What's the WORST dive you've ever had?

[nat]

I've just returned from a couple of very well organised dives at a local dive centre I've just joined, and was thinking about an experience I had in Zanzibar.

I had taken a refresher course with the instructor who was very professional, but he stayed in the dive centre while two DMs took a group of 10 relatively inexperienced divers out (5 of us knew each other and had done a handful of dives each...). The briefing was just that - very brief...basically we will all descend, meet at the bottom, I will lead, you all follow. Even at the surface the group was immediately split by a current and as we all tried to swim to the DM, she was shouting instructions in Spanish (to the other 5) but nothing in English and then signalled to descend . I protested - as much as I could in now very choppy water. Luckily my buddy was fluent in spanish and translated, but by then the DM had gone down. No anchor line used and the group was still scattered.

By the time my buddy and I had reached the bottom, there was no-one to be seen! We spent a couple of minutes looking for them and then ascended (the bottom was 16 meters). We surfaced to find the rest of the group clinging to the boat. The DM and another diver (her buddy) were not with them. 15 (!!) minutes later they appeared. It turns out that the diver had no concept of the buddy system and had set off solo at the bottom. No-one knew what was going on and came back up. The diver was given a very strong telling off in a rant that lasted 5 minutes and made all of us very embarrased. She was prevented from diving with us again..

The other DM had a word with the original and took charge, took us down the anchor line and the dives ended up very rewarding. I think that counts for a bad dive for quite a few of us!!

[DrBill]

A bad dive for me would be one you didn't return from. Hopefully you learn something even on dives when something goes wrong.

Perhaps my worst was the day I decided not to strap on my pony (I'm a solo diver 95% of the time) because my dive "plan" was to go to 40 ft. I should have known better since my "plan" is often scrapped as soon as I see something interesting to film. I ended up following a bat ray down to about 75 ft. I had just exhaled and tried to draw another breath of air from my reg, but nothing came through it.

Instinctively I started to ascend slowly as I checked my gear. SPG read zero, no air in BC. I did a CESA from 70-75 ft and was rather breathless when I surfaced. No more diving for the day. Apparently debris got trapped in the dip or debris tube in the tank valve when I descended head first.

Lessons learned? Always keep my pony bottle on regardless of my "plan." Descend horizontally rather than head first.

[Socco]

Hey Papa Bear, I am really saddened to hear about the Exumas. I grew up in Nassau in the 70s and Exuma was the jewel in the crown. I need to get down there and have words with people.

[Socco]

My worst dive.... actually this is not about dissing a resort but more about what happened to me on one dive.

I was diving on the Canyons in Puerto Galera and for those of you who know the site also know that there can be some fierce currents there. So, on this one dive, I wanted to go get some photos of some Sweetlips that hang out in the first of the canyons. I was just coming off a slight cold and I had just got a new vest with a hood. I had also been diving for over three weeks so I was kind of run down as well. I had difficulty with my ears and fell behind the rest of the group. Once I got my ears sorted out I did a negative decent onto the ridge leading down to the first canyon. I found the rest of the group and went to find the Sweetlips. I strayed a little but found the fish hiding at around 30M. I got my shot and moved back towards where I thought the main group would be. I guess I must have been a little out of breath as my chest started to constrict and a sense of claustrophobia overcame me. I started to breath really heavily, I could not seem to get enough air. I spotted one of the group and signaled that I was cutting my dive and going up. My breathing intensified and I began to gulp air down. I started to ascend but had lost orientation and control. The next thing that I realised was that I was overtaking my bubbles. I became even more disorientated as all I could see was a cloud of bubbles around me. This was in effect an uncontrolled emergency ascent. I popped out at the surface like a cork and started yelling my head off. On reviewing my dive computer, it seems that I went from 30M to the surface in less than 60 seconds, no safety stop! I burned 120 bar in 15 minutes. Needless to say I had a total head f*@% for the rest of the day. Fortunately for me, it was because I was breathing so fast during the ascent that I did not do any damage. In one respect, I am glad I had this experience because I learned a lot about myself and what happens to a diver when they are overloaded. I may have been slightly narked when I was at 30M, the cold probably did not help. Valuable lessons were learned that day.

Don't let this story put you off. It can happen to the best.

See you in the green room.

G.

[CAN2]

My 14 year old son (who is newly certified with the Open Water Dives coming in a Quarry) and I were in the Florida Keys for Spring Break and trying to get some dives in. High waves and wind kept us from 10 of our planned dives with one of the dive shops, but on the last day we finally got a call that they were going out so we took a small (30') boat out with 7 other divers.

The waves were still 3-5' ( or 4-6' depending on who you ask. :-) ); the head was broken in the boat (which we were not told until someone USED the head) and most of the boat got horribly seasick. After passing on two spots which were too shallow given the waves, the boat moored over a reef in 60' of water.

Visibility was about 10' - and the dive briefing consisted of ' its deeper over there, shallower over there; watch the current (but no idea which way the current was running). Come back in 1 hour or with 500 psi in your tanks' and off we went.

We were used to the poor vis due to our quarry diving, but without a guide in the water, we spent most of our time making sure we knew where the boat was and not really looking at what we could see. Disappointing, esp when other shops we called later said they put a DM into the water as a guide who knows the area and where to go.

Oh well, better luck next time.

[The Publisher]

Soco, your symptoms sound just like a c02 hit.....The Canyons off the Sinandigan side of Sabang can be pretty dramatic!

[acelockco]

Disappointing,

Oh well, better luck next time.

CAN2

With diving you have to remember that YOU are the one that has to take responsibility for yourself and your dive buddy. I understand that you were most likely upset because most of your diving was blown out, so of course you jumped on the chance to get out there when you found a boat that was going out. As far as the boat is concerned, they want to go out as long as they have paying customers, they are a business. I have had similar things happen to me in the past.

Here are some tips to help you next time:

1. Do some research on the dive shops/charters in the area you are going to dive BEFORE you go on vacation.

2. Check the weather, if it is not good for diving consider changing your location or date, or have other things you can do when diving is blown out.

3. Tell the dive operator your situation before you book your dives. Make them aware that you are used to quarry diving (no current, no waves no reef, etc.) and make sure they know your level of diving and YOUR SON'S!

4.If you are not familiar with the type of diving or the conditions, request a dive guide. Basically you pay a fee to have a DM dive with you and your son. They will help you if you are unsure about something or run into a problem, they will also make sure you don't get LOST and will also point out the things you might not see otherwise.

5. HAVE FUN!

[CAN2]

Thanks for the reply. We actually did all of the above, but even the best operators (and this was with a very well known and highly reputable operator) have bad days, esp after a week of bad weather.

And actually, my son and I were in better shape in the water than most of the folks on the boat. We were used to navigating by compass in poor vis.

We were blown out for 4 days and the first day back was marginal at best. In hindsight we probably should have just bagged the last day as well, but as someone else in this post said, a bad dive is one you don't come back from.

It was just not the trip we had hoped for, but we had zero schedule flexibility. We got wet, saw some fish, and came back safely so for a 'bad dive' - can't complain too much I guess!

[BillW]

So far the worst dives I’ve had are the ones I didn’t get to go on, because I’ve found something good every time I get wet.

As a SAR pilot – please stop recommending CDs and DVDs as substitutes for signaling mirrors. First off, they’re terrible at getting any kind of coherent reflection, and more importantly the prism colors we see from 500’ above you look no different than sunlight reflecting off the water. Mirrors are cheap, last longer, and are easier for you to aim at us. SOLAS reflective tape added to your safety sausage works better than CDs and really lights up at night.

[The Publisher]

I use the below pocket mirror but mine comes with a tiny yellow float in case I lose my grip on it.