Valet Diving Needs To DIE! The Most Dangerous Trend in Scuba Diving

Valet Diving Needs To DIE! The Most Dangerous Trend in Scuba Diving is diminished responsibility being disguised as luxury service. I'm mad for this one!

It's Mouthpiece Monday time again, people. This time, I'm taking aim at Valet Dive Services. 'All you have to do is dive' - NO! No. You have to be responsible and when your personal accountability is being stripped away in the name of customer service, that's where I have a problem!

Scuba Divers, there is nothing wrong with enjoying luxury customer service when you're relaxing on vacation! Of course not! But you have to draw the line when over zealous Dive Masters want to cross over into doing tasks for you that you really should be doing yourself.

Let me know in the comments below if you agree with me or not!

Thanks for watching!

D.S.D.O,

James

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Valet Diving Needs To DIE! The Most Dangerous Trend in Scuba Diving

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Over the years we have dived the best places like South Africa, Australia Great Barrier Reef, Belize, Honduras, Palau Micronesia, Bahamas, Mexico, Bonaire to see sharks, fish, coral, sites that the National Geographics would go to. We plan to follow Tourpia, Fearless & Fun, Drew Binsky and companies like Expedia, Jetsetter and Mojo Travelers to Egypt Red Sea, Indonesia, Thailand, Galapagos, Maldives, Cozumel and Cocos Islands Costa Rica in the near future.

[wendyhawkes]

"Subcontracting out your safety" - love it. Sums up my thoughts entirely. Been diving since 1990 and (after long hiatus...kids, you know) now finishing up my DM candidacy. Never trusted valet service on a dive boat no matter how lazy I felt on holiday! "Maybe valet diving is totally fine; maybe it's just me..." It's not just you, James. Spoil me with fresh towels, maybe a hot flannel post-dive and bring me some freshly cut pineapple. Cart my gear on and off the boat, sure. But I agree that it's frankly irresponsible for a dive operation to assume that level of culpability for their customers. Well said!

[kodiererg]

As a skydiver I noticed that after I learned to pack and owned my own gear, that my canopy didn't open the way I wanted it too all the time if I paid a packer.
So as a scuba diver I'll let someone carry my tanks, but I'll set up the gear

[rapha]

we wanted to shore dive at the hotel beach. The tank of my GF leaked heavily and a DM came and brought us a another nitrox tank. I wanted to analyse it myself. He didnt understand why, because all tanks are analysed when filled. He was really mad, that i insisted on doing it myself. After i analysed the tank i found out it had 43% instead of the 32% written on it. This was the first and the last time, i had anything to do with a DM doing stuff for us.

[adam]

100% agree. If you cant set your gear up, get back on a refresher course. Sure as shit no one else is setting my kit up.

[buxtonspice]

I've dived with shops in Bali where they insisted on doing a lot for me including changing the tanks during dives, carrying tank to boat, tank off boat, disassemble gear. These were $35/tank outfits. The only person who insisted I set up and disassemble my gear every time was the instructor who certified me.

[divingsanta]

Agree 100% - but I am also a bit sceptical on having the DM check that the air is on, depends on how they do it. Recently the DM turned the air almost off for my buddy on a black water dive when he was checking just before we jumped in. No big problem for us, but very annoying.

[JaccoJohansson]

I'm still a noob diver, just got done with my advanced course a few months ago and I totally agree with you. I always wanna set my own gear up to get more experience and have my own control over my gear, since I'm still a noob ofc I always have my dive master or dive buddy check me as well before the dive, which you should always do anyways. Setting the gear up myself gives me more confidence in my dive, I'd feel much more confident with gear I setup myself and tested before I go down

[randyfreston]

I believe that one can enjoy the convenience of Valet Diving and still retain ownership and not be complacent. The analogy I would use is work smarter, not harder. One can Manage tasks that are performed and also provide QA on them to ensure they are completed correctly. Some of the strongest safety measures and processes have more than one person involved.

Ownership of gear after initial setup includes;
1. I always analyze nitrox myself or look directly at the analyzer for reading as the staff does it. Honest mistakes can lead to wrong MOD's and increase the risk of Oxygen toxicity.
2. Inspecting BDC placement and configuration often making minor adjustments.
3. Always putting my regulator on and testing it myself. I always carry my Reg with me and it's never left with any Op or person even when valet.
4. Inspecting the configuration of all other gear as necessary.
5. Confirming the lead is in my pockets and that it is the correct amount.

Complacency.
Do I really need to keep fresh on moving my BDC and Lead from tank #1 to #2 between dives on a 2 tank trip? Or can I let the young, strong buck do it, and save my back the strain? As long as I'm performing the above safety checks and validating settings and configuration, am I not in some ways going the same routine but with less manual labor?

Have you ever inspected a student's dive gear configuration before a dive and found vulnerabilities that were then fixed before the dive started? How is Valet Diving any different than that for those that are serious divers?

Numerous successful safety protocols and processes often involved one person doing the initial configuration and the second performing QA on the settings to ensure that they are correct and safe. With the correct mindset, cant valet diving be convenient and safe?

[mendezfe]

That one time I jumped from the boat with a closed valve was the last time I relied on valet diving...

[stevenwallenda]

Absolutely! Already seeing people who always have it done for them and can’t do it themselves... or even grasp the ‘why’ of it all...

[stevegottenbass]

I'm a Tec diver. Valet diving is fine, just re-check what the guy has done, re-check the analyzer. What's the big deal? It's basically like a buddy checking your rig. Not sure what he's on about

[beschler]

I agree, James. I like to carry my own stuff and set up my own gear for both of the reasons that you mentioned. Can't be too familiar with your own rig. But, I think that some dive operations go to the valet model not for the benefit of the diver/customer, but because it's easier for the staff. Specifically, the divemaster is sure that everyone's rig is good to go, heading off problems before they hit the water and that they don't have to hold up the group waiting for someone to get set up. Also, I get the impression that dive operations are often operating on a tighter schedule than the diver on the boat realizes. To the credit of most dive operations, the staff will generally put out a laid back vibe but they really have some continuous concerns about getting back to the dock on time so that the operation runs smoothly. Some operations will lay off the valet routine if you express a preference, with others it is clearly a policy that they feel helps them run more efficiently. I am glad you aired this topic out.

[rickwarda]

Hate Valet diving for the same reason as you.
Owning, operating, cleaning and caring for my gear is part of the sport for me!

[FoRmt]

i dived once with vallet and thought it was weird that they set up my gear for me. I am going to check everything again and set up my gear the way i want. I am going to check the regulator myself thank you.

[GunSlinger]

US Army 10th SFG former combat diver. Where do I sign up for this? I dove using a rebreather and tons of gear. That Shat gets extremely heavy and cumbersome. As long as I am allowed to perform my own pre-checks and checks prior to getting to the dive location, hell I am all for it. I have never heard of this before, primarily dive in Mexico, I have heard of a program called "discover scuba" which allows a person that has no knowledge of what a SCUBA tank even looks like to SCUBA dive after some pre courses, then dive one on one with a dive master no more then 30 feet. I have no problem with this type of diving as long as the diver is permitted to precheck and is properly certified with a PADI type organization, think about disabled folks. I know many combat buddies who have to obtain assistance due to combat injuries, I think its not all bad.

[mayanbluxplorer]

This is a great topic. From my experience in the Caribbean, Iv'e met loads of "divers" who STRUGGLE with gear set up, but they still wanna dive. And you have the other crowd, that just expect to have this service. Rarely you see divers wanting to set up own gear. I agree with you 100%

[philliplust]

Can’t agree more. Your gear is your lifeline. Every diver is responsible for themselves and each other. Nobody touches my gear but myself and my dive buddy (my wife). My daughter dives and I make her set up her gear because it teaches responsibility. This kind of mentality is why Everest has become so deadly, you can’t subcontract you own skill and responsibility.

[andrewschoenfeld]

Wow can, t believe how many comments. Good to see everyone agrees to setup there own gear. I have jumped in twice with a valet dive center and my tank fell out of the straps. They did not get tank strap wet before setting up. I never will let anyone set my gear up. I just take my reg and other items to my room every day after diving. I have had to tell them not to touch my gear. Other wise maybe they will let me set there gear up. They are in way to much of a rush to set up a boat full people. EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW HOW TO SET THERE OWN GEAR UP.

[aerobrain]

Carrying gear, 100%, in fact that’s good for safety as over exerting can predispose you to DCS. But no chance is anyone else setting up my kit, checking my gas and DEFINITELY not doing pre-dive checks! That’s just insane!

[JohnTopham]

NO - I don't do much Tech diving anymore, but it makes me see red when some well meaning crew try & set up my gear or check my tank valve(s) in the name of 'service'. It means I go back to the beginning of my checks.
My kit, my responsibility., my life.