I am sure that someone went on a scuba trip with them had some medical condition and died. The family then sued Sandals and they settled out of court. Solution make everyone fill out the medical form now.
Sandals Scuba Medical Certification?
- Thread starter jringold
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Being 60+ I get a physical every year. The doc signs off on the form, I take it with me in my log book in case I need it. I answer the questions accurately but have never been asked to show the form.
R
redacted
Guest
Are you really "sure"? Are you also sure that the numerous dive ops in Cozumel (and other locations) were victims of similar suits? I suspect they are used to doing those form as required by training agencies for all classes and just decided to do them for all divers as a very low cost CYA measure.
BAMA6977
Contributor
I have been to Sandals several times and always have medical clearance signed by MD. On one trip I noted that I take BP medicine. Well I was sent to the resort nurse who took my BP and it was slightly elevated (135/70). She informed me I could not dive until it was below 125 and because I was on BP medicine. Showed her the MD clearance and she would not budge. I went back everyday and never was allowed to dive during the entire trip. You can imagine what happened to my blood pressure as the frustration built up. Well guess how I now fill out the forms??:cool2:
olphart
Contributor
Having spent a week with family at Beaches Ocho Rios, (family Sandals), I can tell you that IMO, you're not missing anything by not diving that area of Jamaica at all. No fish, no coral, dead, dead, dead. We did see a nurse shark on one dive, but I have no idea what there was for it to eat around there.
The resort itself was great, but the dive op didn't impress me. The manager bragged about how safety conscious they were, "much safer than those crazy people in Cozumel", (wrong guy to say that to. :chairfight: ). Maybe he should have gone on a couple of dives with his staff. The DM was pretty unimpressive as well. He paid no attention to the group, nor did he try to show any points of interest..(not that there were any). He just did his circuit and brought us up after about half an hour. That was kind of OK by me since my son would blow thru a tank in that time anyway. I still made sure he knew my son was a super hoover, but he ignored him, even after I signaled that he was getting low on air. The crowning glory was when the boat captain started backing the boat up toward divers who were floating only about 20' behind. Plus, my grandson was still under the surface facing away from the boat and way too close. Grandson and I and I had a short discussion about turning your back on a boat fer sher.
All that being said, we had a great time. My two sons and my grandson were quite inexperienced, fewer than 10 dives each post OW, so just diving the warm clear water was a treat for them. Just going diving with my boys was the treat for me! I was able to keep an eye on them and even teach them a few things. My DM training turned out to be useful after all.
The resort itself was great, but the dive op didn't impress me. The manager bragged about how safety conscious they were, "much safer than those crazy people in Cozumel", (wrong guy to say that to. :chairfight: ). Maybe he should have gone on a couple of dives with his staff. The DM was pretty unimpressive as well. He paid no attention to the group, nor did he try to show any points of interest..(not that there were any). He just did his circuit and brought us up after about half an hour. That was kind of OK by me since my son would blow thru a tank in that time anyway. I still made sure he knew my son was a super hoover, but he ignored him, even after I signaled that he was getting low on air. The crowning glory was when the boat captain started backing the boat up toward divers who were floating only about 20' behind. Plus, my grandson was still under the surface facing away from the boat and way too close. Grandson and I and I had a short discussion about turning your back on a boat fer sher.
All that being said, we had a great time. My two sons and my grandson were quite inexperienced, fewer than 10 dives each post OW, so just diving the warm clear water was a treat for them. Just going diving with my boys was the treat for me! I was able to keep an eye on them and even teach them a few things. My DM training turned out to be useful after all.
HJeffreyM
Contributor
You Will Be Throttled!
Recently AT&T was fined by the FTC for "throttling" data transfer rates on customers who purchased "unlimited" data plans. The more data a customer would attempt to use, the slower the data transfer would become. This would, in essence, make it impossible to enjoy the benefits of an unlimited data plan (streaming video and the like), despite having paid for it.
Anyone catching my drift here regarding Sandals/Beaches?
These resorts boast "unlimited luxury included" vacations. From the moment you arrive, however, they make every effort to slow or prevent your use of the "inclusions." Hence, be ready to be throttled.
The diving is a great example of this. They say on their web site unlimited diving, but you are limited to two dives per day...if they let you dive. They make no effort to let you know in advance what paperwork to bring or what their procedures are. When you get there, if you cannot prove from your log that you've dived in the previous six months they will make you take the refresher course ($125.00 extra fee) plus you will lose a dive day because they give the course the following afternoon. If it wasn't for a careful reading of several posts on SB, I would not have had what I needed to begin diving the day after arrival. They say that this is all about safety, but it's really about keeping as many people away from the "luxury included" diving as possible.
Just a few notes regarding the dive ops.
Be prepared for a cattle boat experience, no concierge diving here! 10 divers per DM, you'll carry your own gear on and off the boat, set everything up yourself, change tanks yourself if you're on a 2 tank dive, clean your own gear, hang it and put it away yourself. Although I called and was assured that nitrox was available at Beaches Turks & Caicos, upon my arrival I was told that the "guy who knows how to mix it is off island." If you are certified OW they will not allow you to dive to more than 60ft. AOW and above 90ft. Your turnaround time will be when the first diver hits 1500psi. At the DMs discretion, they may allow you to hang out in the area around the boat if you have air in the tank. They want you to have a minimum of 500psi left when you get on the boat.
Enjoy your throttling in these other areas:
You'll show up at a buffet place for lunch and there are plenty of tables, but no one to seat you. You'll go to one of the fine dining restaurants for dinner and be told at the door that they can't let you in because you are wearing shorts (it's still 87F at 8pm) or a shirt without a collar. Some of the better restaurants are located outdoors only. Not too many people I know want to sit outside in tropical heat eating sushi...just sayin' They say they have "top shelf liquor," I never saw any. Good luck finding pool towels after about 2pm. It is a place with many rules and they will not bend them for you. Get the general idea?
On the other hand, my 5yo son loves the water park and the kids camp and snorkeling in the shallow reef right off the beach so I'll probably have to go back. Next time I'll most likely find a different dive op for my fun.
Happy Diving!
Recently AT&T was fined by the FTC for "throttling" data transfer rates on customers who purchased "unlimited" data plans. The more data a customer would attempt to use, the slower the data transfer would become. This would, in essence, make it impossible to enjoy the benefits of an unlimited data plan (streaming video and the like), despite having paid for it.
Anyone catching my drift here regarding Sandals/Beaches?
These resorts boast "unlimited luxury included" vacations. From the moment you arrive, however, they make every effort to slow or prevent your use of the "inclusions." Hence, be ready to be throttled.
The diving is a great example of this. They say on their web site unlimited diving, but you are limited to two dives per day...if they let you dive. They make no effort to let you know in advance what paperwork to bring or what their procedures are. When you get there, if you cannot prove from your log that you've dived in the previous six months they will make you take the refresher course ($125.00 extra fee) plus you will lose a dive day because they give the course the following afternoon. If it wasn't for a careful reading of several posts on SB, I would not have had what I needed to begin diving the day after arrival. They say that this is all about safety, but it's really about keeping as many people away from the "luxury included" diving as possible.
Just a few notes regarding the dive ops.
Be prepared for a cattle boat experience, no concierge diving here! 10 divers per DM, you'll carry your own gear on and off the boat, set everything up yourself, change tanks yourself if you're on a 2 tank dive, clean your own gear, hang it and put it away yourself. Although I called and was assured that nitrox was available at Beaches Turks & Caicos, upon my arrival I was told that the "guy who knows how to mix it is off island." If you are certified OW they will not allow you to dive to more than 60ft. AOW and above 90ft. Your turnaround time will be when the first diver hits 1500psi. At the DMs discretion, they may allow you to hang out in the area around the boat if you have air in the tank. They want you to have a minimum of 500psi left when you get on the boat.
Enjoy your throttling in these other areas:
You'll show up at a buffet place for lunch and there are plenty of tables, but no one to seat you. You'll go to one of the fine dining restaurants for dinner and be told at the door that they can't let you in because you are wearing shorts (it's still 87F at 8pm) or a shirt without a collar. Some of the better restaurants are located outdoors only. Not too many people I know want to sit outside in tropical heat eating sushi...just sayin' They say they have "top shelf liquor," I never saw any. Good luck finding pool towels after about 2pm. It is a place with many rules and they will not bend them for you. Get the general idea?
On the other hand, my 5yo son loves the water park and the kids camp and snorkeling in the shallow reef right off the beach so I'll probably have to go back. Next time I'll most likely find a different dive op for my fun.
Happy Diving!
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