Posted by brianc on November 20, 2000 at 13:38:00:
In Reply to: Re: Not ready/qualified/trained/etc. to make a dive posted by AADIVER on November 20, 2000 at 13:07:51:
When can a DM or... do a pleasure dive.
I've spent 5 of the past 6 weekends in Monterey/ Carmel. A 3.5 hour drive from my house. On four of those weekends I worked with OW and AOW classes. The other weekend was a long awaited pleasure dive. On the first day, I planned shallow shore dives. I was asked to buddy with someone who had not dived for two years. I agreed - my dive plan fit with his experience. After swimming out to our drop site, my buddy remembered forgotten gear. We swam back to shore and then out again. This happened on both dives.
The next day, I went on a commercial boat. I planned to dive with a fellow DM to 90 ft on nitrox. Several divers got sea sick and decided not to dive, so the trip leader started shifting buddies. I was asked to dive with an AOW diver who was pretty confident and someone who had just finished OW cert. If I had the OW diver on our team, I would of had to limit my dive to no more than 60 ft, if that given the diver's experience. As it was, I already had to back off my dive plan and use air tables. I asked the group leader to see if the OW diver could go with another team. She did that and gave me another AOW diver. AS it was I felt like I spent a major portion of the dive trying to keep the two that I was with together. On the next dive, more divers dropped out due to sea sickness. I ended up with the OW diver. It was OK, since the dive was to less than 50 ft. There were no major problems, except that the dive was shortened by my buddy's air consumption - and I was not fully relaxed since I felt an obligation to watch him closely.
I do give significant time and money towards helping other divers. I would like to be able to have some dive time for myself though. I also really do not like lying about my cert level, although that is what most pro's recommend to me.