Serious concerns in Belize
- Thread starter campodw
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Ralph Capeling
Contributor
Were you trying to go deeper than 130 or did you just drift down a bit? Were you deeper than the dive master?
Regards
Ralph
Regards
Ralph
themagni
Contributor
When I went, I stopped at 152. The DM was deeper than I was.
You can get hurt doing that. Trust me.
Ralph Capeling
Contributor
I very much doubt anyone on that dive had a dive plan. And his dive was with an operator with an (undeserved) "true blue" image.
themagni
Contributor
"Try not to die"
stevep4444
Contributor
Seems to me if you are in the mind set of just trying not to die at 150 ft you should not go there. You are responsible for your own dive profile IMO. I am not a big fan of 150 ft dives or any deep dive dives because it significantly reduces my time in the water. It can't be much fun diving and being concerned for your life. Is it responsible for a DM to go to 150ft ,probably not, but you are responsible for yourself and can choose to not go there.
Mike
Contributor
Steve, what you say makes perfect sense on many, many dives you will be on. It doesn't necessarily apply to the blue hole dive because of the way some of the dive operators/dive masters make you dive it.
For instance let's say there are 8 people on the dive and 4 of them are lone divers. You may find the dive master does nothing to promote buddy pairing on the dive, which is because they don't care about buddy pairs, they instead plan on running the show, watching all divers and dealing with the issues that will come up such as unexperienced divers running out of air, panic, etc...
You put newer divers on that dive boat, they jump in without a specific dive plan worked out with a insta-buddy besides what the dive master forced on everybody, you get down there and suddenly you're faced with making a decision at 130 ft... do I stop going deeper with the rest of the group to a depth I'm not confident doing or do I abort them, abandon them and watch them disapear and suddenly I'm at 130 ft alone. This is where the blue hole dives differ in what you and I would say, hey, you're responsible for yourself.... some of these operators run a specific dive designed for the dive master to run herd on the divers and puts divers in difficult situations with difficult choices to be made.
For instance let's say there are 8 people on the dive and 4 of them are lone divers. You may find the dive master does nothing to promote buddy pairing on the dive, which is because they don't care about buddy pairs, they instead plan on running the show, watching all divers and dealing with the issues that will come up such as unexperienced divers running out of air, panic, etc...
You put newer divers on that dive boat, they jump in without a specific dive plan worked out with a insta-buddy besides what the dive master forced on everybody, you get down there and suddenly you're faced with making a decision at 130 ft... do I stop going deeper with the rest of the group to a depth I'm not confident doing or do I abort them, abandon them and watch them disapear and suddenly I'm at 130 ft alone. This is where the blue hole dives differ in what you and I would say, hey, you're responsible for yourself.... some of these operators run a specific dive designed for the dive master to run herd on the divers and puts divers in difficult situations with difficult choices to be made.
Mike - I don't agree with you. Most DMs know the buddy system doesn't work and deliberately disregard it on that dive. I do when I take people down there. Too many people regard a buddy as their longstop when they do something stupid, and with that longstop in place are more likely to do stupid and dangerous things.
Worked as marine biologist and underwater videographer on an eco-cruise ship that visited Lighthouse Caye frequently. We were never allowed to take a Zodiac to the Blue Hole to do that dive because they were needed to ferry our passengers around.
Personally, I think you are smart in being concerned about taking your daughter there whether the dive op says it is OK or not. Exception would be if they provide a guide that would keep her within her certification limits (which would undoubtedly add to the cost). I would not dive deep at the Blue Hole with anyone not certified at least to Rescue. Today AOW certification means relatively little IMHO.
Personally, I think you are smart in being concerned about taking your daughter there whether the dive op says it is OK or not. Exception would be if they provide a guide that would keep her within her certification limits (which would undoubtedly add to the cost). I would not dive deep at the Blue Hole with anyone not certified at least to Rescue. Today AOW certification means relatively little IMHO.
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