I had the recent situation where the boat dropped the dive guide and myself in the water continuing on to a nearby island to drop the passengers off before returning to pick us up at the end of the dive. Whilst it didn't concern me at the time, I did think this was a somewhat unusual diving practice and prone to both abuse and possibly tragic outcomes.
The boat had at least a 20 minute steam to the island, the time taken unloading of passengers and return trip to our position. We were going to be an hour underwater, the current was mild but a storm was approaching. This was my second day diving with this resort so they had seen me dive previously, they knew I was comfortable underwater and was an experienced diver.
Had the vessel broken down, our dive ended abruptly, a passenger has an issue or accident or they were detained on the island for any reason - we may have had an issue. The vessel had a number of engine issues so that may have contributed to a delayed return, the engine broke down on the first day and was very noisy in the valve train.
My questions are related to what if; I am mid-40s, reasonably fit but well down on my personal standards, I have a number of medical issues but currently free of any real (or at least serious) medical problems. They, of course know none of this as they never asked me, so this tends to indicate this is normal practice and this could be a real problem.
A panic, a sting, bite or medical problem on the surface or underwater could have ended in devastating circumstances. Likewise, a stronger than anticipated current could have swept us well away from the site and pick up zone. This is poor practice and one feels this operation is an accident waiting to happen, was it just me or is this normal practice?
Had the vessel broken down, our dive ended abruptly, a passenger has an issue or accident or they were detained on the island for any reason - we may have had an issue. The vessel had a number of engine issues so that may have contributed to a delayed return, the engine broke down on the first day and was very noisy in the valve train.
My questions are related to what if; I am mid-40s, reasonably fit but well down on my personal standards, I have a number of medical issues but currently free of any real (or at least serious) medical problems. They, of course know none of this as they never asked me, so this tends to indicate this is normal practice and this could be a real problem.
A panic, a sting, bite or medical problem on the surface or underwater could have ended in devastating circumstances. Likewise, a stronger than anticipated current could have swept us well away from the site and pick up zone. This is poor practice and one feels this operation is an accident waiting to happen, was it just me or is this normal practice?
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