which diver are you ?

> And would your answers change if that beautiful tropical island was
> right here in the Florida Keys?
>
> Would you complain if you had to prove your proficiency before being
> allowed to dive here?
>
> Is our beautiful tropical island not as good as theirs?
>
> Best fishes!>

And just where is that beautiful island????

Diver A.
Lets see, you want to charge me to see if I'm competent enough to dive on
your damaged and polluted reefs, and then you want to charge me an extra ten
bucks to dive on a wreck that YOU weren't competent enough to sink properly,
or have sunk. All that on top of the 55 or 60 dollars you charge to get on
your cattle boat, when I can get the same dive in West Palm for 40 dollars
without any questions.
What happened to all those millions you were going to make off the "Spiegel
Grove" ? Weren't they going to go to a proper sewer system and restoration
of the reef system.
gary


"captkeywest" <captkeywest@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1120478306.318493.34830@g49g2000cwa.googlegro ups.com...
> from a local dive column.........
>
> Divers must work hard to protect reef
>
> DIVERSIONS ( credit to Capt. Scott F.)
>
> Diver A walks into a dive shop on a beautiful tropical island and asks
> to sign up for the afternoon trip to the local reef.
>
> The young instructor behind the counter checks Diver A's certification
> card and notes that he's been certified for a number of years.
>
> In addition, the instructor notices that Diver A has taken several
> additional courses beyond open water.
>
> Releases are signed and everything goes well until Diver A is informed
> that he will be joining several other first-time visitors to the island
> on a checkout dive.
>
>
> Diver A politely informs the young instructor that he is already
> certified and does not need a checkout dive.
>
> The young instructor, also polite but firm, explains to Diver A that to
> protect the coral reef of the beautiful tropical island, all divers
> must first exhibit comfort in the water and proper buoyancy control
> before being allowed to dive.
>
> Diver A is not at all happy. He thinks that a certification card is
> proof enough that he can dive.
>
>
>
>
> He is not amused that this young instructor wants to see him perform a
> few skills - skills that he has been doing long before this young
> instructor ever started teaching.
>
> Diver B walks into the same shop on the same beautiful tropical island
> and also wants to sign up for a dive to the local reef.
>
> The young instructor checks his certification as well and notes that
> this diver also has quite a bit of experience and additional training.
>
>
>
>
> When informed about the policy of all dive operations on the beautiful
> tropical island on protecting the coral reef, Diver B simply nods and
> agrees to "jump through the hoops" to be allowed to dive on the famed
> reefs.
>
> Diver B looks forward to the chance to showcase his mask clearing
> skills and buoyancy control.
>
> Diver B also understands that by requiring a checkout dive before
> allowing divers to explore the reefs of the beautiful tropical island,
> the dive operators are ensuring that only careful, competent divers
> enter the water.
>
>
>
>
> Others are offered additional training and help to ensure that the
> coral reefs remain in a healthy pristine state.
>
> Diver B knows that by protecting the coral reefs, the beautiful
> tropical island is creating a product that divers the world over will
> seek to visit and explore.
>
> So which diver are you?
>
>
>
>
> Would you get angry and upset if an operator asked you to perform a few
> simple skills to showcase your proficiency?
>
> Or would you understand that the operator was simply trying to help
> preserve the delicate and precious coral reef environment?
>
> Would you be happy to "show off" a little and show the instructor the
> skills you have been working on over the years?
>
> And would your answers change if that beautiful tropical island was
> right here in the Florida Keys?
>
> Would you complain if you had to prove your proficiency before being
> allowed to dive here?
>
> Is our beautiful tropical island not as good as theirs?
>
> Best fishes!
>

"captkeywest" <captkeywest@yahoo.com> pounded away at his keyboard
resulting in:
:So which diver are you?

Somewhere in between. First of all, I buy dive packages in advance so
the dive shop already has my money. Secondly, I am confident I can
pass the test.

But if I didn't, and they didn't let me dive, I would demand a refund.
When they accepted my money they agreed to let me dive and re-negging
for any reason (except weather) is inexcuseable.

Also, if the test dive was a crap dive, it had better not count as one
of the ones I purchased.

Dan Bracuk
If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure.

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"captkeywest" <captkeywest@yahoo.com> pounded away at his keyboard
resulting in:
:Releases are signed and everything goes well until Diver A is informed
:that he will be joining several other first-time visitors to the island
:on a checkout dive.

So the terms of the sales change after money has changed hands? Then
that dive shop is a disreputable business. If they care so much about
the reef that they want to test the divers, they should say so before
the sale is made.

Dan Bracuk
If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure.

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"captkeywest" wrote

> Would you complain if you had to prove your proficiency before being
> allowed to dive here?

Who pays?

> Also, if the test dive was a crap dive, it had better not count as one
> of the ones I purchased.
>
Dan:

You would pass -- no problems. What I have seen in the keys are the divers
who damage the reef due to poor or no buoyancy control. The folks in the
keys are simply trying to save the reefs and are battling divers whose
skills have deteriorated or never really existed.


--
Jim Wyatt
IANTD Cave Instructor
www.cavediveflorida.com

"captkeywest" wrote

> Would you complain if you had to prove your proficiency before being
>> allowed to dive here?

Are we going to apply the same standard to dive operators? Do we get to
check out their knowledge of dive sites, there ability to handle the boat
properly, or their ability to avoid anchor, chain and line damage to the
reefs?

Fair's fair. You want to test my skills at the expense of my time and
money, I want to test your skills at the expense of your time and money.
After all, you wouldn't expect me to accept that, just because you carry a
Captain's license, you're actually competent to be a captain, right?

Lee

Reef Fish wrote:
> captkeywest wrote:
> > from a local dive column.........
> >
> > So which diver are you?
>
> Diver C. Never return to one of those Freeport, Bahamas dive shop
> again.
>
>
> > Would you get angry and upset if an operator asked you to perform a few
> > simple skills to showcase your proficiency?
>
> Hell yes! Especially when I could show a 1000-dive card, logged dives
> (on the Hyperaqualand) a few days before, and already rushed like crazy
>
> to find the shop, and to be told by some newbie DM that I had to suit
> up and jump into their pool to show that I can clear my mask!
>
> >
> > And would your answers change if that beautiful tropical island was
> > right here in the Florida Keys?
>
> Then I would just ROTFLMAO! Dove in the Lower, Middle, and Upper
> Keys once. Never went back again, and never will. No, they didn't
> have any check-out, but the DM Idiot at Pennycamp ask all 22 divers
> (on a boat of capacity 12) at Molasses Reef to POP TO THE SURFACE
> every 5 minutes so that HE could see where they were.

Correction. Every 15 minutes. For details see my 1997 post,

http://tinyurl.com/7tq3b
>
> The Cubans can have Florida.
>
> -- Bob.

"Dave C" wrote

> I readily accept the premise of diver-caused reef damage, but you need
> to come up with a better solution, like requiring divers to watch a
> well-done 10-minute video to raise awareness of the issues and skills
> needed to avoid damaging the reef. And maybe offer a free _voluntary_
> checkout dive. As a concerned operator, you'd certainly invest that
> much in protecting the reef, wouldn't you?

and maybe, just maybe, not taking a boat load of divers to the same reefs,
time after time, after time just to put money in the operators pocket by
keeping time and fuel costs low and allowing two and three trips per day.

No individual diver ever did as much damage to any reef as operators do
taking people to the same place, time after time.

Lee

Jim Wyatt <Jim@nospam-cavediveflorida.com> pounded away at his
keyboard resulting in:
:You would pass -- no problems. What I have seen in the keys are the divers
:who damage the reef due to poor or no buoyancy control. The folks in the
:keys are simply trying to save the reefs and are battling divers whose
:skills have deteriorated or never really existed.

They can always be upfront about the testing requirement and make the
information available before the payment is made. Announcing it
afterwards is disreputable, no matter how noble the reason.

Dan Bracuk
If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure.

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