downinFL
Registered
We are looking for tips on liveaboards (preferably) or dive resorts which are particularly good with disabled divers. My wife was in a traffic accident some years ago which crushed a total of 8 spinal discs (cervical and lumbar). As the nerves atrophy, she finds herself more and more dependent on a power wheelchair, though she can walk with a cane, slowly negotiate stairs (not steep ladders) with difficulty. She does a forward-roll off the dive platform;if she shucks her BC while still in the water, she can manage the boarding stairs on a fairly stable liveaboard (but coming over the side of a rockin' and rollin' skiff or zodiac would be out of the question). She's got more guts than I: she just passed the 100-dive mark after 3 years of diving. She says diving is the only sport left to her -- because of the weightlessness underwater.
Long airline flights are a problem, so we're likely looking in the Carib.
We have tried Nekton -- their advertisements implying "handi-friendly" are a bad joke. The crew works to overcome a lot of shortcomings, but there is only so much they can do, given the raw material they have to work with. (Best not go further into that one -- some real raw nerves.)
Peter Hughes' Sea Dancer operation in Provo, Turks & Caicos, was a great experience, but they aren't running out of Provo any more.
Does anyone have any suggestions -- either direct observations or heard on the grapevine -- for handi-friendly dive operations? The one or two I found on this site are either 2 or more years old and/or link to dead websites (e.g., moraywheels.org).
Would greatly appreciate any leads I can follow.
Many thanks!
Long airline flights are a problem, so we're likely looking in the Carib.
We have tried Nekton -- their advertisements implying "handi-friendly" are a bad joke. The crew works to overcome a lot of shortcomings, but there is only so much they can do, given the raw material they have to work with. (Best not go further into that one -- some real raw nerves.)
Peter Hughes' Sea Dancer operation in Provo, Turks & Caicos, was a great experience, but they aren't running out of Provo any more.
Does anyone have any suggestions -- either direct observations or heard on the grapevine -- for handi-friendly dive operations? The one or two I found on this site are either 2 or more years old and/or link to dead websites (e.g., moraywheels.org).
Would greatly appreciate any leads I can follow.
Many thanks!