Travel diving and being led around by "divemasters"

[melanie.]

Sometimes I do like diving like this. Usually though it is when I am having a bad day, lots of energy to burn, don't want to be overburdened with all the little stuff. I just want to swim and see pretty colours as they go by. Sounds way to simplistic I know, but it relaxes me and I can get over whatever is bugging me and be happy by the end of the dive.

Normally though, slow is the way to go in the tropics.

But that is the great thing about DMs. There are so many, pick the one that chooses your diving style

 

[RU4SKUBA]

Here's what I do:

Ask the guide or captain about the current and general heading the group will take, write it down on your slate and inform them you have a SMB in the event you lose the group. Now that you've covered your bases with the boat crew, confirm with your buddy that SLOW is indeed agreeable. If they disagree then find a new buddy and agree to dive in the rear of the group.

I know the newbs will kick up the silt and you may miss a few things the others see, but if the group takes off like "scalded cats" then it doesn't affect you in any real way. Maintain your own comfortable pace and ignore impatient gestures to hurry. If you occasionally refer to your compass and follow the newbie silt clouds you'll undoubtedly catch up with them when they all run OOA and you're still at 1200psi... and they're doing their safety stop.

 

[danvolker]

I have found that, almost without exception, guides move too fast for me. I suspect it's due to several factors. The first one is that most divers can't stop. The best they can do is swim in circles near a point certain. The second is that people don't feel as though they've gotten their money's worth, unless they cover a certain amount of ground, so the guide obliges. And the third is that people want to see the cool, big stuff, and if it isn't where you are, the guide tries to take you where it is. (I had a guide in Indonesia swim us INTO a stiff current for almost ten minutes, to look at . . . a turtle!)

We've found some solutions. One is to get a group together that's enough to merit a guide to itself. We did that in Cozumel, and had a lovely time, except for the one day they put someone else on our boat, and the guide and other customer took off like scalded cats . . . and we declined to follow them.

Another is to dive where guides are optional. On the Red Sea trip we just finished, we could have a guide if we wanted one, or do the dive by ourselves. It is not as good an option, sometimes, as talking the guide into diving the way YOU want to, because honestly, people who dive in an environment all the time are often MUCH better at spotting the cryptic, interesting critters than I am. But I would rather do without the critter-spotting than spend an hour on the "Bataan shark march".

Hmmnn....the "Bataan shark march" sounds pretty good to me...I might have to borrow that name for a unique new excursion choice off Palm Beach

 

[fdarden]

I have been subjected to this style of diving here in the USA in Jupiter, Florida. I cannot fathom why you would do a drift dive that is Dive-Master led. The dive I did was a Wreck and a Reef, and the DM rushed the entire group the whole way through it. Look there's 25 goliath grouper!! (60 seconds later we are leaving the Zion King, because there is "better" stuff on the other wrecks.. ) Whatever. I came to see the Grouper. On the charters that I have been on here in South Florida, we do drift dives very differently. Take two buddies drop em on the reef, they do their thing, and come back up. What you do down there is up to you. On the wrecks you go down the descent line with your buddy, you do your thing, and you come back up together. Works well. If I am in a foreign land, I wouldnt mind a local "guide" to "assist" not lead me, through my dive, unless its somewhere where it would be reckless to do otherwise.

 

[danvolker]

I have been subjected to this style of diving here in the USA in Jupiter, Florida. I cannot fathom why you would do a drift dive that is Dive-Master led. The dive I did was a Wreck and a Reef, and the DM rushed the entire group the whole way through it. Look there's 25 goliath grouper!! (60 seconds later we are leaving the Zion King, because there is "better" stuff on the other wrecks.. ) Whatever. I came to see the Grouper.

Every boat has it's own "personality" and target market...there are several Jupiter boats that will let you and your buddy go whereever you want, and this is the norm for the central palm beach boats that go out of the Palm Beach Inlet...and it is the norm for the Boynton boats.

What it sound like to me, is that you accidentally got yourself booked on to a Jupiter boat with a bunch of new Open Water divers ( or new AOW, almost the same thing ) ... Talking to the shop/or boat ahead of time, about exactly how the dives will run, is crucial, anywhere.
I have very specific ideas about how I want to be diving, and now that I comunicate this well to the operator, I don't accidentally have problems like what you described...

Speaking of the Zion, I did the Zion tuesday night during the Full moon--for the goliaths Spawning...and the morning dives were the zion and then the Bonare ( which actually had the most Goliaths on it, by far --maybe over 75). If a diver had never done the zion before, and the plan was to drift from the Zion to the Bonaire, and to stick with the one having the most Goliaths, most divers would do better following a DM than just floating off into the empty expanse of sand between them...Once you have done this once, and know the compass heading, and how far to go, it is not a big deal. Getting back to the zion from the Bonare might be a little tricky for most divers, as the current can be significant
I got some amazing video footage!!!

 

[IXΘYΣ]

...So my question to posters is; Is this the way people like to dive? If so, I may have to find another activity.

I guess some do... but why would "the way people like to dive" have anything to do with your diving? There are plenty of venues that'll let you do it your way, all over the world.

 

[Leadking]

I guess some do... but why would "the way people like to dive" have anything to do with your diving? There are plenty of venues that'll let you do it your way, all over the world.

Because you DO NOT know what you are going to get until you get there. I've been on rebreather trips to Truk were the only rule was be back in 3 1/2 hours. I've been to Australia, the Caribbean more times than I can remember and the South Pacific a number of times. I mostly have dove off my own boat-no divemasters preaching what you can and cannot do and leading you around like school children. I usually hate to travel because of the "divemaster problem". The point of my question, which has yet to be answered "Is this the way people like to dive."

ps. I am planning to go to Truk, New Guinea, and Borneo, and possibly the Philippines this winter.

 

[IXΘYΣ]

... "Is this the way people like to dive."...

And the answer is still "some do." It's like asking "Is this the way people like to ___________(hike, ski, bike, walk, swim, take your pick)?"
I, personally, don't usually care to book with a "let's cover distance" outfit. I'm much happier with a "see you at 500 psi or so" outfit. But that's me. I know there are folks who like to be led by the hand through life, and those who like to be left completely alone, and all sorts in between. Doesn't bother me...
As for knowing what you're going to get into before you get there, I used to use the "Traveling divers' chapbook" with great success. Now I just ask about operators on this and a few other boards before booking. So far, no misses (Of course I also have the advantage of a flexible and enthusiastic hubby who really can make lemonade out of lemons)
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[KeithG]

We were subjected to this type of diving for the first few years of resort trips. Decided we hated it so much that self guided dives became a must have feature. We have found it easy to accomplish and so have avoided it for many years now.

About half of our trips are live aboards where we get to dive our own plan in buddy teams. DM are available IF you want a guided dive. If we stay land based and are using day boats (as opposed to shore/dock diving) then we TELL the DM after the dive briefing that we are very slow swimmers and will NOT keep up with the group. We tell them our plan and say we will see you in about 30 minutes as the group fins it way back to the boat. This works fine since these day boat dives are not drift dives.

Our travel agent (squba holidays) knows our "needs" and ensures that any new destinations they suggest do not enforce the guided dive rule.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I personally do not like to dive that way and will not. In the Keys, Bonaire, and Puerto Rico I have informed the guide/dm/whatever that I will be taking a heading in the direction we are going, I know where the boat is and how to get back to it, and have my own dive plan. If it jives with theirs fine. If not too bad. I'm not going to burn up air trying to catch someone else. That is not what I paid for. I will even dive solo and just hang out around the group or not. In Puerto Rico it took one dive with the DM watching my student and I for about 10 minutes before he waved goodbye and let us dive the way we wanted to. Keys and Bonaire were the same. I don;t want to be in the herd, don't care about what someone else thinks is interesting, and will end the dive when my time is up, unless there is an emergency and get recalled. I have a very quick middle finger for someone trying to tell me what to do, to hurry up, or to keep up with the group. I teach my students that the slowest diver sets the pace. Usually that's me, with new divers or students that have been trained by other instructors I often hear that they have never swam so slow or used so much less air. Go figure.

I am very careful about choosing ops and will only use those that allow me to plan and execute my own dive that may or may not be the same as what the guide chooses to do.