Such a sad story.....although totally preventable.

[Pacific State 808]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/12/27/florida-dad-teen-son-found-dead-in-scuba-diving-accident-testing-out-christmas/?intcmp=latestnews

[flopnfly]

Wow!! 

Two needless deaths.  Nobody is in a position to judge, but I certainly wouldn't be taking anyone who isn't certified into that situation, especially not my child.

 

[Pacific State 808]

 Crazy story, so very tragic for the family to deal with. I still can't get my head around why would you take your 15 year old, unqualified diver into a cave of all places. The time that these two people were hit with the realisation that they were lost inside a network of caves and running out of air is something you would never want to comprehend.....the most frightening time imaginable. Just so sad.

[Gambitt]

A very sad story.. Logan wants to start diving this year, but you're darn right he will be certified!!!

Fortunately, there is No chance of me ever dying while cave diving!   

 (Isn't that right, John?) 

[flopnfly]

I thank my lucky stars that I had such a great instructor.  He had me close to tears at times because he was so tough, but I learned so much about how to dive properly and what not to do to endanger myself or others.  I hated him for awhile but now I feel blessed that I had him to teach me.

I hear people all the time talking about how they can dive and they don't need to do the course.  They say the course is for people who can't figure it out on their own.    

We see cowboys in Curacao that go down to get narked for fun, it's cheaper than drugs.   

But to endanger your child??  I can't even imagine that or imagine what his mother was thinking letting him go.

Gambitt....could you see Lauren letting you take Logan into a cave right now?   Not going to happen.

[Pacific State 808]

You really can't beat a good instructor, and to be fair, the majority are very good.

You tend to find the crap instructors in the resorts on holiday where the time to get people qualified is very limited, and it's all about getting the bucks in and the students through the courses. Once 'qualified' they leave the resort and they won't be their problem anymore.

Back in 2000 I was diving in Thailand, met a guy at the airport who was completely unqualified as a diver, saw him again 2 weeks later on the return flight, and he was a dive master....lol....no BS. It took me 8 weeks to complete my DM course!

I've never understood the thrill of being narked, I have been really narked before where I couldn't remember half of the dive or would have mild hallucinations, (once followed what I thought was a cat around a wreck) which is ridiculous ....now I am a little bit more experienced and if I know I'm going on a deeper dive I make myself really conscious of the effects of narcosis and it helps me fight it's effects a little bit.

[JohnnyCastaway]

very sad story indeed,

I had a good instructor as well that drilled the "stupid stuff" into  you, for example while you were sitting in your circle in the pool waiting for others to do their exercises, he would sneak up behind you and flip your mask off, or turn off your air, pull the reg out of your mouth, all without warning.  it turned out to save me in Venezuela when I had my mask kicked off by a new diver at 40' .  Hated him at the time for it, but in the end thanked him.

been narc'd once, but I had the presence of mind to make a change in my depth (moving up a few feet) that seemed to clear it, fortunately it wasn't long.

Eric, I'm right there with you, unless I can see the other side of a swim through I'm not comfortable going through it, and I won't.  I'd sooner abort the dive.

I remember the cowboys in Curacao Heather, it was sheer disbelief when we heard their plans...  

[Gambitt]

I just remember hooking my tank valve on the coral, during a swim-thru in Cozumel... 
 Good thing Johnny was behind me to pull me lose!

That killed any possibility of ever going into a real cave!.

[flopnfly]

I also got hooked in a swim through in Cozumel but I just unhooked and kept going.  I love the swim trough's and little caves.

I think the key is to dive to your own comfort level, and adjust for things you're not comfortable with.  I will swim through and John will swim over/around and we meet up on the other side.