‘Out of control,’ diver says after others lost at sea for hours

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources said its Division of Conservation and Resource Enforcement has opened an investigation after five divers were rescued off Oahu’s East shore last week.

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[joepacheco]

"Should they fine the company"? Are you f-ing kidding? That should be a loss of license. PERIOD!!

[AllgoodthingsTv]

I'm sorry to be the one to say this; they should sue. Sometimes, lawsuits are necessary to hold people accountable, and this is one of those times. No sailboat going by, potentially 6 dead divers.

[johnsimion]

Incredible as it sounds, this isn't the first time this shop has done this. I was looking for the review mentioned in this video and at first I came up with this one on TripAdvisor from 18 years ago: "Warning - Dangerous Oahu Dive Operator - Aaron's Dive Shop." What are the odds that the same shop would abandon divers more than once?

[Lehmann]

I'm a diver. In a drift dive some one in the dive group always has a buoy running to the surface so the captain of the boat can follow the divers. Without this you have no idea where the divers are.

[michelledarr]

Unacceptable. Bring criminal charges against the owner and shut him down.

[Nobodybaby]

There are some real pieces of shit in this world with zero business being in the position they are in, dive instructor is a prime example

[donaldmulrooney]

I learn my lesson, went out once and the guy driving the boat agreed to leave one member alone out in the water, while we went to a nearby island for lunch. My friends and I freaked out, and told the person and boat driver, that was far to dangerous, and refused to let them do it.

[Somenite]

At least the boat was aware they were in the water. I did a night dive charter in FL as few decades ago on a boat that probably carried about 16 divers. My buddy and I were just finishing up our dive and we heard the boats engines go on so started making our way back. We then saw/heard it go right over top of us. We frantically descended out of fear of getting hit and then made a very unsafe accent and started waving our dive lights at it. The boat stopped and we boarded and as soon as I spit my regulator out I said, "why were you guys leaving without us" and the response was that they weren't leaving and that the boat had just drifted after they pulled anchor which we didn't believe. As we took our gear off, several other divers came up and told us that it wasn't drift and that the boat was leaving. Can't imagine how horrible it would have been drifting all night if we hadn't caught them before they left. Made me respect another operation we used that both head counted and handed out clip on tags with a number before any divers went in the water and then would wait until everyone boarded and then called out the numbers one by one and collect tags to be sure if they put 16 in the water, they had 16 coming out.

[DCSIDPA]

It has been about 40 years since my last dive. However, I seem to remember an open water dive required the use of a long line behind the boat on a float with a dive flag.
No excuse here for the dive master or boat operator.

[Islandgirl-ph]

Omg! This is horrifying!😮 I'm so happy every one is alright 😮. This reminds me of the movie OPEN WATER! 😮😢

[Golgibaby]

Ok, yo. No amount of money is worth the risk of cost of life. No potential schedule change, inconvenience, humbug da kine poor review on Yelp....is not worth the weight in conscience and lost faith in risking human life. Poor business practice, let alone negligence brah.

[Telephony]

Fined or charged? I think a beat down and serious loss of anatomy. what a dick. at least loss of business license.

[AeyoWolf]

A 70ft-80ft drift dive in that size swell is an advanced level dive, if not just a shitty dive all around. Not a refresher dive. We used to take refresher students in the pool first, get them reacquainted with their gear, sort out their buoyancy and get an idea of their skill level, only then would we take them on a 40-60ft max depth dive. 100ft visibility, no current. The right way. You’re setting people up for failure in these conditions. This was a reckless money grab from the beginning.

[moviemania]

My dad and I lived this almost exact story in Florida off Jupiter. I even called ahead because storms were projected and the dive shop said it was going to be fine. Needless to say the storm hit and 24 divers were lost for over 2 hours in a white cap storm while the dive boat was blown 2 miles off our position. I was the first diver found and the 2 high school kids that were deck hands and the "captain" were in a panic. Luckily I had extensive training and took charge and began the search and rescue mission. Needless to say it was a harrowing day.

[PickleThePig]

As a diver, if I’m not happy in any way with the dive, I won’t enter the water.

[jackdXB]

Why, on earth we're they not equipped with a homing beacon to locate them immediately, the tech IS available therefore the Company is clearly out of their depth when it comes to the safety of their clients!😳🤯

[jodypatrizio]

Not sure who's at fault here but as someone who used to work in the dive industry in Hawaii, I can personally attest that a lot of shops cut corners and push their luck when it comes to safety.

[madamemichel]

Honestly the days are long gone when you can trust people/ companies. There is way too much mental illness alone. Not saying anyone was mentally ill but somebody was slow with communication or not paying attention. Went to learn to kayak and the instructor had a freaking seizure. Im not trying to be insensitive but you knew you had seizures!! You dont put yourself AND OTHERS in a position like that when you aren’t fully healthy.

[jlvandat]

Not sure if there's a regulatory agency that keeps records of dive shop issues, but if there's not, folks could use something like Yelp or similar to check for recent online reviews before selecting a service provider. Diving is serious business, so the quality of service is important.

[onekewlbraddah]

Just think they've been operating after this event as well.