An accident waiting to happen...

I found this link on the scubaDoc website about a dive op in St Maarten (i think i know which one he is referring to as well) that aren't taking health and safety issues for diving seriously.

The key points he mentions is:
- there was no oxygen kit on the boat
- the two way radio on the boat didn't work
- no-one was left on the boat during the dive
- the DM made four 50-foot dives to find the boat
- no attempt was made for doing a safety stop at 15ft
- the owner didn't know where the nearest recompression chamber was (it's in Saba) and the guy was told there was no need for a chamber as there is no "deep-diving" (most of the dives stated were to 50ft)

Seriously scary...dontya think?????

Wow ...


When you say four dives to find the boat, do you mean to locate the wreck??

no - from what was written on the article, they didn't find the wreck in the end...the boat meaning the dive boat that got the dive group to the site....

Lottie;
Could you PM me the dive 'operation' yuo think would do this? My wife and i may take a trip to the Carib. next yeat, and our time-share can be exchanged for a place in St Marten. I would like to dive, and know the diving is not the best the Carib. has to offer, but I do not want to jepardize my wife's or my own life with these unsafe practices. It would be worth it to buy a package than save some money on an unsafe place.

h2odragon1...nah...you don't wanna do St Maarten...you wanna do St Lucia :D ;)

The diving is a much better quality and you can have a personal island guide who will show you the sites and sounds of the St Lucia that no other tourist will ever see ;)

While i agree that this operation ,as described ,seems incredibly inept. As i read the report, the correspondent seems to have done more than one dive with them. I know that it is difficult, once you've handed over a wedge of cash, to turn round and say "no thanks! I think that you guys are unsafe and I do't want to dive with you" but, at the end of the day, we all have to bear some responsibility for our own safety. Personally, I wouldn't have got on the boat with the dive gear as described, let alone everything else. While divers continue to pay and dive with this operation, they have little incentive to change, no matter how much moaning goes on apres dive. The more divers who turn around on the dockside and march off proclaiming "No way!", the sooner operations like this either go bust or clean up their act.
Just my 2 tokens worth.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lottie

I found this
- the DM made four 50-foot dives to find the boat

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If this was his own dive boat, this guy was really inept! lol

"Hey, buddy, your boat is the thing you're standing on ... the floaty thingy with the pointy front."

I think the DM made the four dives when they were diving and coming back up to find the boat...so i figure that they must have drifted while underwater, hence why the DM couldn't find the boat..well thats how I viewed it anyway.

I had just read that article, and while looking for more info, I luckily stumbled upon this site. I am just finishing up my certification classes and confined water dives for my open water certification. I will be going to St Maarten in Feb. and am planning to finish my certification there. I've been there before and I think I know what place they are referring to. If it's where I'm thinking, it's the place I'm staying at and I have taken the resort course with them before. I felt it was somewhat disorganized, and without prior training, I did not realize how unsafe they might have been. Does anyone have a recommendation for a good safe company to use there for both certification and subsequent dives? I haven't really looked around on this forum yet, so let me know if I should have posted this in another area.
Thanks,
Frank

I think many divers aren't trained to handle the conditions presented.
Why? Because they are poorly or inadequately trained.They became sheep.
Buy this, buy that. It's way easier to buy gear than to learn swimming skills.
You don't need O2 on a boat to be safe. You don't need a dive computer to have fun.
Lots of Western divers are spoiled. They think everyone should cater to them.
Most shouldn't ever dive in the ocean.

fscope - welcome to our little space.
If you're going to do some diving in St Maarten - check out Dive Safaris, they have a dive center at Simpson Bay and one in Phillipsburg as well.
Here's a link to their website --> http://www.divestmaarten.com

Tiger I fully agree. Learn to swim and most importantly be comfortable in the water before you ever think of diving. I've said it on here before, and I'll say it again because I feel it's that important!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hbh2oguard

Tiger I fully agree. Learn to swim and most importantly be comfortable in the water before you ever think of diving. I've said it on here before, and I'll say it again because I feel it's that important!

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Amen brother :)

Thanks Lottie, I'll check them out.
Frank