Sueno del Mar Dive boat sinks

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

How about more like 15 years later?

Was it really that long ago?

I went to SDM in 2010 and had a great time. Stuart was grumpy but it
had no effect on the diving. He did his job well. I'd still like to go
back to SDM if I can ever get around to it. Now I feel short changed
because my boat didn't sink. I want to be on a boat that sinks! It's
not fair I have been denied that adventure.
 
I read this post before my wife and I went to Roatan for the Thanksgiving week. I was a little concerned because we were scheduled to dive with a dive master named Stuart who was highly recommended to me by good friends. So I was on high alert when we met him and started diving with him. I found him to be the best guide / dive master that I ever dove with. My wife and I dive a lot and we go to many different counties all over the world and Stuart Morgan was one of if not the best diving professionals to have with us. We dove out of West End, from a dive shop named Island Dive and they were very professional, very safe and took care of every detail for us. That included last minute fixes for equipment issues, minor scraps and all general needs. The reef is so close to the shore that we did our surface intervals back at the shop. At the end of the week, I asked Stuart about this incident. His answer to me was straight forward and made sense. I won't go into his response because it does not serve anyone to have a "he said / she said" discussion. Suffice to say, that dive operator, Sueno Del Mar, is no longer in operation. The soul reason I'm writing this, not as a rebuttal, but to share my experience with those that read this. I know the above post did not blame Stuart for the problem, but I wanted to share with you that my experience with him was the complete opposite from what was expressed here. I found him to be extremely safety conscious, and took great pains to make sure that my wife and I were comfortable, having a good time and felt safe and secure at all times. I just wanted to add my voice to the conversation, level set what I have seen first hand, and add my voice to the conversation.
 
Interesting. I just got my ow with Stuart at Island in February 2016 and last year we were in Roatan up until the day before this incident. So naturally this year we heard every angle of the whole story. In any case, Stuart was unbelievably fantastic during my OW training and I was a problem child. I don't know if I ever would have gotten through it without Stuart's encouragement and professionalism. My sister and her husband have dove with Stuart for years and they swear by him, as do many many many very seasoned divers.
 
Sueno Del Mar Dive Resort Roatan, Honduras On Feb 17/15 we (4 of us) arrived on Roatan and went to look for a Dive shop.We came upon Sueno Del Mar Dive Resort and while asking our usual questions, we asked how many would be diving the next morning.We were told by Ray (owner) that there were 4 people from the Cruise ship ((1 Diver (Father) 3 snorkelers(Mother and 2 kids)). Next morning we arrived with our C cards and filled out the necessary papers. Soon after more Divers were coming in, by this time there were 13 total and we were still waiting for the 4 from the cruise ship.The Dive Instructor (Stuart) seemed flustered and was yelling at staff to fill bottles and get other gear ready. He came and spoke to us about the amount of people and asked us not to judge them solely by how things were this morning, We actually thought that he was going to tell us that he wouldn't be able to accommodate us and we would need to book in at another time.Stuart said he knew it was a lot of people and had given the other Dive Master the day off.He felt it would be ok because he had an "honorary" Dive Master to help him, only because this man had been coming there for 16 years to Dive with them. We proceeded with loading the skiff with equipment, our friend who had only 14 dives and had not dove for over a year,was instructed by Stuart to put his rental regulator & BCD on his tank.He was struggling with the proper steps and was promptly yelled at by Stuart for not knowing how to hook up the gear properly.I have never seen a Dive company belittle a diver in front of people, this type of behavior was inappropriate and does not build confidence.After waiting an hour for the Cruise ship guests to arrive and outfit them with gear we were finally loading everyone on the boat.The family was seated on the bow. We sat at the back of the boat next to the Boat Captain and Dive Master.As we headed out from the dock, within a few minutes the Boat Captain was concerned with the weight of all the equipment and people on the boat (17 total including 3 guys who had just completed their OW certification).The wind was picking up and the swells were getting larger.As we continued the waves were coming over the sides and we were taking on water.The DM and BC were now arguing.The BC told the DM that he(Stuart) "Was putting people's lives in F*****g danger and that we should go back". Stuart told the BC that he had done this before and bullied the BC ,and took over the operating of the boat.My husband said to Stuart" This may be a poor time to ask you where the life jackets are, but where are they?" Stuart responded with "Your BCD's are your lifejackets" We noticed that the divers behind us had put on their BCDs. One of our lady friends was going to snorkel, she was not offered a life jacket. We proceeded through the buoys on the reef and Stuart tried to turn the boat to the left so we could continue over to the other side of the island.When he did this, there wasn't enough power and the boat was swamped by a big wave.Stuart yelled put your BCDs on and as the boat started to sink he yelled stand up.The boat filled with water and capsized. The BC turned the air on to my tank just seconds before we went down. The children and the Mother thankfully had life jackets on, however the kids were screaming and crying while bobbing on the surface. Our lady friend without alife jacket was pulled onto the capsized boat by the DM, but he swam to the rescue boat as soon as they arrived and she was knocked off from the top of the boat by another wave. Our other friend without a lifejacket was told to hang onto another diver.There were 3 rescue boats that were there immediately, Our friends without life jackets were taken on the rescue boat while the divers with their inflated BCDs floated.Even during this rescue I could hear Stuart arguing with Ray(boat captain of one of the rescue boats) about gathering the floating personal items. Ray said "I amlooking after rescuing people not the stuff".My husband and I were the last to be brought out of the water.My husband was brought in the boat with all gear attached. They attempted to bring me over the side but it wasn't working so I unclipped my BCD and tank and then I was brought in by the motor.I assumed they grabbed my gear and put it on the boat.Once on shore, we began retrieving gear that had been washed to shore and also picked up by 4 guys in Kayaks. We retrieved most of our gear and personal items, minus my new regulator.Someone had shut off my tank and removed my regulator and first stage, but left my new BCD on the tank before it reached the shore.Immediately we spoke with a police officer on the beach about what had happened, also spoke with a diver that was out retrieving gear.No one seemed overly concerned about it.As gear was coming in, I was standing beside the DM and when he found his gear he commented that he was glad he got his stuff back because it was worth $1600. I Couldn't believe he was more concerned about his gear than he was about the well being of the survivors. After about an hour we were transported back to the dive shop in the back of a small truck.On Feb 19/2015 morning we went to the dive shop to find out what they intended to do about our lost/stolen gear and belongings. The DM said to us " I take full responsibility for what happened yesterday" but neither the Owner, DM, or staff even expressed an "We are sorry" and they seemed more concerned about their boat and gear that was rocking in the waves on the reef.They replaced small items, such as towels, masks, fins but were dragging out the time to replace the first stage and regulator, with the story that they had an idea who had the regulator and had put the word out that the Dive shop would like to buy it back.They did order/ and shipped a replacement to our home, but not without the persistence of us coming into their shop every couple of days over a 3 week period.After much reflection and discussion about everything that went wrong that morning and what we have all learned.We are incensed that it just seems business as usual, the DM still has his job, and that this "mishap" was treated so casually. This could have turned out very badly, with injuries or possibly death.We trust Dive Shops and Dive Masters to a certain extent to exercise good judgment and safety to be a top priority on land and while diving.This PADI endorsed shop failed miserably.We trust shops with this designation to uphold standards and to ignore this incident is negligent.We were told this is not the first time that one of their dive boats has sank, clearly history is just repeating without a plan to prevent further incidents.Nothing will change if people don't speak up and report dangerous practices!!!

All in all we should have not went out that day - all the warning signs were there we were just eager to dive as we just arrived on the island and the first time we were in the water was when the boat capsized.

We had a great trip to Roatan after switching to another dive op.

I am a PADI Master Instructor. While Ray still owns the property, the dive shop is now owned and operated by a PADI Platinum Course Director with IDC Staff and MSDT Instructors. In April this year my wife and I spent four days of diving with them. Last week I took a dive master candidate down for a week of dive training with them. I own a PADI 5* IDC myself. Gary's operation is professionally run and I would send my customers to his Roatan Dive Center without hesitation. All of the previous staff were let go by Ray when he closed his shop in June last year when Gary and his wife took the dive shop over as a separate business.
 
Last edited:

Back
Top Bottom