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The Blue Hole in the Red Sea is the deadliest dive site in the world

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Re: The Blue Hole in the Red Sea is the deadliest dive site in the world

#71

Post by dcolkitt »

agent008t wrote: post #16

Diving seems like one of the recreational activities where it is easy to end up doing something much riskier than you intended (another I'd say is alpine hiking): 1. Being able to easily sign up for a dive at an all-inclusive resort makes it seem more 'fine', you get a false sense of security that you will be taken care of. 2. Dive shops tend to be fairly relaxed with checking if someone is properly qualified to go o…

At least at my local NAUI dive shop, PADI is generally considered to play too fast and loose with the rules. Especially with new and untrained divers. The joke is PADI stands for “Put Another Dollar In”

Not that I’ll never go with a PADI dive, especially if it’s the only game in town where I’m visiting. But I generally bias towards NAUI, and would highly suggest anyone new go with a NAUI cert.

Re: The Blue Hole in the Red Sea is the deadliest dive site in the world

#72

Post by nradov »

ArtWomb wrote: post #53
agent008t wrote: post #16

Diving seems like one of the recreational activities where it is easy to end up doing something much riskier than you intended (another I'd say is alpine hiking): 1. Being able to easily sign up for a dive at an all-inclusive resort makes it seem more 'fine', you get a false sense of security that you will be taken care of. 2. Dive shops tend to be fairly relaxed with checking if someone is properly qualified to go o…

Am certain if you ask 100 beginner divers, 99 will have their own brush with death adventures! Mine came in the form of a six foot barracuda getting a bit too close for comfort. I am sure if I hadn't played it cool. Had somehow attacked or acted aggressively to shush it away (when I was a guest in it's deep sea domain). It would have enjoyed a nice lunch of fresh human flesh. The second was going below the hard deck…

Barracudas really aren't dangerous to divers. There are a few recorded cases of bites but I don't think anyone has been killed.

Re: The Blue Hole in the Red Sea is the deadliest dive site in the world

#73

Post by golemiprague »

ArtWomb wrote: post #53
agent008t wrote: post #16

Diving seems like one of the recreational activities where it is easy to end up doing something much riskier than you intended (another I'd say is alpine hiking): 1. Being able to easily sign up for a dive at an all-inclusive resort makes it seem more 'fine', you get a false sense of security that you will be taken care of. 2. Dive shops tend to be fairly relaxed with checking if someone is properly qualified to go o…

Am certain if you ask 100 beginner divers, 99 will have their own brush with death adventures! Mine came in the form of a six foot barracuda getting a bit too close for comfort. I am sure if I hadn't played it cool. Had somehow attacked or acted aggressively to shush it away (when I was a guest in it's deep sea domain). It would have enjoyed a nice lunch of fresh human flesh. The second was going below the hard deck…

You can see the coral reef in Eilat (Israel) without really diving since it is in shallow water, not sure if it is as good as in Egypt but at least there is a decent hospital near by if something goes wrong.

Re: The Blue Hole in the Red Sea is the deadliest dive site in the world

#74

Post by maratc »

meowfly wrote: post #49
nspattak wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not a diver myself but my best friend is (he is also an instructor as well as cave/shipwreck diver and he has also worked for a dive center with a lot of tourists). I remember him telling me that diving in shipwrecks(or caves) requires additional certification, so I assume that those who have only the first/second star were not allowed to join (especially in a trip by an all-inclusive resort). What you describe sound…

Both caves and shipwrecks are allowed with Open Water as long as you are within a certain distance from an opening and natural light.

Any place with Hard Ceiling (something between you and the surface except water) necessitates specialty training in most dive certification organizations.

The issue that many take with PADI is that their values are mostly aligned with making profits.

Re: The Blue Hole in the Red Sea is the deadliest dive site in the world

#75

Post by lobstrosity420 »

achow wrote: post #2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYuMN206Jzo Interview with Tarek Omar (the diver rescuer in the article) and location shot. Much better than reading the article.

Thanks for the link, but I much prefer the article to those American style documentaries, with the scary sound effects and endless repetition to build "suspense". Interview is at the 8:50 mark for those curious.

Re: The Blue Hole in the Red Sea is the deadliest dive site in the world

#76

Post by ubermonkey »

permo-w wrote: post #63
retSava wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I took the basic (open water?) license in Australia, and the group were sent into a pool to tread water for 20 minutes or something. Now, I can barely swim. Really poor buoyancy and bad technique I guess, so have never really learned. If the instructor had looked away from the TV for a second he would've seen and flunked me, which would probably have been a good thing. I'm stupid. Went through with it and out on a co…

top tip: most humans can float as long as their lungs are full

Being super lean and carrying mass in large muscles will ruin this, fwiw.

In my late 20s I was militantly fit and also very into rock climbing. I supplemented this with some lifting to balance things out; people who ONLY climb end up looking a little weird as the lats develop out of proportion with the rest of you.

Anyway, even with a lungful of air, my neutral buoyancy point was like 8-12" below the surface.

Alas, I am now 51.

Re: The Blue Hole in the Red Sea is the deadliest dive site in the world

#77

Post by diveanon »

edwardsdl wrote: post #6

Narcosis is nothing to trifle with. After a particularly bad experience at 150ft on air, I understand why some agencies advocate for a maximum equivalent narcotic depth* of 100ft. *For the non-divers out there, it’s possible substitute a less narcotic gas - typically helium but not always - for a portion of the narcotic gas in a mixture. Equivalent narcotic depth (END) is a way to equate a mixture’s narcotic effect t…

Once you start getting to technical depths you operate under the assumption that you are alone, even when diving with a buddy.

I know some french federation divers who will tape their hands to their hand power inflator to avoid confusion when experience narcosis at depth.

At first I thought it was a goofy idea, but after experiencing debilitating narcosis at 60m I had second thoughts about it.

Re: The Blue Hole in the Red Sea is the deadliest dive site in the world

#78

Post by meowfly »

2muchcoffeeman wrote: post #61
meowfly wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm an avid diver and I completely agree. My Open Water took place in a hot spring with extremely low visibility. The goal was the cert it wasn't skill mastery. My next dive was the Great Barrier reef where boats just drop you off and you can get a guide or dive yourself. We irresponsibly dove by ourselves, exhausted all our air, and came up (skipping a safety stop) realizing we were a considerable distance from the…

It's obviously our fault for not being safe but we definitely didn't have the necessary fear in us for our skill level. I think fear is what has kept me safe this long. I've got at least 100 dives under my belt but I was quite careful to slowly ramp up the difficulty, and even now, I'm very cautious of really strong currents. I must have done over 20 easy shore dives just getting navigation experience (and I'm still…

> I was quite careful to slowly ramp up the difficulty, and even now, I'm very cautious of really strong currents.

This is most definitely how it should go.

It seems like an inevitability you will eventually have something go wrong (maybe you lose your group, your mask is a problem, you burn through air too quickly, etc). In this scenario the most important skill is to not panic and control your breathing but I think that mostly comes with experience.

While you develop experience, diving conservatively hedges against some of the worst case scenarios. Something as simple as a mask coming off can lead to panic which leads to hyperventilating. Someone hyperventilating will feel like they just can't get enough air and the immediate reaction will be to exit as quickly as possible.

Guides, as OP points out, should be far more sensitive to the experience a person has.

Re: The Blue Hole in the Red Sea is the deadliest dive site in the world

#79

Post by nradov »

bluGill wrote: post #23
nspattak wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not a diver myself but my best friend is (he is also an instructor as well as cave/shipwreck diver and he has also worked for a dive center with a lot of tourists). I remember him telling me that diving in shipwrecks(or caves) requires additional certification, so I assume that those who have only the first/second star were not allowed to join (especially in a trip by an all-inclusive resort). What you describe sound…

> What you describe sounds like a terrible and irresponsible trip to me. That is typical of tours and resorts. These are not in the US where the law might investigate. Just some divers who will show anyone around. Many will teach you to dive, a two hour course is enough for a simple dive (ie.something you could snorkel to), then they take you on a first dive that needs far more training.

In the US there typically won't be a legal investigation unless someone suffers a serious injury or death. And even then it will typically be handled as just a civil issue (wrongful death lawsuit and insurance claim).

Re: The Blue Hole in the Red Sea is the deadliest dive site in the world

#80

Post by kubanczyk »

meowfly wrote: post #49
nspattak wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not a diver myself but my best friend is (he is also an instructor as well as cave/shipwreck diver and he has also worked for a dive center with a lot of tourists). I remember him telling me that diving in shipwrecks(or caves) requires additional certification, so I assume that those who have only the first/second star were not allowed to join (especially in a trip by an all-inclusive resort). What you describe sound…

Both caves and shipwrecks are allowed with Open Water as long as you are within a certain distance from an opening and natural light.

Absolutely not:

> You need to be PADI Advanced Open Water Diver who is at least 18 years old to enroll in the Cavern Diver course.

https://www.padi.com/courses/cavern-diver

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