This Isn’t California, Miss…
Diving from a charter boat in California isn’t like diving in the Caribbean. In the Golden State, dive boats are little more than a taxi service that shuttles experienced divers to and from dive sites. There are no dive guides, no pre-dive briefings and no hand holding.
As a California dive boat approaches a dive site, the passengers will rush to get into their equipment — tanks and all. This way, once the anchor is set and the crew throws open the departure gate, those who are ready can enter the water immediately. In so far as the crew sets a deadline by which everyone must be back on board, those who hit the water soonest get the longest bottom times. And, if game is involved, those into the water first come back with the best catch.
Among the greatest mistakes a diver can make is to assume that, because dive boats follow one set of procedures in a particular area, dive boats everywhere follow the same procedures. What we did in Hawai’i was to first anchor or moor, then conduct a detailed briefing on the site — followed by helping passengers into the water in an orderly manner.
I remember one instance in which I got us hooked in at Mempachi Caves, a dive site on the south coast of Lana’i. After making certain the anchor was securely set, I walked aft to conduct our normal pre-dive briefing. When I arrived on the back deck, there was one young lady, sweltering in a full-length, 5mm jumpsuit, trying to maintain her balance while standing with her BC, tank and weights on.
“Let me guess,” I said. “You’re from Southern California, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
“And you’ve only been diving in Southern California, until now — right?”
“How did you know?”
“It’s actually rather obvious. Now let me help you out of that tank before you keel over. As you are about to discover, we do things more than a bit differently around here…”
How many times have you heard someone say that, “If you learn to dive here, you can dive anywhere”…? It may be true that learning in colder, murkier water makes it easier for you to transition to new environments. It does not, however, teach you everything you need to know.
More than one mucho-macho California, Great Lakes or New Jersey diver has made a complete fool of himself by assuming he was instantly ready for the Caribbean or South Pacific because these were “easy” environments.
It may be a vacation. You still have to think, though.
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