Dive Operations enforcing rules

[BluewaterSail]

I think that whetheran operator is strict about rule enforcement or not, if you as a diver go on a trip with an operator, then you are obligated to follow their rules. If you don't like those rules, use a different operator. There is no special dispensation because you are a diving god. I have read posts on ScubaBoard from people who brag about refusing to follow such rules, and I have no admiration for that attitude.

A number of years ago I went to Grand Cayman, and as soon as I arrived I went out with the dive operator stationed at our resort. On that dive we were all required to follow the DM in single file for a 35 minute dive. I did that. As soon as I was back in my room, I did the research I should have done before the trip and found an operator much more to my liking, located only a few miles away.

If you want to stage a rebellion, do it by looking for another operator, not by starting an insurrection during the dive. Better yet, do your research and make sure you will be going with an operator whose rules you can respect.

I think that sometimes its a particular DM that likes to treat divers like kindergarden students for whatever reason, but its not the rule of the operation. I went on a short boat ride to a small wreck one day. After we had been down there for a little while, the DM, who happened to be a very experienced instructor of OW, gathered us all up and wanted us to all sit on the bow of the wreck, with our feet dangling into a large open hatch. I was new enough at the time that I did what I was told, since I didn't see it as a safety hazard, but it really pissed me off. Today there is no way I would do that. And if that guy is assigned to a dive I signed up for in the future, I would probably pass on it.

I have had really wonderful dives with other staff from that operation, so I am sure that could not have been a shop thing. In fact when I mentioned it later to some other staff, they just smiled and said that this fella has been doing the same things for so many years that he's just set in his ways.

 

[TSandM]

I haven't run into a "stupid" rule, although I have to admit that, were I to go back and dive with the dive op we used in Byron Bay again, the 45 minute time limit would chafe. But if I dove with them, I would respect it; if I didn't want to do that, I would try to find another operator with longer dives.

I have only seen a captain get mad once, and that was at two divers who didn't respect the dive time, and made everybody on the boat wait for them (and the captain nervous, I think). They claimed not to have understood the limit, but the rest of us did. They were scolded and allowed to dive again.

The resort where we met the guy who habitually ran out of gas had simply assigned him his own dive guide, to share gas with him and bring him up

 

[tomfcrist]

The resort where we met the guy who habitually ran out of gas had simply assigned him his own dive guide, to share gas with him and bring him up

Really? Someone should have torched his C-card....and sent him packing.

 

[redacted]

That sounds like a dive plan- not stupid rules.



Sounds a bit like you bought a weird and wonderful foreign car only to find that nobody can fix it. I have nothing against solo diving per se, but the operator may well do, and local law (for example Maldives) may forbid it.



None of those rules sounds to me like anything out of the norm. I would suggest that as an individual who doesn't want to submit to the rules of the many, the onus is on you to establish what the diving rules are before you put your money down.

I do my own dive plan. The dive op does not do it for me. Somehow, I suspect you do the same.

None of the ops I dive with have a "500 psi" rule. And all the ops I dive with permit solo diving.

I have not had any problem finding suitable dive ops even if they are "out of the norm". I have no problem submitting to all the rules I accepted at the time I contracted services. It is the rules that are added later (or changed) that may cause a problem. Sometimes the problem can be worked out. If not, then we could end up with no tips or even my not diving and a charge back on the CC. I had a DM from an op that advertised diving your gas and computer and then shortened the dives and had us surfacing with well over 1000 psi so he could make it to his afternoon client. A withheld tip and a discussion with the dive op took care of that problem the next day.

BTW, I am getting the impression that the norms in the Maldives are not necessarily the norms of most quality dive destinations.

 

[supergaijin]

Unfortunately in many many many DCs, money does the talking, safe diving practices do the walking.

 

[redacted]

Unfortunately in many many many DCs, money does the talking, safe diving practices do the walking.

Are you suggesting that qualified divers managing their own gas is unsafe? Or that solo diving by properly certified divers is unsafe?

It sounds to me like you are running the beginners slope at the ski resort. Are there any dive operations in the Maldives that cater to experience divers?

 

[supergaijin]

If guests want to rent a boat, tank and weights for the day (and have the ability to do it safely), then they can dive for as long or as short as they like. The cost of renting said boat may or may not be prohibitively expensive but if they're part of a group it may well be good value for money. I did it fairly regularly in the Philippines.

Here I don't normally see guests who ask for this option, but if someone did and I had the opportunity to verify their abilities underwater, I personally wouldn't have a problem (except for a bit more stress hoping everything was OK) with divers taking that option.

The difference is that when you sign up as an individual or buddy pair on a diving boat with a determined schedule (ie. staff want to get back for some lunch), there will be 'rules'. The 500psi rule is nothing to complain about IMO. It allows a diver 5/6 of the pressure which aint bad in my books and is a world-wide, established safety standard.

 

[Nishan]

For my regular diving its my boat and I set the rules. When diving with an operator I play by their rules. Thats what I would expect if I was the operator. However on dive vacations if I'm diving with the same operator for several days I have usually been able to talk to them and ask for some leeway as a photographer. Many times they have told me I can do my own thing where conditions permit. But both scenarios occur after at least a day of diving when they have been able to assess me as a diver. On a first dive I just shut up, listen and dive.

Most rules I have no major problem with as they are for general safety, logistical reasons of the operator or environmental reasons. Depth limits, no deco, time limits, dive with a buddy, no touching the reef etc. What does annoy me are overzealous DM's or boat captains. A few examples would be:

DM's who insist I stay with the group but race around the reef like a rabid dog forgetting that I'm a photographer who sometimes stops to compose an image or might want to spend most of my dive around a specific subject.

A boat that made a fuss about me coming up 5 minutes after the scheduled time.

A captain who insisted I keep my regulator in my mouth and not switch to snorkel during my surface swim to the boat

A DM that went mental when I was not holding the line during descent in what was a mild current. I never drifted away from the line and was down on the reef before the rest of the group but the DM went on about how I "could" have drifted.

Other than those its generally been an enjoyable experience for everyone concerned.

---------- Post added ----------

Regarding a couple of points being discussed earlier, a time limit makes a lot of sense when diving in high current locations such as Maldives. I prefer to end my dive at 60 mins and be picked up by the boat rather than have an eternal dive in the Indian Ocean. I also think its fair for the dive leader to influence the dive plan and change it depending on the situation. On some deeper sites its impossible to dive 60 minutes or more without going into deco. And spending a long time floating around in the blue looking for pelagics or breathing out your gas is not optimal if the current is running.

As a dive operator, dealing with any potential emergency is not enjoyable and highly stressful, and if the worst happens, its always bad publicity for the operator regardless of whose fault it is.

 

[TMHeimer]

Nishan, Those are some interesting ones. Did the Capt. say why you should keep the reg. in and not the snorkel? Can't figure that out--perhaps your BC was empty (how are you floating?) and you may fall off the ladder and sink?

 

[scubadobadoo]

It's all about researching the dive op before you join them. Rules can be annoying to one and a blessing to another. We are all in different places with our diving skills and desires. I like to hear, "It's your vacation. Be back when you want." Give me a concise dive briefing and let me go dive.