Shari Booth's death: Dive plan too dangerous for students?Phil H - Instructor Trainer / Self-employed scuba instructor
May 24, 2008 at 09:34:08
As a SCUBA Instructor Trainer, I cringed when I read this story. I am often amazed at the situations that students are put into. While this student was a certified diver, and was technically within the depth limits of SCUBA, I personally would never put a student in this situation. There are a lot of unanswered questions that I have. Was she supposed to be 130' deep? How many previous dives had she logged? (It is possible to go straight from an openwater class into an
advanced class, and it is possible that she may not have had more than 10 or 15 dives.) This would hardly make her experienced enough to be at the depth limits of SCUBA, in limited visibility and currents. Where was her dive buddy? I would assume that they lost each other in the limited vis. I also imagine that the water temperature was very cold, magnifying the potential problems of this situation. SCUBA should be a fun and safe sport, and as SCUBA instructors we should
never put our students in unnecessary danger or risk. Just because the parameters of the planned dive fall within legal limits, does not mean it is a good plan! | 
