Diving advice ? Carnival Cruise

[discrepancy]

Dee,

What a terrible experience!

Looks like all the main angles have been done to death on this board, and all I would say is there are many lessons for all of us here: responsibilities of DMs, looking after buddies, diving within our personal limits while still leaving room to push the envelope, etc etc.

I do hope you don't become permanently negative about our sport as a result of this debacle. After one of those moments when I give myself a scare (and they happen), I like to back off a bit, think about what happened, recover confidence by giving myself an easier time for a few dives, then push on again with renewed confidence and a bit more experience.

Best of luck with the ear.

 

[Whatgoesdown]

Divemaster's behaviour aside... (inexcusable)

Heading to 90' on you first OW dive is a little ambitious, especially as part of a large group. Buoyancy checks are a required part of your OW course, you should be able to conduct one as soon as you hit the water. You were probably nervous and unable to relax enough to exhale (14lbs is quite a lot to sink a 175lb person and a 3mm suit). If the group had gone you should have given up the dive, no sense in feeling rushed, especially on your first outing after certification. The divemaster had several other paying customers, who will be dissatisfied if they are kept waiting for one. The needs of the many out-wegh the needs of the few. If you were able to equalize to 60' there was no problem with your ears, you would be lucky to get to 10' if things were blocked (reverse squeezes etc. tend to happen to more experienced divers who have a few "tricks" to get themselves down, not up). Chances are, your suit had compressed, you had relaxed a little and skipped an equalization and then tried to force it. Until you gain some experience use a line to get to the bottom, it helps to control your descent rate. Now this may come across as somewhat harsh but don't be put off. You will be much wiser for the experience. Just accept that you are no longer in training and you are now expected to make decisions yourself and not look for someone to blame when you screw up. Sign up for an advanced course with an instructor you trust, they will help you to improve your skills and give you better judgment.

Dear Fellow Divers - Newly Certified 2 months - Went on Carnival Conquest last week to Grand Cayman, and signed up for the ships tour. . . .I am Open Water Certified on 6-22-05. This was supposed to be my first Ocean Dive - - -

I wasn't sure of the weight I should be at - had a 3 mm wetsuit on - and asked divemaster for help determining weight - I was told 10 lbs. was plenty, after I told her I weighed 175 lbs.

I was told to do a buoyancy check when i got in. . . . All 10 people got in water, I got in last. . . . I tried to do check, and would not sink - therefore, I was given 2 more lbs. of weight for my bcd pocket. I was told that it would be plenty.

We went to the line - and everyone descended but me - - - I was still on top - - -the guy from the boat was screaming at me to exhale for 7 seconds, and let air out of BCD - duh - I did - and stilll would not sink - - - In the mean time - everyone was gone - It was me - alone - dive buddy left me, divemaster left me, I was alone. . . .

Another 2 lbs. were added to bcd, and I finally started to sink - alone - dive buddy gone - divemaster - gone - all 10 people 90+ feet down, on "the wall" at grand cayman.

I started to descend slowly, cleared my ears about 4 times, and could not clear them past 60 feet - - - Still alone - - - I tried to descend further because I was terrified of being without dive buddy or dive master - but couldn't - - - right ear wouldnt' clear - - - I started to get dizzy under water, and ascended a bit - - - still alone - and found the anchor line to the boat - I held the line - couldn't see anyone - (visibility was bad) - and stayed put - I thought dizziness and pain in ears woud subside, but didn't. I ascended to 25 feet on guage, had 2500 lbs. of pressure left in tank, did a 5 minute safety stop, and then went up. I made my way back to the boat, and waited for everyone else to "show up" - when Buddy came up - he asked me "where were you?" - I asked him the same question.

Then - the short tempered divemaster - came up to me, started yelling at me, and told me that this was a "guided dive" and that I should have stayed with him, and not be on my own- he yelled at me in front of 19 other divers - I tried to explain that I couldn't clear my ears, but then he accused me of trying to share a dive computer. . . that I didn't have - - - My buddy had the dive computer - my "buddy" who abandoned me. Needless to say - I started crying - not only of pain from ear, but from embarrassement from divemaster - - - I was bleeding blood from nose.

Went to ships doctor - I have baro trauma in right ear - going to doctor again today -

Lesson learned - - - Know dive buddy - not just trust who you are assigned to - Don't go on Carnival Ship tour again - and Don't go with Don Fosters Diving shop in Grand Cayman.

Please respond with what you think - I think I did the right thing when ears didn't clear. . . . please help -

terrified diver - Dee

 

[TheRedHead]

I think you're incorrect. The formula for changing from fresh to salt with the same gear is ( body weight + N ) x 2.5% where N is the weight of the gear (including weight belt) for fresh water. The 2.5% represents salt water density vs. fresh water and can vary by .2 or .3% between oceans.

So our lets say our 175lb diver has 40lbs of gear when diving fresh water:

(175 + 40) x 2.5% = 5.375 additional pounds

Kevin

Kevin,

I know that formula is in the PADI AOW manual in the PPB section, but I can't find it my SSI OW manual. We can't be sure that it was even covered in her class. I had planned to do my OW checkout dives in salt water as a referral and my local instructor advised me to use 4 additional pounds which happend to work out.

I think Dee was way over her comfort and experience level on this dive. We're taught in OW class not to dive beyond our experience level, but we're also conditioned in a very insidious manner to always follow the instructions of the instructor or DM and it's a rare new diver who could stand up for themselves in such circumstances. When you're just out of OW class, you have a strong desire to trust and believe everything an instructor or DM says and I'm sure Dee felt shocked and betrayed when the DM left her alone and then berated her for a common newbie behavior.

We really can't assume what she knew about her weighting when she stepped on the boat. We were not in her OW class and don't know what kind of instruction she received.

 

[Brewone0to]

Carnival Cruise Hmm
Great choice.
As long as the ship is moored (or anchored) it should be more than safe to enter the water and dive.

Reference : Cozomel Paradise Reef scrape incident.