Just wanted to share experience diving with Aquamarine in Santo, Vanuatu at the SS President Coolidge. Dive centers here in Santo recommend diving at least 8 to 10 dives, to see the different sections of the troopship former liner that once carried 5400 soldiers during WW2.. The dives gradually deepens from 30 m to 70m. Anyways I was assigned to a dive guide by the name of Simon Toa. On my 3rd dive, I lost him during safety stop. No big deal coz it was at shallow waters. Regardless this is still unfamiliar waters to me and there was no other divers plus I dont have a dive computer so I relied on Simon. I walked back to shore, to meet with the rest of Aquamarines crew without Simon. The following day I jokingly mentioned that I will ditch Simon since I know my way back. Nothing changed in the following dives. Simon was always cruising approx 4 to 5m ahead of me. I made it known to Simon and his operational manager that he should slow down especially in the wreck which is more than 30m deep. I continued to have faith in him and hoping he be more attentive in our future dives. The next dive he did the same thing, in and out of wreck faster than a dolphin and I could not find him. I decided not to go ahead with the rest of dives. Scary to think if it now. 2 days ago, I casually brought up about how I did solo dives in Coolidge to another local dive master as a joke and this is what I was told. Mid last year due to the negligence of Simon, a diver by the name of Laila died under his care. I really thought it was a mean joke, coz the guide was laughing as he was telling story. Basically the guide who told me the story found the body of the deceased diver. Based on his conclusion. The deceased diver tried to escape thru a hole that was smaller than her. She could have panicked when she couldnt find Simon and struggled to find exit. Simon came to shore and told his crew he lost Laila. The fact that Simon did not get back into the waters to find the diver was shocking to me. According to the link below Option 5 sounds like something my guide is capable of. Option 5 Laila did not exit the wreck and she got separated from the guide when inside the wreck. She panicked and passed out. The dive guide was not able to find her or if he did, she was already unconscious or dead. Once passed out, her regulator fell out of her mouth and she then sucked in water and drowned. Due to her size, he was not able to assist her out of the wreck. The guide panicked and left the wreck without her. Aquamarine continue using Simon which goes to show the owner(Rehan Sayed) didnt care abt his customers and definitely having Simon around maximizes his business revenue. (Paying Simon minimum wages and charging usd 70 per dive) I was furious to learn abt this and shared the story with 2 other diver friends who also dove with Aquamarine and who I got acquainted with. And one of them went online found reports abt Rehan Sayed who runs the dive center. 1) Such as tainted air in tanks 2) Unqualified dive guides. 3) No oxygen kit available for emergency situations. 4)Diving beyond limits of what recreational diver are allowed which is 40m (I dove 63m with Simon and one tank filled up to 240. This dive is meant to be a tech dive with twin tanks and a redundancy) Aquamarine also advertised their gear was newly acquired in 2013. What I was given was broken pair of boots that are not my size. They didnt have my size. Ripped wetsuit(which Aquamarine claimed from the sea condition). They only carry 1.5 lbs weights, no other weight sizes. And they all bent out of shape. To me the weights didnt look like they just one size. Its like a block of chocolate melted and reshaped again. With one side heavier than the other. They definitely feel like they are different sizes when you hold them, but the owner convinced me is only one size. My first few dives my buoyancy was off because I cant figure out the weights and wearing a wetsuit which I normally dont in tropical waters. Im glad nothing happened to me. Only after my unpleasant experience, I found out that Aquamarine is not recognized by any diving organizations. Anyways heres a detailed report of the incident between (my guide) and laila the diver who died michaelmcfadyenscuba.info/viewpage.php?page_id=893
Posted on: Sat, 20 Dec 2014 21:04:26 +0000
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