My near-miss in the Galapagos

[TSandM]

My first "exotic" dive trip was to Australia, where we spent 5 days in Sydney, toured the wine country, and then went up to Byron Bay to dive. It was, for sure, a challenge to pack everything and have enough for all the activities.

Maybe (and I have no intention of being critical) you just tried to do too much in a single trip? If diving is in the offing, I take all my gear -- I then have to calculate how much else I can do on a trip with the remaining luggage allowance. Our recent trip to Egypt was a case in point. Diving was the focus, so we had three bags full of dive gear and one to split between the two of us for clothes. Needless to say, my wardrobe was limited, and composed largely of things I could hand wash and hang out. And one time during the trip, we swallowed the outrageous fees and had laundry done.

 

[jridg]

Good read - and good warning. I can't say what I would have done in your situation - although being an 'arm-chair' diver, I would like to think I would have never got on the first boat. I have seen some old gear, but a good op will keep old gear in good repair. Sure, it might be faded, but if it properly maintained, it should still be OK.

I am very loathe to rent gear when I travel. If I do, I look it over very thoroughly. This is the case in point. Sounds like you have learned a lot from this trip - and you still got to do some dives in a must dive location - so, it's kind of a win for you - but then again, what if ............

Glad you're OK and that you learned from the experience.

 

[Leejnd]

Maybe (and I have no intention of being critical) you just tried to do too much in a single trip?

Thanks for not being critical. But I just gotta ask you...if you were going to be on a trip that included the Galapagos Islands - arguably one of the top dive destinations on the planet - and you knew you had two free days in which you COULD get in a few dives -- wouldn't you? Can you imagine the flak I'd take from all my dive friends if I went to the freaking Galapagos Islands and didn't dive?

Also, please remember that this was a packaged, guided group tour. Up until the last two days, we were led by the noses everywhere we went. All activities planned, all meals and travel and accommodations and tours included. That is NOT the way I normally travel - I tend to be a very independent traveler, and generally like to make all my own arrangements and be in control of my own destiny. This is the first one of these packaged tours I've ever gone on. But we were invited to participate with some friends of ours, and it was going to places we wanted to see, so we went along. Frankly I was glad to get away from all the scheduled activities on those last two days and do something on our OWN.

Hindsight being 20/20 and all that, yeah maybe we should have brought our gear, or not even tried to squeeze in the diving...and of course checked the gear better, and bailed on the second day, etc etc etc. But I'm sorry, I just don't know a single person who is as passionate about diving as I am who could find themselves in the Galapagos and not try to squeeze in some diving, somehow.

I appreciate everyone's efforts to find the flaw in my behavior that led to this. But I think that questioning whether I should even have tried to go diving to begin with is going a little overboard. I have many talents, but prognostication is not among them.

If diving is in the offing, I take all my gear -- I then have to calculate how much else I can do on a trip with the remaining luggage allowance. Our recent trip to Egypt was a case in point. Diving was the focus, so we had three bags full of dive gear and one to split between the two of us for clothes. Needless to say, my wardrobe was limited, and composed largely of things I could hand wash and hang out. And one time during the trip, we swallowed the outrageous fees and had laundry done.

That's the thing - diving wasn't the focus of this trip. It was tacked on at the end. Further, with all the travel, transfers, and destination-hopping - we stayed at no fewer than six different hotels, as well as a small-ship for 4 days - I'm not so sure it would have been a good idea to try to bring our gear anyway. So is the lesson that, if diving isn't the focus of your trip, don't go diving? That's rather limiting. Or perhaps the lesson is just to NEVER EVER EVER rent equipment. Now that one I'll buy!

 

[Bubbletrubble]

Or perhaps the lesson is just to NEVER EVER EVER rent equipment. Now that one I'll buy!

I didn't draw that conclusion from your story, but if it prevents you from ever placing yourself in a dangerous situation like that again...then I don't think it's a bad lesson. Using rental stuff is like blindly selecting a piece of chocolate from one of those assorted boxes. You never know what you're going to get. (Apologies to the screenwriters of Forrest Gump.)

Heck, we all love to dive. I don't think any of us blame you for doing a couple of dives in the Galapagos. You see stuff there that you can't see anywhere else!

Thanks for sharing your story and allowing us to learn from your experience.

 

[Scott L]

My first "exotic" dive trip was to Australia, where we spent 5 days in Sydney, toured the wine country, and then went up to Byron Bay to dive. It was, for sure, a challenge to pack everything and have enough for all the activities.

Maybe (and I have no intention of being critical) you just tried to do too much in a single trip? If diving is in the offing, I take all my gear -- I then have to calculate how much else I can do on a trip with the remaining luggage allowance. Our recent trip to Egypt was a case in point. Diving was the focus, so we had three bags full of dive gear and one to split between the two of us for clothes. Needless to say, my wardrobe was limited, and composed largely of things I could hand wash and hang out. And one time during the trip, we swallowed the outrageous fees and had laundry done.

TSandM, your logic and wisdom are infalliable. Yeah, especially after reading this thread I cannot envision a senario where I would not dive without my own equipment sans fins, weights, etc. Either plan the trip with one less day or days or postpone until the added expense can be justified.

 

[Leejnd]

TSandM, your logic and wisdom is infalliable. Yeah, especially after reading this thread I cannot envision a senario where I would not dive without my own equipment sans fins, weights, etc. Either plan the trip with one less day or days or postpone until the added expense can be justified.

I'm not so sure I agree. Not saying I disagree that TSandM is wise - I always learn something from her posts! I'm just saying that I'm not so sure that renting dive gear should be completely ruled out as an option for any diver who wants to stay alive. Should we really be eliminating that entire market segment of the dive industry? What about newer divers who haven't yet bought their own gear? Do we really need to state unequivocably that divers should NEVER RENT GEAR? That's a pretty strong statement.

I'm sure there are many dive ops around the world who would also disagree.

Yes, I had a bad experience with rental gear. But I think we've established pretty well that there are things I could have done to better check the gear I was issued. (And I don't think we need to poke anymore holes in me for that...I've already acknowledged it ad infinitum.)

If anything, this should be a lesson to both divers AND dive ops: for divers, if you do rent, CHECK YOUR GEAR thoroughly...certainly more thoroughly than I did. And for dive ops, for petes sake, don't issue crappy gear! Do a better job of maintaining your rental gear, check it thoroughly before you issue it to a customer, and please remember that your customer is putting his/her life in your hands...please take that seriously.

Given what happened to me, I'm pretty much done with renting gear for myself...I think I will be bringing my own from now on. But I think it would be going overboard to say that NOBODY should EVER rent gear ANYWHERE.

 

[Scott L]

I'm not so sure I agree. Not saying I disagree that TSandM is wise - I always learn something from her posts! I'm just saying that I'm not so sure that renting dive gear should be completely ruled out as an option for any diver who wants to stay alive. Should we really be eliminating that entire market segment of the dive industry? What about newer divers who haven't yet bought their own gear? Do we really need to state unequivocably that divers should NEVER RENT GEAR? That's a pretty strong statement.

I'm sure there are many dive ops around the world who would also disagree.

Yes, I had a bad experience with rental gear. But I think we've established pretty well that there are things I could have done to better check the gear I was issued. (And I don't think we need to poke anymore holes in me for that...I've already acknowledged it ad infinitum.)

If anything, this should be a lesson to both divers AND dive ops: for divers, if you do rent, CHECK YOUR GEAR thoroughly...certainly more thoroughly than I did. And for dive ops, for petes sake, don't issue crappy gear! Do a better job of maintaining your rental gear, check it thoroughly before you issue it to a customer, and please remember that your customer is putting his/her life in your hands...please take that seriously.

Given what happened to me, I'm pretty much done with renting gear for myself...I think I will be bringing my own from now on. But I think it would be going overboard to say that NOBODY should EVER rent gear ANYWHERE.

I cannot speak for TSandM but the point made is that traveling with own gear is doable. Like anything else it is a function of $$$. I tried to word my last post such to not invoke your ire but I do not have your gifts. The highly benefical aspect of SB is to play out all senarios and learn from other's experiences to avoid all manner of mishaps and injury. Thanks to you sharing your experiences my policy on equipment rental is now iron clad...

 

[TSandM]

Well, I think if I were going to the Galapagos, myself, it would be a dive-centered trip

I don't think it is horrible to rent gear, although I won't do it, because I love my equipment and the way it fits and works for me, and if I'm going to spend megabucks doing an irreplaceable dive, I want to do it in an optimal fashion.

But if I were going to contemplate renting gear, I would at the very least do a bunch of research about the dive operation. There's lot of information on line (including here on SB!) to get a sense for whether anyone has ever dived with the folks, and what their experience is. And I would suspect that an operator in a very remote location, if their prices weren't steep, might well have to cut some corners.

Lee, I don't know what I would have done in your situation. You were presented with an opportunity, and it sounds as though you knew about it beforehand, but maybe not so much. You had a dive op about whom you knew nothing, gear about which you knew nothing on the first day and bad things on the second, and a site you knew would be advanced and challenging. We all make risk/value assessments in our diving, and you made one. You sort of lost the toss -- You accepted the (known) poor operator and the (known) poor equipment in the face of (known) challenging conditions, and you ended up with a successful but stressful dive. I think you just have to shrug and say you paid your money and you took your choice. I don't think dive operators should offer dives to advanced sites without good boats, good captains, and emergency equipment, but it's my personal opinion that people diving advanced sites should either have their own gear, or have ascertained the quality and condition of the equipment before they dive it. I'm very current-averse, so there is no way I'd get in the water in the Galapagos without equipment about which I felt one hundred percent sure. But that's me.

 

[Leejnd]

:::sigh::: Ya gotta love Scubaboard! If there is one place you can be SURE that your snout is going to rubbed deep into every false move you made ten times more than you need to actually learn your lesson, this is the place.

TSandM, you made an erroneous assumption above: that I knew nothing about the dive op. That is not true. I actually DID do my research. I read everything I could find on the internet, going years back, on this dive op. Unfortunately there wasn't a whole lot out there about them, other than a few blog posts and positive reviews from satisfied divers, and one years-old post here on SB from a diver who got sick the day before his trip and tried to cancel that morning, and was mad that the dive op wouldn't refund their money. (And I was on the side of the dive op on that one.) I also scoured the dive op's website, and read details about the dive sites so I'd know what to expect. I even read detailed reviews of the specific dive sites that were done with other dive ops. I posted numerous questions in the South America forum (go look - you'll see at least a couple dozen of my posts in there, and at least one or two threads that I myself started.) I think I did my due dilligence, and I kinda resent the implication that I didn't.

I also told the booking agent that I wanted a dive op that uses ScubaPro gear (because that's what my husband has, and he is less open to change than I am ), and she assured me they do (and they did...it was just really OLD and crappy ScubaPro gear.)

Your point seems to be, in the end, that I shouldn't have even planned on diving if a) the trip wasn't focused on diving, and b) I couldn't bring my gear. I accept that that is your opinion. I personally couldn't pass up the opportnity to dive in Galapagos while on a non-dive-focused trip, and it seems there are plenty of others in here who can understand. But you are right: as I've stated before, I assessed the risks, and made my choices. And look what I got out of it: some memories of hammerhead shark sightings, one very adrenaline-inducing experience, and this awesome thread in which I can keep all of you guys entertained as you continue to throw spit-balls at me! What more could an intrepid diver ask for!

 

[austriandiveress]

LeeAnn, I would have done what you did, for sure. We once ended up in Montenegro, had our own regs etc but of course no tanks. You've never seen such rusty old things in your life! I couldnt dive that day due to an ear problem, but my BF jumped in the water with a local dive guide who smoked in the boat as well as while floating around in the water in full gear (never seen that either, before or since), and he had no computer. (my BF did) It wasnt nearly as adventurous or challenging a dive as the one you describe, but still seemed worth a 3 hour boat ride, simply to have the experience of diving where not too many people get to go. Smart? Not so smart? Who's to say? We often involve ourselves in riskier behaviour on land ............ just my €2.