DM's Duty

[boulderjohn]

That's nice in the ideal but may, especially for smaller ops, be more difficult in practice. An op is at the mercy of the mix of divers that show up on a given day, and sending along extra DM's may not be economically and/or logistically feasible.

That is the responsibility of the front office.

I dived with a number of operators in Cozumel over the years. I first dive with a small outfit located at my hotel, and in that case the DM was very much at the mercy of whoever showed up. Later I diver with a HUGE outfit that bragged about their ability to divide people by ability. That often happened, but frequently it didn't. Each time it didn't, it was a screwup by the people assigning the boats. I stopped using them for that reason.

I use Aldora now, and I have never had a badly mixed boat.

 

[VooDooGasMan]

Every dive boat I was on and every DM was different, as with the captains. I thought it should be that way to gain the experience the whole world has to offer. If it was always the same why go.

Divers are always dealing with one another, If you like to show up with a group and not deal with others from around the world. I like others as it gives me a different experience top side and bottom side.

 

[ggunn]

That is the responsibility of the front office.

I dived with a number of operators in Cozumel over the years. I first dive with a small outfit located at my hotel, and in that case the DM was very much at the mercy of whoever showed up. Later I diver with a HUGE outfit that bragged about their ability to divide people by ability. That often happened, but frequently it didn't. Each time it didn't, it was a screwup by the people assigning the boats. I stopped using them for that reason.

I use Aldora now, and I have never had a badly mixed boat.

The front office may not be able to do anything about it, especially with a small op. Personally, I don't mind diving with novices sometimes, especially at Cozumel; even the "easy" Coz dives are great. To each his own.

 

[Ron Lee]

I use Aldora now, and I have never had a badly mixed boat.

You obviously have not been on a boat with me!

 

[scubawife]

1.- Novice and expert Divers should be separated in different boats, do different dive profiles and/or have a second divemaster or even a third one. It is not fair for novice to be rushed or experts to follow novice. Not nice.

There are several one-boat shops in Cozumel. Most of them, the owner is the primary DM and often the "front office" as well. They rent a second boat and hire an additional dive master when they exceed the 6-8 divers they can accommodate on their boat, or if they get a group who requests their own boat. If on an average day when they have 4-6 divers booked, if 2 were fresh out of certification, or 2 were experts who refuse to be on a mixed level boat, they really can't afford to hire a second boat, DM, captain and crew just for 2 people. They'd lose money for the day. The idea of splitting divers up by experience level or interest is great if you're a large enough operation to accommodate that, and/or you're not in business to make money and can afford to cover the costs.

Most of us who choose to dive with a one-boat shop do so accepting that it might be a mixed experience group. DMs that I've had in Cozumel have always been really good at planning the dive so that everyone enjoys it, regardless of experience level.

 

[Mossman]

Most of us who choose to dive with a one-boat shop do so accepting that it might be a mixed experience group. DMs that I've had in Cozumel have always been really good at planning the dive so that everyone enjoys it, regardless of experience level.

My two days diving with Jeremy on our June trip were like that. We did Devil's Throat one day because the other three guys on the boat were insistent on that dive. The next day, they were gone, replaced by a mixed bag of 5 divers, a newly certified father and son among them. Jeremy did such a great job keeping Janna and I amused while at the same time managing to work with the beginners' on their poor buoyancy that I didn't hesitate to sign up with him again for April. The bigger dive ops have lots of boats and lots of DMs and you never know who you'll end up with. Often the owners of the larger shops rarely even dive with their customers. That may be "success" but it doesn't always translate to the best experience for owner or customer. If Jeremy is too "successful" on my next trip and has to hire an overflow boat, I'll be really bummed if I don't get the same quality of dive. Even if he has 8 divers on the boat, my experience may not be as good as if he only has 6 or fewer. Therefore, while objectively I'd love to wish him the best success, I'm perfectly happy if he's only moderately successful when I arrive on the island

I'll have my camera this trip so it works out perfectly whatever the boat mix. If we do more advanced dives, hopefully I'll get to dive somewhere new to me. (I'm crossing my fingers for Maracaibo on this trip, having checked Devil's Throat off my list last time.) If we do easier dives, that's great too since it means I'll get much better shots and have more time to take them.

 

[scubawife]

My two days diving with Jeremy on our June trip were like that. We did Devil's Throat one day because the other three guys on the boat were insistent on that dive. The next day, they were gone, replaced by a mixed bag of 5 divers, a newly certified father and son among them. Jeremy did such a great job keeping Janna and I amused while at the same time managing to work with the beginners' on their poor buoyancy that I didn't hesitate to sign up with him again for April. The bigger dive ops have lots of boats and lots of DMs and you never know who you'll end up with. Often the owners of the larger shops rarely even dive with their customers. That may be "success" but it doesn't always translate to the best experience for owner or customer. If Jeremy is too "successful" on my next trip and has to hire an overflow boat, I'll be really bummed if I don't get the same quality of dive. Even if he has 8 divers on the boat, my experience may not be as good as if he only has 6 or fewer. Therefore, while objectively I'd love to wish him the best success, I'm perfectly happy if he's only moderately successful when I arrive on the island

I'll have my camera this trip so it works out perfectly whatever the boat mix. If we do more advanced dives, hopefully I'll get to dive somewhere new to me. (I'm crossing my fingers for Maracaibo on this trip, having checked Devil's Throat off my list last time.) If we do easier dives, that's great too since it means I'll get much better shots and have more time to take them.

No worries. Over the years I've dived with 3-4 DMs he uses when he has a second boat, or for whatever reason either isn't diving that day or needs a second DM onboard. He's still my fav DM anywhere, but the other guys have all been great and I wouldn't hesitate to dive with any of them again. You'll get the same great Living Underwater service. My last trip I had several of my dive days with two other DMs and it was still great diving. Every DM has a little different way of doing the same sites so it was nice to see a different take on some of my favorite Cozumel sites.

 

[Zman96]

Having made only a 100 dives on Cozumel I am hardly an expert. That being said I could really care less how experienced the other divers are on the boat, most of the dive sites in Cozumel are great. I try to learn something from most every diver I dive with, weather it is what to do by an experienced diver or what not to do by a newbie.
I think Dave runs into a little bit of trouble with some of his statements on here for being a little self gloating which can be construed as advertising sometimes.

 

[PARADISE HUNTER]

I've never been a fan of the dm sharing air to extend the length of the dive. It's a product of needing the entire group to come up together. The sharing air buys some time, but not a enough. I've dove with Aldora twice and for the most part really enjoyed the experience. I do however prefer the ops that are willing to send low air divers up with their buddy and allow the rest of the group to continue the dive as their air supply and computers allow. I understand the need in extreme currents to surface as a group, but don't feel it's necessary on every dive. It's frustrating to be forced to surface with 1500+ psi left in your tank. For me a long dive is not 60 minutes, it's 90+. It's the reason you pay the extra money for larger tanks.

My average dive with my regular op is longer on AL80s than with other ops STL120s. That said, when the stars align and everyone on the boat is experienced, good on their air comsumption AND you have STL120s, you're in for a nice LONG dive. Problem is that seldom happens.

I'm not knocking Dave's operation. It's his company, he makes the rules and they do a great job. Most dive ops do require everyone to come up together.

PH

 

[PowerDude]

Dave - thank you for sharing. It is nice to see the guideline for your DMs and I can personally confirm this is what was practiced on our recent Coz trip. We dove all week with Julio (one night dive with Pepe) and during this week, the currents were crazy. Our safety was the utmost importance followed by the diver experience. On our first dive, my dive buddy ran into issues 10 minutes into the dive and was beginning to panic and wanted to ascend. I started pulling her down so she wouldn't flight to surface and Julio immediately picked up on the issues, assisted to the sand, and began to calm her down. We were soon back on our way to continue the dive and completed the rest of the week without incident.

HP120s, EAN 32 first dive, EAN 36 second dive, 6 pack boat keeping the group small with similar skills equated to 11 dives in the week for a total bottom time of over 700 minutes. Now I have the blues sitting back at home and wishing I were back in Cozumel instead of having to dive the quarry this week. Again, thanks for the great dive experience!
Steve