1 dead 6 Japanese divers missing off Bali

samsiam

So sounds from that the boats skippers lost them ?

balibule

Heavy rains can make topside visibility lousy which makes it hard for a skipper to see the divers after they surface. Add strong current and there you go. I've surfaced from a dive in torrential rains and you can't see a thing (< 5 meters). Very disorientating.

Markit

Actually the waters around here are really pretty treacherous. Was on Gili Meno and two Finnish guys decided to swim from Gili Air to Meno in the afternoon - only about a kilometre or two and everyone on Meno were "Oh, well happens all the time". One guy made it the other will apparently wash up sometime on East Lombok - happens so regularly they all know which beach to look for the bodies. Tourists be warned Bali aint a bathing holiday!

davita

I remember reading last year that about 14? European divers were found stranded near Nusa Penida. Seems like they drifted too far from the dive boat and surfaced to nothing and it was dusk. Lucky a fishboat was passing and saved them. It does sound dangerous...is this sport regulated at all?

balinews

Indonesian rescuers recovered the body believed to be of a Japanese diver and searched for six others missing on Feb. 15 off the resort island of Bali, police said. The group, including two instructors, left on Feb. 14 on a boat they hired for a dive around mangroves in Crystal Bay when strong winds and heavy rains hit the area, said Maj. Nyoman Suarsika, chief of Nusa Penida police. Rescuers on Feb. 15 found the body of a woman, Bali police spokesman Col. Hariadi said. He did not elaborate. A list provided by police shows the group included one man and six women. The search for the missing involved police, the National Search and Rescue Agency and fishermen, guided by the two Indonesian skippers from the divers' boat. Nusa Penida is about 20 kilometers (12 miles) east off Denpasar, Bali's capital. 1 dead, 6 Japanese divers missing in Indonesia - AJW by The Asahi Shimbun

Joe Writeson

davita wroteI remember reading last year that about 14? European divers were found stranded near Nusa Penida. Seems like they drifted too far from the dive boat and surfaced to nothing and it was dusk. Lucky a fishboat was passing and saved them. It does sound dangerous...is this sport regulated at all?

No, as a guideline ask your potential Dive Company where is the nearest decompression chamber ... if they know ... then it is a start

Nakal

Crystal bay itself is a really easy dive, done that many times myself. The problem is when go out of the bay, even just a little bit. The currents are insane over there, but this is known to all Bali divemasters. Even an idiot can understand there is a strong current in between islands when the ocean is just on the other side. So I would like to know who took them diving there while there are heavy rains and strong winds. He/she must be a total nutcase for doing that and taking the risks.

balibule

Nakal wroteSo I would like to know who took them diving there while there are heavy rains and strong winds. He/she must be a total nutcase for doing that and taking the risks.

I agree, to drop divers in the water while there are heavy rains is just plain stupid. It probably started raining while they were diving. Weather can change pretty fast. I had the same happen to me once. I started the dive with good weather and came up with torrential rains. I couldn't see the island or the boat. Pretty scary and at these times you're happy to have your whistle with you.

Markit

I have people come to dive regularly and have tended to just send them off to either Tulamben or some of the dive schools in Candi but now I'm beginning to wonder if there is some method of finding out who is bona-fide and who aint? There doesn't appear to be any system of checking here in Bali (surprise, surprise) so perhaps I can get some advise?

balibule

I find very often that the saying "you get what you pay for" applies very much to diving. Go dive with a cheap operator and they save on servicing equipment, will have no oxygen or first aid kit on their dive trips, will have a big diver to dive guide ratio, will not regularly change the filters on their compressors (deadly), have crap boats (a boat caught fire a couple of years ago), engines will stall, dive masters that are not certified or trained at all and the list goes on. A few of the good dive shops are Bali Scuba, Blue Ocean, Aquamarine, Crystal Divers, Bali Bubbles in Candidasa ... . Stay away from M&M divers on Nusa Penida if they are still in business that is.

davita

I've never dived, so please excuse my ignorance on the subject, but isn't it possible to use some locator device in case a diver is separated from the dive boat. I mean a whistle is probably useless as sound propogation is highly diffused in wind and rain. Maybe an opportunity here for some entrepreneur to make some money. Design an APP that transponds the GPS signal from a smartphone to any other phone, and an integrated waterproof cover w/antenna that withstands some depth pressure. Any other ideas?

Joe Writeson

balibule wroteI find very often that the saying "you get what you pay for" applies very much to diving. Go dive with a cheap operator and they save on servicing equipment, will have no oxygen or first aid kit on their dive trips, will have a big diver to dive guide ratio, will not regularly change the filters on their compressors (deadly), have crap boats (a boat caught fire a couple of years ago), engines will stall, dive masters that are not certified or trained at all and the list goes on. A few of the good dive shops are Bali Scuba, Blue Ocean, Aquamarine, Crystal Divers, Bali Bubbles in Candidasa ... . Stay away from M&M divers on Nusa Penida if they are still in business that is.

Exactly! You know where you stand when you ask to see PADI qualifications and the 'Dive Captain' produces his Indonesian Driving Licencse ... and believe me it DID happen ... and just to reiterate, the question regarding the nearest Hyperbaric Treatment Facilty is the clincher.

samsiam

3 dive boats sunk off Thailand in last month...60 people I think altogether in the water, amazing nobody drowned...one was in the middle of the night also. I know of a boat owner who went diving and his staff lost him due to currents....a friend came past him standing waste deep on a rock waving frantically for assistance hours later.

balibule

I've never dived, so please excuse my ignorance on the subject, but isn't it possible to use some locator device in case a diver is separated from the dive boat. I mean a whistle is probably useless as sound propogation is highly diffused in wind and rain. Maybe an opportunity here for some entrepreneur to make some money. Design an APP that transponds the GPS signal from a smartphone to any other phone, and an integrated waterproof cover w/antenna that withstands some depth pressure. Any other ideas?

That does exist already; Nautilus LifeLine Marine Rescue Radio with GPS. On the website they price them at USD 299 a piece. Only one of these could possibly have saved all of them. I know certain dive centers in Indonesia who provide these to every guest. However, they are costly and you won't find these in the budget dive shops so again; "you get what you pay for".

samsiam

^ it would have to be waterproof to whatever depth they are diving too right ?

davita

samsiam wrote^ it would have to be waterproof to whatever depth they are diving too right ?

Samsiam... that's a given but the smartphone needn't be so especially waterproof. Aren't there off-the-shelf waterproof pouches or boxes that could accommodate a smartphone to those depths? If not...there's another busines where someone could make some dough.

balibule

davita wroteThese are complicated DSC, VHF systems and anyway...I cannot see anyone receiving the signal in Bali...do diveboats even carry a VHF radio?

Some shops in Indonesia use the Nautilus system already so I can't see why it can't be used in Bali, if not already. Your question about whether dive boats carry a VHF radio comes back to "you get what you pay for". Several dive boats in Bali have VHF.

davita

That does exist already; Nautilus LifeLine Marine Rescue Radio with GPS. .

These are complicated DSC, VHF systems and anyway...I cannot see anyone receiving the signal in Bali...do diveboats even carry a VHF radio? If they do are they aware that Ch. 16 is the International Emergency Channel for DSC? I had Digital Selective Calling (DSC) VHF equipment on my boat in Vancouver, but DSC needs each VHF TX to be registered by the Maritime Rescue Agency to the user, and it can only be RX'd by other boats similarly equipped and registered. It TX's a 'May-Day" call to all in the area and pinpoints position by GPS. I wouldn't think there was a similar system in local waters in Bali...unless search and rescue and passing freighters/cruiseships or big private yachts were so equipped. As most people have smartphones with GPS I was thinking an APP, something like that DSC system but simpler and for the local area, on a cellphone wavelength to the diveboat Captain's smartphone might be an enterprise for someone to work on. link to DSC systems....http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/pdf/gmdss/taskForce/Lupo_DSC_AND_RESUE_21.pdf

davita

balibule wroteSome shops in Indonesia use the Nautilus system already so I can't see why it can't be used in Bali, if not already. Your question about whether dive boats carry a VHF radio comes back to "you get what you pay for". Several dive boats in Bali have VHF.

I wasn't suggesting it cannot be done in Bali but at the minimum would require 2 specialized units...one for the diver and one for the boat. A normal VHF would only provide a radio link...it needs the more expensive DSC linked VHF to provide auto GPS positioning when emergency is selected. The system is used all the time in N.America and has already saved many lives but...as you say...it comes down to what is anyone prepared to pay. My thinking is maybe a similar 'system' of communicating could be innovated using common smartphones, which are readily available, and therefore be inexpensive.

Joe Writeson

Thailand mid eighties, an Aussie opened a very successful dive shop at Patong Bay, Phuket. Within months he was surrounded by 'dive shops' offering 'discount' 'lowest rates' 'free speargun'. He had access to a pool where all 'baby divers' went through their paces learning safety and emergency procedures, standard in any professional operation, except some of his rivals proclaimed 'dive without delay' and of course some idiots leapt at the chance to be in 'Instant Cousteau's'. One 'shop' was even running diving trips from jetskis! The REAL dive shop ended up spending more and more time rescuing noobs in trouble than running his own business, but being a total professional he could never ignore an SOS. As far as I know he ended up pulling the plug on Phuket and moving to Koh Samui, but I am reasonably certain there would not be much difference there. Long time since I've done any diving and all of the operations that I knew on Bali have moved on, but the same attitude was prevailing, this looks like easy money ... and of course eejits making sure it was ... until there is an accident ... Bastards