DM said "Don't worry about it".

[NYCNaiad]

As a reminder, "New Divers and Those Considering Diving" is a special forum where we should all be treating newbies with kid gloves.

Here's my answer. I would be very leery of a place which doesn't keep even the equipment I can see in good shape even after I pointed out an issue. It makes me think that other things behind the scenes such as the compressor are also not taken care of well.

This is our life saving equipment & it should be in top shape. I'm glad you asked the question because it means that the little voice in your head knew there was a problem. If there is a problem on land, it won't get better underwater.

I wouldn't dive with them. I personally would also put up a review noting the situation so others were aware. However, I completely understand that as a newbie, you don't feel comfortable enough to judge.

 

[Marie13]

I got one for a check-out dive once. Mildly annoying at most. Meh.

Still points to crappy gear maintenance and a shoddy mindset, IMO.

 

[lionfish-eater]

As you stated in your first post, you dive while on vacation, not dedicated dive trips. This is part of the problem. You will be treated as a tourist/newb/sheep at many ops that serve that crowd. If you want better dive experiences you need to seek out better shops. But then you need to establish a relationship with them so they can evaluate your skills. Diving with a good shop over multiple days is better than random diving with the guy with a shack on the beach. And it helps if you don't miss booked dives because you stayed out too late having fun. If you only want to dive part of your trip, do it for the first few days with a good shop you book in advance and you will have much better diving experiences.

 

[dmaziuk]

Still points to crappy gear maintenance and a shoddy mindset, IMO.

Stuff happens. One issue with one-off boat dives is you don't get to find out until you gearing up and then whatever spares they have on board is all there is for every contingency and every diver. If you dive with them again tomorrow and it's still broken, then it's a problem -- which apparently in this case it was.

Of course I wouldn't put i past them to have removed pull handles so that idiot tourists don't accidentally drop weights all over the place and rocket out with overexpanded lungs...

 

[USMC CPL.]

Guys..I have all of 14 dives..maybe I shouldn't have posted. Scuba shack at Chankanaab in Cozumel said no we don't need to see your card. Loved San Francisco and San something else. Guy at work says place I'm looking at in Cuba doesn't ask for card. Place out of San Pedro was questionable. Can I have 100 dives before I look back and judge.

I was just wondering if you do 85 feet without the release working.

I myself would not do a dive to 85 feet without all my equipment in working order. Just to much that could go wrong.

 

[USMC CPL.]

Guys..I have all of 14 dives..maybe I shouldn't have posted. Scuba shack at Chankanaab in Cozumel said no we don't need to see your card. Loved San Francisco and San something else. Guy at work says place I'm looking at in Cuba doesn't ask for card. Place out of San Pedro was questionable. Can I have 100 dives before I look back and judge.

I was just wondering if you do 85 feet without the release working.[/QUOT

Sorry as Marie13 said it would be a trust me dive. If I was just starting off as an ow diver 60 feet or less then you could get deep certified or aow.

 

[lv2dive]

By the way, thanks for posing your question - it's how everyone learns. Most of us have had similar experiences as new divers and it's not as simple as seems from behind the keyboard, to know how to respond, especially as a new diver being *reassured* by dive professional.

The take away here is, if it's something you are uncomfortable with, you should definitely ask for a remediation. The truth is, unfortunately, some dive ops do not take as good care if their rental fleet as they should - they play the odds and 99.99%+ of the time it's fine.

@Diving_Parrot - You did well to inspect the gear! In finding something wrong you should definitely feel justified in asking for a remedy. As I mentioned earlier, you can always use a weight belt even with a weight integrated BC. But - it would probably concern me about the op's maintenance procedures.

Keep having fun diving! Hope your stomach got better!

Newbie vacation diver here. We don't take dive vacations, we have been going to places where we take a vacation and a good place to throw in 4 dives or so. I got thinking about our last trip to Belize. First day out we did the touristy thing and book a combo for a snorkel to 'shark ray alley' and a dive at Hol chan.

Integrated bcd's. Cool. New to us. Just before the dive I check the releases and they don't work. Just a piece of thread hanging where I assume pull tabs should be. DM says "Don't worry about it"..ok. I reason it's only 35 ft. Hey, what could go wrong. Dive was fine with a stronger current than expected. No big deal I guess. Guy says we'll have the bcd fixed for tomorrow.

Next day I um.. had a stomach issue due to food or water and couldn't make it. My buddy said they had the same bc set out for me and the releases weren't fixed. This dive was 85 feet. I don't know that I would have been comfortable "not worrying about it".

What would one do in this situation? Practice removing the weights on the boat? Or declining the dive? I won't name the shop as I'm not looking to discredit someone's business, they were nice guys trying to earn a living.

I'm new. I simply don't know. Thanks.

 

[lv2dive]

Marie, in all fairness, he did go over his gear. That's how he caught the issue.

Sorry if I'm a bit forceful, but this is a hobby that can easily kill you if you're not careful. Didn't your OW class go over making sure gear is in good shape and working?

 

[HantsDiver]

Ok you just said the magic word. You taught people with 14 dives to safely dive deep. Now he question would be would you send the same people down to 100 feet with faulty equipment? I would hope not.

Define faulty?

Would i take them with none ditchable weight? Yes. If they could ditch one weight pocket and nothing else was available on the boat I would probably take them. If it fit I'd give them my bcd instead though. Not because I think one weight pocket being hard to ditch is really unsafe - but because I wouldn't want them to have any anxiety.

Do students chew through mouthpieces? Yes. I chew through mouthpieces as well sometimes. If it was spotted before getting off the boat I'd have changed it. In the water I'd end the dive unless I felt it was safe to continue.

 

[USMC CPL.]

Define faulty?

Would i take them with none ditchable weight? Yes. If they could ditch one weight pocket and nothing else was available on the boat I would probably take them. If it fit I'd give them my bcd instead though. Not because I think one weight pocket being hard to ditch is really unsafe - but because I wouldn't want them to have any anxiety.

Do students chew through mouthpieces? Yes. I chew through mouthpieces as well sometimes. If it was spotted before getting off the boat I'd have changed it. In the water I'd end the dive unless I felt it was safe to continue.

Ok. You missed my point. You teach people to dive to those depths. Would you send a new diver out with faulty equipment on a dive boat and say go ahead. If you would then you are not much of an instructor. When I got my aow everything was checked and double checked. Anything out of the norm and we called the dive due to the fact that depth we were diving.