Canadian woman presumed dead - Roatan, Honduras

[KevinG58]

When I did my first dive there a buoyancy check and mask clearing was included. Perhaps that has changed.

It has, now its a tour of the front yard / channel / prince albert and a cursory observation of the new arrivals behavior and maybe body language under water.. When I first went many years (10?) ago there was a quick buoyancy check, mask clearing and reg recovery, then a tour.

 

[CajunDiva]

Might be a better way to go, but the problem doing that in Roatan is I don't think there are many dive boat captains familiar with the live boating mentality, just about all dive sites are mooring ball pick ups, with maybe the exception would be the dive site Texas? Maybe a couple others at most? (Doc could clarify all this) With the dive sites having typically only one mooring ball the marine park is self-policing dive traffic on the sites, one mooring ball = one dive boat per site. (more than once, the plan is a certain dive site, you're on your way and you see a boat already moored up, you change plans)

Monkey see, monkey do. All your life as a captain you pick up mooring balls twice a day... windy... boat might end up over the wall instead of over the shallow... business as usual, pick up the mooring ball.

Again, not to beat a dead horse, but the dive operations assume you can dive, over the shallow, over the wall, they don't wake up each morning figuring they might have to recover a body and better apply a method that will expedite it.

I respectfully disagree with your opinion of Roatan boat captains. The captains whose boats I have been on in Roatan have demonstrated exceptional skills with both live boat drops and pickups AND mooring ball pickups. They can read the seas, know the dive sites intimately and watch the divers carefully for ANY sign of trouble and are usually there to help before anyone else knows anything is wrong. Roatan boat staffers have a wide range of experience with divers of all kinds. This is their livelihood and most of them take pride in taking great care of their divers.

 

[chrisneilson]

Haven't posted in a long time. Haven't had a chance to go diving.

But I just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone in this thread (Especially Terry).

As someone with AOW and limited experience, there was a lot of really great information given in here about what to do in an emergency. I had never really considered what i might do or be thinking in a scenario like this. I think my reaction would be to try to help somehow. But this is a good reminder that I'm far more likely to make things worse.

The point of this area of the board is to discuss and educate in hopes of helping prevent future incidents. great work everyone... Thank you

 

[chrisneilson]

and of course condolences to this ladies family. I hope the description of her with a big smile of excitement to do something she loved is a comfort for them..

Also... I did my OW in Roatan with Coconut Tree Divers. They were absolutely first rate and completely attentive to every detail. Far more so than i found in Cozumel or the Mayan Riviera (who were also very good still).