The May issue of Undercurrent includes reports of a practice being offered by some large Chinese Travel Tour Operators. There have been reports from Bunaken Marine Park in Indonesia, as well as rumors coming from other areas in Southeast Asia including the Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand. These tour groups are offering Deadman Diving excursions.
A non-diver with no training is suited up in basic dive gear and stands on the top of a reef without wearing any fins, then a Dive Guide grabs on and drags him through the water while holding on to the top of his tank to give him a scuba experience. It has been reported that the Deadman Divers often try to grab onto marine life and cause damage to the corals as they are towed through the water by the Guide.
Undercurrent wants to find out more about this dangerous and destructive practice, so if you have any information please contact: BenDDavison@undercurrent.org
Undercurrent Subscribers can read the article here:
https://www.undercurrent.org/members/UCnow/dive_magazine/2018/DeadmanDiving201805.html
It sounds to me like they are trying to offer an experience similar to a Tandem Skydive, which is a popular and lucrative experience offered by Skydiving Drop Zone operators in the US and elsewhere. The passenger is strapped into a tandem rig along with a real skydiver who controls the jump, but that practice is regulated and controlled - this Deadman Diving sounds like a very bad idea to me!
A non-diver with no training is suited up in basic dive gear and stands on the top of a reef without wearing any fins, then a Dive Guide grabs on and drags him through the water while holding on to the top of his tank to give him a scuba experience. It has been reported that the Deadman Divers often try to grab onto marine life and cause damage to the corals as they are towed through the water by the Guide.
Undercurrent wants to find out more about this dangerous and destructive practice, so if you have any information please contact: BenDDavison@undercurrent.org
Undercurrent Subscribers can read the article here:
https://www.undercurrent.org/members/UCnow/dive_magazine/2018/DeadmanDiving201805.html
It sounds to me like they are trying to offer an experience similar to a Tandem Skydive, which is a popular and lucrative experience offered by Skydiving Drop Zone operators in the US and elsewhere. The passenger is strapped into a tandem rig along with a real skydiver who controls the jump, but that practice is regulated and controlled - this Deadman Diving sounds like a very bad idea to me!
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