Diver Left Stranded

[Groovekitty]

"This has nothing to do with Dive buddies, This is all about the boat operation".

I definitely think that the boat captain is also somewhat responsible, but the initial breakdown of communication started before they ever jumped off the boat. Obviously these divers were unconcerned with diving safely, or with a safe boat operation.

The divers lack of judgement and poor decision making (both in choosing a boat and diving procedure) led to loosing a member of the dive team, which to me is completely unacceptable. Ask yourself - would you just swim away and "assume" your buddy is right behind you, or would you rather dive in a well thought out team who all adhere to the same practices and procedures and conduct the dive safely and with the utmost situational awareness?

This type of incident exemplifies the need for proper training and the use and adhearence to the skills and procedures learned in that training.

This incident and others like it are COMPLETELY AVOIDABLE and with the kind of DIR training available to all divers should not happen.