I'm not seeing where they say they'll brief you on the use of cave diving or where they indicate they will take untrained divers beyond their levels of certification.

The 185 foot dive listed is not in an overhead environment but we know from the OP that it is done with a single Al80.

The 225 foot dive is listed thusly:

Church Windows
One or two people
running time: 10 minutes
maximum depth: 225 feet
in water time: 30 minutes
This dive offers some of the most unusual formations to be seen on our wall. We will descend down to the top of the wall where we will follow a permanent line to the entrance of a tunnel or cavern at 200 feet deep. We will need our lights briefly while entering the tunnel which will be loaded with silver side minnows.

The tunnel goes in the wall and then turns left and down to where we will exit at 225 feet, above a huge limestone archway. We will immediately begin our ascent up to the top of the wall. A reef shark has been spotted here on almost every dive so we will keep a lookout for him!

Deeper in this same area, other similar tunnel systems have been found and explored in the wall. It is a mystery as to what caused these interesting wall formations.

For some of the other cave dives the site states: You will be wearing fully redundant cave diving equipment and will be thoroughly briefed on how to use it.

So yes it is possible that the 185 foot dive is done with a single Al 80 and all the other dives are done with proper cave diving gear.

It is also possible that the resort would limit fully certified cave divers to 20 minute bottom times.

Lastly it is possible that the resort does a thorough briefing for certified cave divers on the proper use of equipment they have spent years training with.

All of that is possible and the reason I asked.

 

[idocsteve]

For some of the other cave dives the site states: You will be wearing fully redundant cave diving equipment and will be thoroughly briefed on how to use it.

Show me where it says that, or where it suggests that divers are taken on dives beyond their level of training.


Second request

 

[Dr Wu]

Show me where it says that, or where it suggests that divers are taken on dives beyond their level of training.


Second request

You seem to be having some difficulty understanding basic information.

If we take what we have learned from this thread as fact there has to be an agency that trains cave divers to make 225 foot dives with singled aluminum 80's on air.

Do you know of such an agency?

Do you see any reason why certified cave divers would need to be told they will be using "redundant cave diving equipment" and require a briefing on the proper use of that cave diving gear?

Honestly I don't care if they require divers to be certified or not. I was just interested in a resort that allowed such flexability to its guests.

 

[scubafanatic]

You have guests do 185fsw dives on air with single AL 80's?

...these dives are likely reserved for the later dives, for those divers who are doing 'substandard' amounts of tipping.......

 

[scubafanatic]

Isn't this about the time the people that are doing helium on 110' dives chime in

....yeah, but I guessin' the planetary economic depression has thinned out the ranks of the $200 per fill crowd......I'm seein' 'deep air' makin' a big comeback!