Probably the dumbest thing I did in scuba was to believe DM's were gods when I was new.
I remember following one down to 75ft in Indonesia on my 5th or 6th Discover Scuba Dive before I was ever certified & following another into Turtle Cavern @ 60ft in Sipadan Malaysia Borneo when I had about 35 dives on serious sketchy rental gear - we swam way past the danger sign into the dark without a decent light to where the entrance was a small light - just because she said it was ok.
Over time I saw many "professionals" make poor judgements and mistakes in that part of the world & I learned that DM's & instructors aren't always the ultimate authority in SCUBA .
Since then I've developed my own underwater guidelines and have said NO on more than one occasion to honor my training and comfort limits: requesting more conservative gas planning & dive profiles, limiting depths above narc levels, refusing tight overhead environments & feel I have been right in my judgements .
I remember following one down to 75ft in Indonesia on my 5th or 6th Discover Scuba Dive before I was ever certified & following another into Turtle Cavern @ 60ft in Sipadan Malaysia Borneo when I had about 35 dives on serious sketchy rental gear - we swam way past the danger sign into the dark without a decent light to where the entrance was a small light - just because she said it was ok.
Over time I saw many "professionals" make poor judgements and mistakes in that part of the world & I learned that DM's & instructors aren't always the ultimate authority in SCUBA .
Since then I've developed my own underwater guidelines and have said NO on more than one occasion to honor my training and comfort limits: requesting more conservative gas planning & dive profiles, limiting depths above narc levels, refusing tight overhead environments & feel I have been right in my judgements .