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rolandb03:35 UTC23 Dec 2009

I see that someone else has had an unnerving experience with Frenchie's on Caye Caulker in Belize recently, and I'll second the concern. We recently went to the Blue Hole with them, which is a 130-foot deep dive, right at the limits of AOW, as I understand it. A number of the other divers were clearly not experienced enough to be doing the dive--a lot of thrashing around, coming up underneath or over other divers, etc. On the boat I was surprised to find that at least half of them (and actually, everyone I spoke with) didn't have their AOW, and a few of them hadn't been diving in a long time. It was a nice expedition, but considering Belize's inflated diving prices, we shouldn't be diving in groups of 12 with beginners.

So here's my question: Is there any way what Frenchie's is doing--taking OW divers down to 130 meters--is legit? It seems like a violation of basic safety to me. I suppose it's possible that they charge OW divers more and call it a deep dive class, but I didn't see any education going on, and they brought us all down as a single group of 12.

stevenl03:47 UTC23 Dec 2009

For padi the limit of AOW courses is 30 meters/100 feet, for divers with deep diving training/experience the limit is 40 meters/130 feet.

3 things to look at when talking about legit or not:
1) presuming you are talking padi limits and divers: yes, legit. PADI sets limits during courses, and recommendations for fundivers after the course. 2) legal limits: no idea about the Belize laws in this regard.
3) recommended: certainly not. If any of the divers gets in trouble, the divemaster/operator would have a hard time explaining to dive organisation and law why they took divers without the proper training, proper experience and without any recent dives to this depth.

So I agree with you, this is a violation of basic safety.

misterfrogfish13:42 UTC02 Jan 2010

If you are not too narked you can hear everyones alarms going off. Too deep, accending too fast, deco. It is dangerous but it makes you chuckle.

I wonder how many loses they have there? Like the Blue Hole in Dahab, most are probably not recorded.

Deep dive allowed without AOW? Interest forums / Diving & Snorkelling
rolandb03:35 UTC23 Dec 2009	I see that someone else has had an unnerving experience with Frenchie's on Caye Caulker in Belize recently, and I'll second the concern. We recently went to the Blue Hole with them, which is a 130-foot deep dive, right at the limits of AOW, as I understand it. A number of the other divers were clearly not experienced enough to be doing the dive--a lot of thrashing around, coming up underneath or over other divers, etc. On the boat I was surprised to find that at least half of them (and actually, everyone I spoke with) didn't have their AOW, and a few of them hadn't been diving in a long time. It was a nice expedition, but considering Belize's inflated diving prices, we shouldn't be diving in groups of 12 with beginners. So here's my question: Is there any way what Frenchie's is doing--taking OW divers down to 130 meters--is legit? It seems like a violation of basic safety to me. I suppose it's possible that they charge OW divers more and call it a deep dive class, but I didn't see any education going on, and they brought us all down as a single group of 12.
stevenl03:47 UTC23 Dec 2009	For padi the limit of AOW courses is 30 meters/100 feet, for divers with deep diving training/experience the limit is 40 meters/130 feet. 3 things to look at when talking about legit or not: 1) presuming you are talking padi limits and divers: yes, legit. PADI sets limits during courses, and recommendations for fundivers after the course. 2) legal limits: no idea about the Belize laws in this regard. 3) recommended: certainly not. If any of the divers gets in trouble, the divemaster/operator would have a hard time explaining to dive organisation and law why they took divers without the proper training, proper experience and without any recent dives to this depth. So I agree with you, this is a violation of basic safety.	1
misterfrogfish13:42 UTC02 Jan 2010	If you are not too narked you can hear everyones alarms going off. Too deep, accending too fast, deco. It is dangerous but it makes you chuckle. I wonder how many loses they have there? Like the Blue Hole in Dahab, most are probably not recorded.	2

Deep dive allowed without AOW?