Out of Air in Davao, Philippines

[DraftedByTheMan]

I did a dive off Paradise Island near Davao, Mindanao in the Philippines.
There were two dive shops mentioned in the Lonely Planet guide book and I chose the one that looked the "tidiest".
The owner was Western but his divemaster was a filipino. We did a shore dive from the beach off Paradise Island for our first dive. The current was VERY strong and it didn't take long before all I was doing was holding on to a piece of coral and swimming as hard as I could to stay in one spot. I was very concerned as there was no boat to pick me up so if I was pulled offshore by the current, I don't know how I would get back to shore.
The divemaster didn't seem to concerned about my struggle and I'm not sure if I was just in a bad spot or if I wasn't in as good a shape as I should have been for this dive - although I am a fairly strong swimmer and haven't been in this situation before.
With the hard swimming, I was using up my oxygen very quickly and once I managed to get out of the current, I realized I had barely enough left to make it back to shore. I showed my gauge to the DM and also signaled low air. He just continued the dive as though nothing was wrong. I decided to end the dive myself and went for the safety stop - even though I had no idea how far offshore I was. We hadn't been diving deep - only about 20M, but during the safety stop and after only about 20 min. underwater, I ran out of air. Fortunately, it was just a matter of popping to the surface by then. It was also fortunate that I wasn't too far from shore and the current wasn't as strong at that point so I could swim back to the dock on my own.
When we returned to the dive shop, I asked the DM for his PADI number so I could log my dive and he said he lost his card "in the 80's" and didn't know his number.
I'm a fairly "newbie" diver but I suspect that this character wasn't even a DM.....

 

[InTheDrink]

I'll chime in as I've been here before.

#1. First time you get caught in a ripping current you will tend to react to it in a way that's not helpful. Couple more dives in strong currents and it won't be such a big deal. You might even come to love them as I do now.
#2. Your DM sounds like some I've been with that didn't seem to give a crap about my wellbeing. That might be because they don't or because they thought you were a newbie idiot. Either way they're wrong.
#3 (or #1b). Learn techniques for diving in current. Get close to the floor, current is usually less there. Find outcrops, corners, etc and shelter if necessary. Check out fish. If big fish are hiding then you don't want to be there. Conversely, where fish are chilled is probably less current. Look at how you orientate yourself. In a slightly head down position in a strong current you can often remain fairly stationary without effort.
#4. You're always on your own. Don't count on DM for your safety.
#5. Reef hooks can be handy in strong current, with caveats.
#6. Discuss prior to dive potential hazards (e.g. current), protocols and signals. Have a plan. Make sure it's communicated. Much harder talking under the water in a ripping current.
#7. Same as #4.

Have fun and stay safe.

J

 

[DraftedByTheMan]

Good advice - thanks! The next day I had to save a friend with a leaky BCD - same DM....left us on our own. From then on, my dive buddy and I kept a much closer watch on each other and # 4....lesson definitely learned!

 

[Quero]

I have dived with quite a few local dive guides all over SE Asia who do not in fact hold Dive Master ratings. What you have experienced may actually be a local AOW diver with tons of experience diving in the area and finding stuff to show customers, but who actually has no formal professional training and perhaps very little training in rescue skills.

It goes back to InTheDrink's #4 above: you cannot count on your dive guide's capacity, training, or willingness to perform a rescue if you need one, and you may not even be able to count on the dive guide's ability to help you solve problems underwater. Put good buddy skills to work and learn to be as self-reliant as is practical in all your diving. You made a good call to abort the dive, so you're well on your way to self-reliance since awareness is the biggest hurdle--the rest is just education and implementation.

 

[InTheDrink]

Good advice - thanks! The next day I had to save a friend with a leaky BCD - same DM....left us on our own. From then on, my dive buddy and I kept a much closer watch on each other and # 4....lesson definitely learned!

LOL! This really is deja-vu. On my similar experience I also had my BC blow out the same day. Made for a fun day. I learned all sorts of new ways to glare at people

Did I mention that my regulator had some sort of failure too? I bought all my own kit after that trip. Haven't looked back. Rental kit is a PITA and to be avoided where possible IMO.

J

 

[=C=]

Did I mention that my regulator had some sort of failure too? I bought all my own kit after that trip. Haven't looked back. Rental kit is a PITA and to be avoided where possible IMO.

J

I find that how a shop treats is rental gear is a reflection of how the treat divers. I dont mind if its old but if its flawed and they dont consider it an issue (leaky BCD or leaky reg) its time to rethink how much faith I put in the shop.

 

[InTheDrink]

I find that how a shop treats is rental gear is a reflection of how the treat divers. I dont mind if its old but if its flawed and they dont consider it an issue (leaky BCD or leaky reg) its time to rethink how much faith I put in the shop.

Very fair point. I have dived with some ops with great gear in great nick. They've tended to be the exception to the rule though I've found, but a lot of my diving has been places where people don't have a lot of cash and cheapest operator gets the business, not the highest quality. That said, I've stayed in some real upmarket resorts (5 star) where the gear has been terrible to - the incident I alluded to being one of them.

J

 

[Karibelle]

Good advice - thanks! The next day I had to save a friend with a leaky BCD - same DM....left us on our own. From then on, my dive buddy and I kept a much closer watch on each other and # 4....lesson definitely learned!

Did you continue to dive with them after two days of experiences that were less than stellar? Two days, for me, is maximum. After that I'm voting with my feet.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

Rental kit is a PITA and to be avoided where possible IMO.

I'd be willing to bet that the root problem here is that divers fail to do comprehensive pre-dive checks of their gear. I have no idea why instructors don't emphasize this more (or simply teach it) in basic OW class.

Very few divers know how to do a systematic test of a reg or a BCD. It's a shame really.

I realize that a diver's first reaction is to blame the shop for faulty rental gear. Certainly, the shop should do its best to ensure that rental gear is maintained properly. But I think ultimately the responsibility lies with the user to make sure that the gear is working properly prior to the start of the dive.

In my limited experience, I've encountered well-maintained rental gear and gear that wasn't quite up to snuff. When my pre-dive checks (performed before even leaving the dive shop) revealed issues with the gear, without exception, the shop employees were happy to swap it out.

 

[InTheDrink]

We're back into 'you don't know what you don't know' territory. Most ppl using rental kit just aren't up to speed with checking kit and as you say, it's not something that's emphasised generally in OW. If I got rental kit now it'd be a whole different kettle of fish but when you're new, oftentimes you're really new and 4 days OW just doesn't have the depth or breath. If ever after all dives are DM led vacation dives, the natural learning opportunities are limited. It's a very self fulfilling prophecy. Certainly after about 80 dives I wasn't much more independent that after 10 (blush).

It's why diving locally with friends in cold water with crap viz surge and current with only the odd shopping trolley for natural flora totally rocks. After that dodgy rental kit is the least of your worries ;-)

J