Random Thoughts on Dive Travel Glitches: Undercurrent 01/2019

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Married Divers Matter, Too. "We had a divemaster who totally ignored the two of us and just focused on the female diver, who was the only other diver on both dives."

There was a day when this complaint was common, but not so much anymore at most popular dive centers and liveaboards. Still, there are testosterone- fueled divemasters out there, particularly in the Third World. Gail Morris (Piedmont, CA), whom we quoted above, was assigned that kind of guy at the Atmosphere Resort and Spa in the Philippines. "Since the visibility was about 10 feet, it was annoying and then dangerous when my husband was low on air. I wasn't low, but I had to keep swimming to the divemaster, who ignored my signals for 700 PSI, then 400 PSI, and then 200 PSI, when I finally had to grab his arm and make him take us up to the boat. There was boat traffic, so we were afraid to ascend without him." Thankfully these days, responsible dive operators don't tolerate dive guides who covet single women underwater.

A Divemaster You Don't Want to Stay Together With. If you're off the beaten path, it may be at a place where the divemasters play by rules you don't cotton to. C. Leroy Anderson (Salt Lake City), who has more than 1000 dives in his log book, traveled to the Indian Ocean in October to dive at Fifth Element Resort on the French island of Reunion, east of Madagascar. He says, "I was almost out of air at 60 feet, so I informed the guide, who said this was 'OK' and not to ascend. When I was down to 250 psi, he still wanted me to remain with him at 60 feet. I did not want to drown, so I initiated an ascent. When I got to 30 feet, I had 150 psi in my tank and was continuing a slow safe ascent when the guide suddenly and aggressively grabbed my jacket and pulled me back down to 60 feet with him. He signaled me to follow him. I could tell I only had a few breaths left in my tank. We arrived at the boat anchor, then did a very rapid ascent to the surface, where I arrive totally out of air. I asked him why on earth he behaved this way on the dive and he said, 'In France, divers must stay together.' Even if one has no air left."...

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