Loosing Heads looking for Hammerheads

The Jackson Reef - Sharm El Sheikh

We were on a safari - liveaboard - this dive was supposed to be our last dive in this trip, but it was about to be our last dive forever.

a. The dive to the west is an amazing reef with lots of fish, and sometimes sharks, a turtle or a sting ray. lots of macro, and amazing colorful soft corals. You must be careful of the reef end on the west as currents might be too strong to come back.

b. Dive to the east. - Depending on currents. Can be done as drift or as anchor dive. If it is a drift - there is an amazing coral garden on the south east point of the reef. Sometimes current is too strong to see it and u fly over it sometimes
Current will allow you to see all the macro in it. Big sharks on the point, turtles.

c. the blue dive. can be done only when sea allows. if it is high then the captain will not allow it. Hammerheads only Mid July till end of September. and also the only time of the year this dive is possible due to sea conditions.

It Was a deep dive and is recommended only for experienced divers

WE HAD A TERRIBLE DIVE DUE TO:

- BAD INSTRUCTOR PLAN.
- UNCALCULATED RISK FOR CURRENT CALCULATION.
- NO BRIEFED PLAN TO SKIPPERS OR ZODIAC ON HOW TO ALLOCATE US AND AFTER HOW LONG.
- THE INSTRUCTOR WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BUDDY WITH ME WAS THE FARTHEST FROM ME TO SAVE HIS LIFE.
- WE SPENT ALMOST 90 MINUTES STRUGGLING IN A VERY BAD SEA CONDITION, WE WERE DIVIDED IN 2 GROUPS 3 AND 2. FIRST GROUP OSS, HAY AND FAN, THE SECOND GROUP ME AND BAS WHO WAS A DIVE MASTER CANDIDATE ON BOARD WHO USED TO BE A COOK!! BUT HONESTLY HE WAS A REAL SUPPORT TO ME. THANKS TO HIM.

An Instructor is not a certificate to collect and add to the rest of certificates, its a RESPONSIBILTY. But teaching something in the course and DO NOT ABIDE BY means he/she is not worth being called INSTRUCTOR.

Man,
A good instructor is not necessarily a good guide.

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Originally Posted by mismail

An Instructor is not a certificate to collect and add to the rest of certificates, its a RESPONSIBILTY.

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It sounds like a wonderful area to dive; sorry about your experiences.
I wonder though, if your expectations were perhaps a bit high; maybe a tad unrealistic.
I do not know your experience level, It sounds as if this dive was beyond your capabilities.
If you are certified as a diver, YOU are responsible for your training, fitness, dive plan, your comfort level. Everything.

You are also responsible for communicating your intentions, desires, AND experience level, and asking any and all questions,and getting them resolved, before you enter the water in a new environment.
Dive when YOU are ready; otherwise don't.

What I hear is a new (or infrequent) diver that was in over his head (literally) and thought the Instructor or boat skipper should have watched out for you in some way that they did not.

There is an expression for that. It's called "accident-waiting-to-happen."

Yes, you, my friend, need to seriously consider that YOU were not prepared for the dive you did; and take the steps necessary to manage yourself on future similar dives.

Perhaps further classes, fitness conditioning or training in rough water/ currents; make a list of questions to ask before drift diving, or to ask a prospective buddy. Be prepared.

Practice self-reliance, and strive to be completely responsible for yourself.
Best of luck to you.

Tigerbeach,

I could not agree more. It seems like infrequent or inexperienced divers think that the DM is their babysitter that is supposed to do everything for them and protect them. Remember the bottom line is YOU have to take responsibility for what you do.

And this goes back to my one major "beef" or whatever about diving that there are way too many people that get cert. because the class is a joke. You don't even need to know how to swim to pass, and if you can't swim how is it possible to be comfortable in the water?

Oh please, don't get me started about scuba equipment dependency...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hbh2oguard

And this goes back to my one major "beef" or whatever about diving that there are way too many people that get cert. because the class is a joke. You don't even need to know how to swim to pass, and if you can't swim how is it possible to be comfortable in the water?

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Don't EVEN get me started on the certification process that exists today for the basic diver courses. There are not enough hours in the day for me to articulate all the issues I have with today's certification process!


Suffice it to say, the current thinking that guarantees a certification regardless of ability, WILL BE MORE OF AN ISSUE EACH DAY!!!!

Maybe not though!

I just bumped into a NAUI instructor today doing some checkout dives with his students at the quarry. We were talking about the class and such and he said that the class started out with 28 students, and there were 15 that actually made it to the checkout dives. That alone is a large dropout rate. He also said that only 8 of the divers would actually get their C-cards and the others needed more work before he would sign off for their cards.

Of course he could be telling me B.S., but from talking to him for a while, I don't think so. He was teaching for a University so that could be the reason, but I was still impressed.

I usually feel that the training is not even remotely enough, but there are some of the " good ol' " instructors left out there that care about doing it right (not DIR doing it right, but maybe that as well)

A class of 28 is pretty big but maybe not for a university

It is a really big class. When I was in college they offered SCUBA class, and the same thing happened. A lot of students showed up for the first few classes and then they were gone.

I think they were thinking "oh...scuba....easy A", but then they had to learn dive tables....LOL

I actually appreciate instructors who put the fear in these frisky would-be divers. My friend who is an instructor often has students who end up whining, "but scuba is supposed to be fun!" Well! Stay in the swimming pool where the conditions are controlled! I know a guy who got his wife and 13-year-old daughter into diving, both are rescue-diver level now because of that mindset of continuous learning and preparation for the unexpected. That simply comes with the territory.

I have dived this reef (the day after I gained my open water) and it was a wonderful experience, I was lucky to have fantastic conditions and my buddy was the instructor who had just done my training. I am sorry your experience wasn't as good.

On the subject of certification,I don't know what happens at other dive schools but at the Red Sea college where I did my PADI there were a few people who were failed either because they couldn't do some of the exercises ie. mask removal underwater or they didn't do it confidently enough. My intructor made me do the techniques over and over even if I "passed" the first time.