April 2012    Download the Entire Issue (PDF)

Vol. 27, No. 4   What's this?

What to Do with Smoking Divers

do they have a right to light up on a liveaboard?

from the April, 2012 issue of Undercurrent  

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Subscriber Walt Brenner (Jackson, GA) copied us on a letter he wrote to Frank Van der Linde, owner of Worldwide Dive and Sail, about his trip aboard the S/Y Philippine Siren last fall, and how the smoking almost ruined it. "Smoking all over the boat and at all times, by crew and a few guests, was intolerable. The captain, whose open helm is in the dining room, smoked like a furnace. Smokers were encountered in the dive gear area, and smoke could be sensed just about everywhere else on the boat above deck. We had several meetings on this issue with the trip hostess, but it seems that without a clear management policy, there was little she could do to improve the situation. I have been on more than 25 liveaboards, and I believe this was the only one that did not have one designated smoking spot for guests and crew. I had a 'smoker's hack' during the entire trip, even coughing into my mask while underwater. Not a pleasant memory."

Tales of nonstop smoking by dive crew in the Asia Pacific are common, as are complaints about European divers lighting up without care.Like Brenner said, the majority of dive boats has smoking rules and designated smoke spots, but are they enough? We asked Undercurrent readers what they thought about smoking. Surprising to us nonsmokers, the responses show that American divers are divided on the matter....