BVI trip report

[Natasha]

Hi,
I just got back from Tortola, Virgin Gorda, and Anegada.
I dove with both Baskin in the Sun, and Dive BVI.
While my experience with both operators were positive ones, I heard horror stories on the boats about both of them.
Wild huh?
Baskin had a hard week while I was there. Two compressors went down the same time. They said it was a $30,000 dollar problem. The boat I was on, when I was on it, was fine. They are very innovative. At 30 feet they drop a safety bar with 'hookahs' on it. This allows for divers with low air to be able to breathe and take their stop.
I thought Tony, Spike, Andy and Sherry were all very supportive and helpful. Baskin uses instructors and not divemasters on their boats. Also a plus.
DiveBVI took me to the stern of the Rhone. Good dive, and good experience with them. There were several snorkelers on this boat, but everything was well explained, and no one got into each other's way.
However, while talking to another diver on this boat he told me this first hand experience.
He said the day before when the boat went out, two women were left behind in the water. Yep, it has happened again. After 20 minutes someone on the boat noticed this, and the boat went back for them, but both women were very shook up.
Not good. Why does this keep happening? They took a roll call while I was on. But it was while the boat was moving.
On all the dives I was on, not one diver had a sausage or a whistle with them. They saw my sausage and asked what it was.
I think the open water classes are not stressing safety enough.
Any thoughts on this?

 

[TexasMike]

Did the boat have a "general" dive briefing on how things worked before or as you were leaving the dock? If they did, it might be worth listening for their diver recovery procedures and how they ensure everyone is onboard. And if nothing is mentioned...ask questions.

And you could always carry a stash of whistles and sausages and have a little concession stand.

 

[SubMariner]

While I agree that divers should have safety equipment like sausages, mirrors, and whistles, it is the responsibility of the dive operation to make sure it has as many people on board AFTER the dive as BEFORE it.

Unfortunately, many of these operations are just too interested in herding people in/out of the water & getting back as soon as possible so they can load up on another batch. How much extra time would it take out of their precious schedule to make sure they had everyone safely back on board BEFORE they started making preparations to weigh anchor and get underway? :fury:

Just my $0.02's worth...

~SubMariner~

 

[Warhammer]

I whole-heartedly agree with SubMariner. There is absolutely no excuse for leaving anyone. Yet it keeps happening again and again. This is one area of diving that I'd welcome government intervention. There should be some standards in place that requires something to prevent this and stiff penalties for those who vailate them. This is always in the back of my mind when I get on a charter boat.

 

[large_diver]

I think for the first time ever, I am actually going to ask the boat operator about headcount procedures when I do some diving in Bermuda next week.....scary stuff

Just bought a new safety sausage/singaling device this week -- these Halcyon models with the built in inflator hook-up/dump are slick.

 

[joewr]

We did not like the BVI--at least, Tortola. The east end of the island is a slum! The west end is too damn crowded! Now, I know that I will offend someone out there, but that is what we thought.

Yacht folks love the BVI because the winds are great and the dock sites are great. At the west end where Baskin is there are yacht folks galore--and the night life can be wild. I looked at the Baskin ops and thought they had too many people per boat. Other dive ops have fewer, but we were not impressed.

And now we hear about leaving divers behind! That is a symptom of sloppiness and too many divers on the boat! That one report, alone, would rule out Baskin for us.

Joewr

 

[Warhammer]

Glad you made it back safe, Joe. I'm sure you had a marvelous trip, so tell us all about it.

 

[Natasha]

Joe,
Glad you're back also. But re read what I wrote. It was not Baskin that left the divers, but DIVEBVI that did. They are on Virgin Gorda.
My experience with Baskin was a very positive one. :sunny:

 

[caymancase]

I haven't been to Tortola in quite a few years but have visited it about 4-5 times and always had good experiences. I dove with Blue Water Divers everytime and had a wonderful time. The Rhone was alot of fun! And the island is very beautiful... and I have nothing to do with yachts.
Oh, say it ain't so, Joe! You hate 2 of my most fav places in the world? GC and Tortola? Me thinks you look for the bad and overlook the good?

 

[joewr]

Caymancase,

I have been accused of overlooking four-leaf clovers, but never the "good"! Maybe we just have different tastes in dive sites! And if my tastes are outside the norm, I will not influence too many other souls!

I hope that I only annoyed you, at most and did not either anger you or offend you. It was certainly not my intent!

Joe