Urgent advice needed please !!

[Thomas Callachan]

My wife and I are open water qualified divers with 5 dives to our name and not since 2011.

we are currently in the Maldives, did a refresher dive all well accept bcds didn't fully release only we were told it was our buoyancy and they have courses etc.

we booked a dive for the next day, marked as easy, we asked no current ? Oh no nice easy dive.

the water was so choppy people were being sick. We went I with a dive master who was supposed to have a group of 4 and ended up with 7!

we couldn't descend, the disappeared, we deployed our buoy and whistles morse code however we were caught a drift,

we we eventually came across a sea plane pad and climbed up exhausted after 1.5 hours of being alone adrift trying to make it back to the island.

i have many questions for them.

my question is this to you guys, what should I do ? What's the procedure?

i want to know why our dive master disappeared, why the no one on the boat made sure we descended and why no one knew we were missing for an hour and a half.

we were rescued by any ther boat from another island.

I have a meetingin 3 hours with dive manager and island manager please help.



i will never dive again

---------- Post added December 23rd, 2015 at 03:57 PM ----------

To add, they knew we were inexperienced and slow descenders, worse nightmare come true. My wife even told them i don't want to go I'll stay on the boat but they told her it's fine underwater.

scared doesn't explain being a drift with a Padi rep company not knowing you're missing.

 

[dbulmer]

i want to know why our dive master disappeared, why the no one on the boat made sure we descended and why no one knew we were missing for an hour and a half.

i will never dive again

---------- Post added December 23rd, 2015 at 03:57 PM ----------

To the OP,

I think the best thing for you to do right now is to listen to the responses you receive from the dive operator and then post what they said.

From what you have said so far you are understandably upset but when dives go pear shaped it's often the case that both dive operators and the divers in their care have both made mistakes and it's better to make judgements after a little time has elapsed.

 

[Thomas Callachan]

We couldn't descend, faulty equipment or not, we surfaced tried again, looked for 60 seconds and then inflated our balloon. 3 mins past blow sos on whistle,

I appreciate everyone can make a mistake and have reviewed how we acted and our steps up to this point. They have also accepted all responsibility and have told us it wasn't our fault.

i will listen to what they say but I know being part of Padi it is their responsibility to alert divers are missing after 60 seconds, no one came for us or reported us missing for over an hour

 

[dbulmer]

Thomas,

If the operator has admitted you were not to blame what is it that you want from them in your meeting?

Perhaps you could ask them what steps they are going to take to prevent this situation from happening again? ie Will they change their boat procedures and/or add extra staff topside and in the water?

 

[Insta-Gator]

Sorry to hear about the bad experience.

If you are serious about never diving again, what do you expect to gain in this meeting with the dive manager? Are you looking for a refund or credit for unused dives you may have paid for in advance? Perhaps when you get home you can take a full refresher course. With only 5 dives under your belt and not having dove in 4 years, I'm surprise the dive op allowed you to get on the boat.

 

[Pedro Burrito]

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

Moved from A&I to Near Misses

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[Littlerayray]

I understand your concern and I appreciate you having a meeting so it doesn't happen to another diver

My question is why did you decide to get back in the water after five years

Secondly the Maldives as well as many dive destinations are flooded with dive shops and charters and will unfortunately compromise people's safety for business it's real cut throat

Thirdly you did everything right you took a refresher
Told the dive master of your inexperience and specifically requested an easy dive
You also surfaced and signaled when you lost your group the dive master should have paid more attention to you and your wife
My advice go to the meeting listen to what they have to say then when you get home find a club and or lds and get back in the water with a group that you know get some dIves under your belt

 

[Insta-Gator]

I understand your concern and I appreciate you having a meeting so it doesn't happen to another diver

My question is why did you decide to get back in the water after five years

Secondly the Maldives as well as many dive destinations are flooded with dive shops and charters and will unfortunately compromise people's safety for business it's real cut throat

Thirdly you did everything right you took a refresher
Told the dive master of your inexperience and specifically requested an easy dive
You also surfaced and signaled when you lost your group the dive master should have paid more attention to you and your wife
My advice go to the meeting listen to what they have to say then when you get home find a club and or lds and get back in the water with a group that you know get some dIves under your belt

did a refresher dive all well accept bcds didn't fully release only we were told it was our buoyancy and they have courses etc.

A refresher dive is not the same as a refresher course. After discovering the BCD or buoyancy problem, what action was taken to resolve the issue? Did you take the buoyancy course they had available? Did you have someone check your BCD to ensure it was functioning properly?

No. I don't think everything was done right. Ultimate responsibility falls to the diver. The diver must be prepared and verify that all their gear is prepared.

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ba...ce-horizontal-trim-simple-vector-physics.html

 

[tbone1004]

a lot of what they said. Where is home for you? Unfortunately a refresher dive isn't a refresher course which you would have needed after that long out of the water. Best advice I can give you is to not write off diving forever, but instead take it upon yourselves to get the training that you feel you need in order to be at the point where you don't need to rely on the operators for your comfort and safety, but instead can rely on yourself and your partner.

 

[redacted]

We couldn't descend, faulty equipment or not, we surfaced tried again, looked for 60 seconds and then inflated our balloon. 3 mins past blow sos on whistle,

I appreciate everyone can make a mistake and have reviewed how we acted and our steps up to this point. They have also accepted all responsibility and have told us it wasn't our fault.

i will listen to what they say but I know being part of Padi it is their responsibility to alert divers are missing after 6I0r seconds, no one came for us or reported us missing for over an hour

What do you mean by "we surfaced and tried again"?