your worst dive experience ever?

[Scuba-Jay]

Alright thought this might be fun.
What was your worst ever dive experience? It could have been the "getting there", the operator, the actual dive...anything?

My worst dive ever was in Tenerife years ago. I was 15, new to diving (but certified) and was out there with a Norwegian non diver buddy of mine for a week long getaway from the crappy UK weather. I was approached on the beach by a guy selling single tank dive trips out to one of the reefs on the island. It was $20 or something silly like that for the whole package (rental gear, air, guide) so i thought what the heck why not. Anyway they picked me up from our hotel the next morning in a beat up mini bus and took me to their retail location to gear up. Once i got there i noticed two little German boys (maybe 11 or 12) gearing up also. Turns out they are diving with us, so its me, the DM (I guess he was a DM i didn't think to ask lol) and two goofy little boys. We load up into a canoe with an engine and off we go. Once above the reef the DM tells me to get it so i do a back drop off the boat and into the water. Then the kids drop in and finally the DM. Then the DM swims over to me, grabs the hand of one of the kids, puts his hand in mine and says cya later...and hes off underwater with the one kid!! There I am floating in the middle of the ocean next to an empty canoe with a motor, holding the hand of my dive buddy an 11 year old boy (who i find out) has never been diving before....!!!! Anyway I of course tell the kid we are not diving, load him back onto the boat, climb up myself and wait for the DM. Boy did I give him an earful when he surfaced! Alright well thats my experience....next??

 

[Green_Manelishi]

Alright thought this might be fun.
What was your worst ever dive experience? It could have been the "getting there", the operator, the actual dive...anything?

My worst dive ever was in Tenerife years ago. I was 15, new to diving (but certified) and was out there with a Norwegian non diver buddy of mine for a week long getaway from the crappy UK weather. I was approached on the beach by a guy selling single tank dive trips out to one of the reefs on the island. It was $20 or something silly like that for the whole package (rental gear, air, guide) so i thought what the heck why not. Anyway they picked me up from our hotel the next morning in a beat up mini bus and took me to their retail location to gear up. Once i got there i noticed two little German boys (maybe 11 or 12) gearing up also. Turns out they are diving with us, so its me, the DM (I guess he was a DM i didn't think to ask lol) and two goofy little boys. We load up into a canoe with an engine and off we go. Once above the reef the DM tells me to get it so i do a back drop off the boat and into the water. Then the kids drop in and finally the DM. Then the DM swims over to me, grabs the hand of one of the kids, puts his hand in mine and says cya later...and hes off underwater with the one kid!! There I am floating in the middle of the ocean next to an empty canoe with a motor, holding the hand of my dive buddy an 11 year old boy (who i find out) has never been diving before....!!!! Anyway I of course tell the kid we are not diving, load him back onto the boat, climb up myself and wait for the DM. Boy did I give him an earful when he surfaced! Alright well thats my experience....next??

The day I killed my instructor. Well, that's what he told me when we got back onto the boat.

 

[UnderSeaBumbleBee]

Here is the link. !st time 106' deep narced out of head my head, hyperventalating, feeling like I was going to pass out from co2 build up, give the trouble and up signs and my buddies wave bye bye at me and swim off deeper leaving me alone and in a panic.

Here the link to the longer version of the story:http://www.singledivers.com/surfaceinterval/index.php?showtopic=10755

 

[Cacia]

Mine was "impending doom" that hit me in a big deep cavern for no apparent reason.
I was about 100 ft or so, in Blue Holes, Palau, and I struggled with a mental thing that might have been a CO2 hit. I don't know if it was the thought of going into the Temple of Doom...or what, but I got freaky. I controlled myself, but surfaced.

scarey story, leah.

 

[lynny_lynny]

Hands down, mine was in Cancun. The diving there IMO isn't that great to begin with. I worked with my friend for weeks to get her paperwork done, and this was the trip for her checkouts, and I went to be supportive. 6-8 ft seas, I basically puked my brains out the entire surface interval before and after, I threw up in my reg <usually when I get in the water and start my descent, all if fine....but not this dive...i hurled and purged and purged and hurled....no relief....with a bunch of novices on a checkout dive and to not even be paid off with a nice dive lol
Misery!!!!

 

[elmo6s]

I was a somewhat new diver with about 30 dives under my belt, and was 14 years old, diving the Blue Hole in Belize. We were with 2-3 DMs for around 16 people. We get down to the planned depth of 130' where the plan is outside of the tables (time wise). When we get down to where they are going to chum the bull sharks (a great idea), a guy gets a mask squeeze and has no idea how to undo it. As the DMs attempt to help him, they all drop down to at least 165', leaving the group well into deco even though we are still all only at 130'. The guy comes back to meet the group with two completely black eyes. No one in the group had more than 250 psi at this point because the guides had told us to stay with them under any and all circumstances. The DMs take us to the 40 foot stop for 8 mins, and one of them goes straight up to drop down tanks with regs. Luckily no one (including the DM) got bent, but I will never forget that dive. Taught me never to trust my DMs over my own intuition, and to plan my dive and dive my plan, regardless of what anyone else tells me. I will also never recommend diving with Amigos Del Mar of Belize to anyone I meet, as I found they dove in an unsafe way. After this nightmare dive, all of the divers in the group made another 80ft and 60ft dive - the DMs answer to what we should do if our computers shut down? Screw in gauges! Great idea guys, our computers shut down for safety, so lets take them off!

Being a Divemaster in training myself now, and having about 400-450 dives under my belt since, I can look back on this dive as a learning experience, but the fact is that I'm lucky to be alive after it.

Alex

 

[ItsBruce]

In 1996, I was on a family vacation in Florida. I hadn't been diving in a while and thought it would be nice to dive. We were near Destin and I booked a dive with the local operator. The dive was to be to a wreck at about 90 feet. The depth did not concern me. We were told the water was cold, so for the first time ever, I used my hood. We were told there was a current and that we should work to the bow of the boat upon entry and then wait at about 15 feet on the anchor line. I got to 15 feet and felt a very strong pull, so I kept working deeper, hand-over-hand. I ended up on the bottom, nearly exhausted and breathing rapidly. I signalled the DM who was leading the dive and he accompanied me to the surface. I do not know if he released my weight belt at the surface or whether I lost it upon entry (that would explain the "pull"). I climbed aboard the boat removed the hood (which I concluded was choking me) and laid on the deck huffing and puffing. There were no DCS indicators and other than exhaustion, I felt fine. That was my worst dive ever.

Epilog: The boat relocated for the second dive. I said I was going to pass on it and just wait on the boat. The skipper pretty much threw me into the water. Good thing. I had a great dive. In hindsight, had she let me sit the dive out, I'm pretty sure I would never again have gone diving. I don't recall who the operator or skipper was, but I owe her a big debt of gratitude (and dinner if she cares to claim it).

 

[H2Andy]

worst dive ever?

the time i got stuck in a small cave with no cave training, no clue, and pinned to a crevice by my octopus which had dropped behind me and gotten stuck

i don't remember trying to make a bargain with God. i do remember being pissed off at how stupid i was for being there and getting myself killed. i also remember thinking of someone telling my wife i was dead, but i pushed that thought aside

cave training followed soon thereafter

 

[IceIce]

I posted this somewhere before, but
First leisure trip after OW, I had my own wetsuit, which is thinner than the rental one I used for OW. As the result, I was over weight and during the dive, I landed on the rock. One DM helped me and removed one of my weight, then another DM trainee brought me out from the group, to dive to him and my buddy only.

I was still overweight, so I tried to puff air into my BCD, but the DM trainee wouldn't let me, he yanked my inflator hose, gave me sign not to do that and dumped my air. I shrugged, we continued, but I felt negative, I added air again, and there he went yanked the inflator hose from my hand and dumped my air. He gave me sharp sign not to do it. As a fresh student, I thought he supposed to be right, He told me not to let any amount of air into BCD underwater at all times. He made it sound as if it was the biggest sin and I was the stupidest diver. It happened few times until I was very angry because he was very rough, although I kept calm, he didn't care how he pinned me down to coral or how I had to adapt with moving up and down because of the stupid filling and dumping air thing and inflator hose being yanked away rudely.

I cut the dive short, on the surface, he still gave me an earful about his stupid theory which summed up as, BCD, Buoyancy Compensator Device, shouldn't be used to help you adjust buoyancy, because you should leave it empty and never add any air in it underwater, the only time you could puff it is when you are in surface.
What is BCD for then? Life jacket?

The sad thing was, although I pissed off and never dived with him after that, I thought he was right for sometimes. What do I know, I'm OW student and you are the highness DM Trainee.
He never admit he was wrong either.

 

[CoalBoy]

here goes...

a few years back, i was on a work-related trip to camiguin island, philippines. had an extra day to go see the sights but decided to go diving. went to some resort, shabby, but acceptable, owned by an american(?) dude.

as we were loading gear on the boat, this boatman picks up two tanks, and with a flick of the wrist, slings it on his shoulders not knowing, nor looking that I was behind him. one of the tanks hit my head with a resounding "tinggggg" followed by a generous gush of blood running down my face.

good thing i brought my own first aid kit, as the resort only had band-aids, bandanged myself, rested a while and reported the guy to the owner. The owner apathetically says, "It happens."

What the ****!!!!


PS. Still did the dive though. Sort of delirius on the first dive with the pain of saltwater on my open wound. Still had a great dive!!! Saw a giant turtle. The next day, had my skull checked out and the doc said i should have gotten stitches.