In this episode of The Dive Locker Podcast we learn how to select charter dive boat operators.
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Welcome to The Dive Locker Podcast, the podcast for dive professionals where we bring you the latest in diving industry resources that make you excellent at teaching techniques, risk management and dive business.
Recently I had two dive professionals relate to me their challenges with dive boat operations that they went out with. In the one scenario the dive professional and his group went on a dive boat where no one spoke English. So because of that communication was nonexistent and the briefing was not discernible to the instructor or his group.
The instructor asked as best he could for guidance on safety measures, entries and exit procedures and dive expectations. He was met with raised voice, arms waving, a scowl on the face and a general bad attitude. In between the two dives the small dive boat went full throttle in rough seas causing the instructor, his group and other divers on the boat to fall and roll around on the deck. When people started yelling at the captain he turned around and laughed.
In the second scenario the a Divemaster went on a pleasure Dive for a shark encounter. Because she was with a dive group that had a few Divemasters in it, the captain chose not to give a briefing and literally said “you’re all pro’s, you know what to do.” The captain and crew member didn’t pay attention to the divers at all, and instead focused on preparing for the animals and the camera equipment. The group haphazardly entered the water with minimal control. And, early on, because one of the participants was not briefed about how to behave during a shark encounter, the diver got bit by a shark.
Luckily in both of these scenarios no one was severely injured. The people flailing around on the boat got bumps and bruises and the diver that got bit was very superficial and barely required first aid. But the point is both of those scenarios could have gone horribly wrong. And odds are without corrective action major incidents will take place on both of those vessels.
So today I want to go over how we as dive professionals select charter boat operators to use when conducting our open water training, taking divers on group travel, and when we want to pleasure dive ourselves. At the end of this episode you’ll have some new ways to go about vetting the right dive operators for you.
Items In This Episode
- Who to get review from
- What to look for in reviews
- What questions to ask dive boat operators
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