Scuba diving decompression sickness 11 year ago

Your wife will not like the Hotel Barracuda. I've stayed there many times in early diving days. Great location but beds are too hard, bathroom ventilation is lacking and no in room safe. Save it for a just guys trip.

Look instead at Casa Mexicana. Pepe owns it along with a few other businesses and all are super clean, softest beds I've ever slept in and pre covid had a spectacular made to order breakfast. Hopefully that survived. Great AC if you want it. Prices are per room and include that breakfast!! It has a great deck looking over the water and sunsets. Cons are no beach and small pool. We just hit a beach bar once in a while. But the location is perfect. Stayed there 10 times over 10 years.

Lately with a kiddo now diving we've been VRBO at El Cantil Condos...absolutely awesome. Better prices with more couples. Lsst time was a 4 bedroom unit for 3 couples. All marble granite, huge deck overlooking ocean, awesome pool. Very secure too. And also within a block from the older Chedruai (grocery store) and two blocks from newer Mega (like a super Walmart or target).

Have been diving with Tres Pelicano's for a few years and they are awesome. 3 nice fast boats. They will pick you up by vehicle outside your hotel and drive you directly to New marina (Caleta?). Usually one of the first 10 out 70 boats on the reef and back home by noon including ride from Calera to hotel. Their prices on Nitrox and AL100's are also great. With them yiu pay at the end so no bickering over rainouts. Owner is Steve from Alaska.

I'm not a fan of December, over a week its very likely to have one Norte (cold front sweeps down from Texas) gets into 50's at night, huge waves close the diving until its through and generally more rain. Just be ready to relax and veg if it rains its part of the trip.

I thought Cozumel Palace was built new (vs being another hotel). Its one of the nicest places to stay but very spendy. Its right next to El Cantil south tower if that helps any.

Give the Rock N Java a try for a treat or drink or even good fish tacos. Their Carrot cake has no equal :) They are always open and a great dinner or lunch backup plan. Taco Diaz has best steak and chicken tacos or quessadillas. Los Sera's for cheap authentic tacos. El Moro feels like a trip to Cuba in the 50's, La Perlita for great seafood when open (busy weekend is better). The wife will love Casa La Mission (not La Mission) and Guido's is overpriced but the ladies love the back room open air seating area. Get reservations to ensure that seating.

I hope you can make it down, Cozumel is about perfect with that current making it aquarium like!!!. Nice prices and short flights.

The Bull Shark dive is probably going in December over in Playa Del Carmen. I've never made it but hear its pretty incredible. Some do that dive and a Cenote (cavern) dive while over there.

Bonaire is bittersweet. My absolute favorite dive trip was there. We did 14 days and like 40+ dives. Second trip was post 2009 so many business closed and heavy reef bleaching. Was still awesome dive conditions though. That breeze down in the ABC's is so nice. Definitely going back with daughter. Thosr 90 minute EAN33 dives from the Hilux truck parked 20 steps from the ocean is ultimate diving freedim.

We are booked for Moorea/Tahiti and a rare 2nd trip winter trip in the works for Roatan, if that falls thru then Cozumel as our backup.
 
@Sinistar , thanks so much for the detailed reply. I'll report back what we end up doing. Coincidentally, a guy in my flying club, as I learned Monday, is a dive instructor who was in Bonaire last week. He had great things to say. I now know of two dive shops in Charlotte who coordinate group excursions several times a year. I had been thinking flights to Cozumel were compelling in early December as few want to travel between Thanksgiving and Xmas. Thanks for letting me know there might be a weather reason.

>>Cons are no beach and small pool.
My wife had that complaint about Cozumel Palace. Maybe they leveled it and started over. However, the GM street picks look very familiar.
 
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I tried to get my wife jazzed on a trip to Cozumel with the input here. Unfortunately, she likes diving, but is not into it like I am, and she wanted sandy beach days which are hard to come by at Cozumel. We ended up going on a Celebrity cruise from Port Everglades. We dived Cozumel and Grand Cayman. I wished we dived Belize as there's nothing to do in Belize City if you don't. Cozumel was immensely better than the Cayman's. When you dive from a cruise, they can only take you so far. Having dived the Cayman's not too long ago, our cruise dive site sucked. My dive computer tells me I got 22 more minutes down at Cozumel than Cayman b/c of when we arrived and they were worried about getting us back to the ship...another reason not to dive on a cruise. Nevertheless, we will go back to Cozumel and I'll use the advice rendered here.
 
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Mahneuvers said:
I tried to get my wife jazzed on a trip to Cozumel with the input here. Unfortunately, she likes diving, but is not into it like I am, and she wanted a sandy beach days which are hard to come by at Cozumel. We ended up going on a Celebrity cruise from Port Everglades. We dived Cozumel and Grand Cayman. I wished we dived Belize as there's nothing to do in Belize City if you don't. Cozumel was immensely better than the Cayman's. When you dive from a cruise, they can only take you so far. Having dived the Cayman's not too long ago, our cruise dive site sucked. My dive computer tells me I got 22 more minutes down at Cozumel than Cayman b/c of when we arrived and they were worried about getting us back to the ship...another reason not to dive on a cruise. Nevertheless, we will go back to Cozumel and I'll use the advice rendered here.
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I thought Cayman Island east side was better than Cozumel it was like diving into a aquarium. Did a shore dive off the west side not much there likely because of all the beach traffic. Cozumel drift dives were fun, but If I had my choice probably not go back to Cozumel.
 
Mahneuvers said:
Me. During my last diving vacation the dive master said he's never seen anything like it joking that I must have gills. The upside for me was, for the rest of the week, the dive master would have me enter the water first and allowed me to be the last one back in the boat. I'd get in 10-15 minutes more diving on each dive compared to the others on the boat. I was in much better shape then than I am now. That, and I guess just being comfortable in the water, causes me to sip air.
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Heck, I did my cert in Hawaii, all open water. Small class. So we did all the work, but needed some more bottom time. So we did a tourist dive with the same shop. The DM knew, but the other divers did not know I was still a student.

Away we went. About the 3rd stop to check air, several people were almost out. I checked my gauge, and looked at the DM, pointed to my gauge and shrugged my shoulders. We compared gauges. We were both over 2200 psi (steel 72s, a LONG time ago), and over half the client divers were under 300 pounds.
 
kell490 said:
I thought Cayman Island east side was better than Cozumel it was like diving into a aquarium. Did a shore dive off the west side not much there likely because of all the beach traffic. Cozumel drift dives were fun, but If I had my choice probably not go back to Cozumel.
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Depending on weather, dive shops will take you east or west, so I've dived both. I can't say I have a favorite. Cayman is pretty expensive. In my experience, 2.5X the cost of Cozumel. Given that, I'd rather go to Cozumel.
 
Mahneuvers said:
Depending on weather, dive shops will take you east or west, so I've dived both. I can't say I have a favorite. Cayman is pretty expensive. In my experience, 2.5X the cost of Cozumel. Given that, I'd rather go to Cozumel.
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Don't really like Mexico corrupt police and high crime won't be going back there.
 
kell490 said:
Don't really like Mexico corrupt police and high crime won't be going back there.
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In Cozumel? I'm sure it's happened, but I've never heard of tourists having a problem. The corrupt cabbies are a bigger problem than police or crime.
 
kell490 said:
18x "Other illness" diagnosed in your entire life catch all I think I read somewhere medical records are only kept for 7 years have no clue how the FAA thinks can get records going back 11 years.
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Under other illness / entire life, I suppose about >100,000 pilots should be revoked for for not reporting they had chicken pox when they were age 7.
 
Clip4 said:
Under other illness / entire life, I suppose about >100,000 pilots should be revoked for for not reporting they had chicken pox when they were age 7.
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Only if you went to the doctor, because if you didn't, you never got a diagnosis... My siblings and I all got chicken pox at the same time. My mom took one of my sisters to the doctor to make sure it was just the chicken pox, and the doctor told her that she should not bring in my siblings and I unless something was seriously wrong, because he didn't want to report an epidemic of chicken pox in our area just because we all got sick at the same time.
 
Mahneuvers said:
Depending on weather, dive shops will take you east or west, so I've dived both. I can't say I have a favorite. Cayman is pretty expensive. In my experience, 2.5X the cost of Cozumel. Given that, I'd rather go to Cozumel.
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if you go to Brac or LC the small island atmosphere is a lot more relaxing than Coz.
 
SkyChaser said:
Only if you went to the doctor, because if you didn't, you never got a diagnosis... My siblings and I all got chicken pox at the same time. My mom took one of my sisters to the doctor to make sure it was just the chicken pox, and the doctor told her that she should not bring in my siblings and I unless something was seriously wrong, because he didn't want to report an epidemic of chicken pox in our area just because we all got sick at the same time.
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You should read the form again.
 
SkyChaser said:
Only if you went to the doctor, because if you didn't, you never got a diagnosis... My siblings and I all got chicken pox at the same time. My mom took one of my sisters to the doctor to make sure it was just the chicken pox, and the doctor told her that she should not bring in my siblings and I unless something was seriously wrong, because he didn't want to report an epidemic of chicken pox in our area just because we all got sick at the same time.
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Exactly. If I can't be called as an expert witness in a trial to testify as to what is or isn't an illness, I can't be trusted to self-diagnose. Never diagnosed, never happened.
 
SkyChaser said:
Only if you went to the doctor, because if you didn't, you never got a diagnosis... My siblings and I all got chicken pox at the same time. My mom took one of my sisters to the doctor to make sure it was just the chicken pox, and the doctor told her that she should not bring in my siblings and I unless something was seriously wrong, because he didn't want to report an epidemic of chicken pox in our area just because we all got sick at the same time.
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Where does it say it has to be diagnosed? If your being honest about it you know you had an illness. What about every tooth ache that required a dentist going back to birth?
 
kell490 said:
Where does it say it has to be diagnosed? If your being honest about it you know you had an illness. What about every tooth ache that required a dentist going back to birth?
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Typical dentist visits need not be reported.
 
Clip4 said:
You should read the form again.
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Okay, I just did. It's been quite a few years since I read it, and you're right. There's a box titled "Illness, disability or surgery". However, I still don't think I am wrong in saying that it doesn't want a full history of every seasonal cold and benign childhood sickness anyone has ever had. If they went to the doctor for it, maybe. Maybe I am wrong, but I highly doubt it. What exactly is an "illness" anyway, in FAA terms?
 
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kell490 said:
It says routine that means cleaning, xray, checkup not fillings, crowns, and root canals.
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I have reported exactly 0 of my fillings and crowns. Heck a couple we didn't even use Novocaine or the like. Root canal I did because Schedule II prescription. But, I'm not gonna try and remember the past 35 years of dental visits, nor am I reporting any of them going forward.

I also don't see where it says fillings have to be reported. Those are pretty routine.

"Routine dental, eye and FAA periodic medical examinations and consultations with your employer-sponsored employee assistance program (EAP) may be excluded unless the consultations were for your substance abuse or unless the consultations resulted in referral for psychiatric evaluation or treatment"
 
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EdFred said:
I have reported exactly 0 of my fillings and crowns. Heck a couple we didn't even use Novocaine or the like. Root canal I did because Schedule II prescription. But, I'm not gonna try and remember the past 35 years of dental visits, nor am I reporting any of them going forward.

I also don't see where it says fillings have to be reported. Those are pretty routine.

"Routine dental, eye and FAA periodic medical examinations and consultations with your employer-sponsored employee assistance program (EAP) may be excluded unless the consultations were for your substance abuse or unless the consultations resulted in referral for psychiatric evaluation or treatment"
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Did you have wisdom teeth removed? Braces installed all that has to be reported. I would bet no one ever reports that.
 
kell490 said:
Did you have wisdom teeth removed? Braces installed all that has to be reported. I would bet no one ever reports that.
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Extraction isn't a filling, nor a crown. Yes, those were reported.
 
kell490 said:
It says routine that means cleaning, xray, checkup not fillings, crowns, and root canals.
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Where does it say that?

Personally I just ask the dentist if he considers it routine. He's way more qualified than me or a bureaucrat in OKC to know.

From the instructions all I see is: "You do not need to enter routine dental and eye examinations or periodic FAA medical examinations and visits to health professionals related to an Authorization for Special Issuance. "
 
jbarrass said:
Where does it say that?

Personally I just ask the dentist if he considers it routine. He's way more qualified than me or a bureaucrat in OKC to know.

From the instructions all I see is: "You do not need to enter routine dental and eye examinations or periodic FAA medical examinations and visits to health professionals related to an Authorization for Special Issuance. "
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Routine is what the applicant thinks it means like lot of those questions on that form. It's like the question regarding admission to a hospital some here say any visit to the ER is admission, others say that is when a doctor signs an order of admission for someone who came in through the ER. I know PC doctors can call a hospital and have a patient admitted if they have privileges there because I have seen it before. I tend to follow the latter of that definition. The dental question is what I have seen others here say that routine dental work is cleaning, xrays not root canals. How many have had their wisdom teeth removed when they were a teenager by an oral surgeon. I doubt any of that is ever reported. The idea that someone can go back over their lifespan and put down on a form detail from events that happened 40-50 years ago is completely ridiculous.
 
Half Fast said:
Well after all, removing wisdom teeth is pretty routine, isn't it?
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Is using a general anesthesia and digging out impacted wisdom teeth routine? Every teenager friend I knew got that done at an oral surgeon I guess since many have had it done it's routine.
 
kell490 said:
Is using a general anesthesia and digging out impacted wisdom teeth routine? Every teenager friend I knew got that done at an oral surgeon I guess since many have had it done it's routine.
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Exactly. It's about as routine as ear piercing, which probably doesn't get reported too often either....
 
Mahneuvers said:
Me. During my last diving vacation the dive master said he's never seen anything like it joking that I must have gills. The upside for me was, for the rest of the week, the dive master would have me enter the water first and allowed me to be the last one back in the boat. I'd get in 10-15 minutes more diving on each dive compared to the others on the boat. I was in much better shape then than I am now. That, and I guess just being comfortable in the water, causes me to sip air.

I'm glad your event wasn't more serious.
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I'm one of those who simply don't use much air; my body-builder friend was the "timer"; when he was low, we went up.
 
Anyone shore dive off of Curacao or Bonaire? I'm going on cruise in December. Shore dives at these locations appear to be the only option. I only have a couple shore dives under my belt and I remember them being pretty mediocre.
 
Mahneuvers said:
Anyone shore dive off of Curacao or Bonaire? I'm going on cruise in December. Shore dives at these locations appear to be the only option. I only have a couple shore dives under my belt and I remember them being pretty mediocre.
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Shore diving off Bonaire is outstanding, every bit as good as boat diving. On my trips there, we would do one boat dive in the morning, then shore dives in the afternoon and at night.
 
One of my favorite Bonaire shore dives is "Thousand Steps." You have to walk down a long stairway to the shore, and then back up again, in your gear. The joke is it's 67 steps down, 933 back up. https://www.divers-guide.com/en/thousand-steps

Karpata is also fantastic. https://www.divers-guide.com/en/karpata

When I was there (too) many years ago, there was a place in Rincon where you could buy ice cream. It was a private house, and the woman who made it sold it out of her kitchen door and you'd go sit at a picnic table in the yard. Best mango ice cream I've ever had in my life, anywhere. We'd drive there after diving Karpata.
 
Mahneuvers said:
Anyone shore dive off of Curacao or Bonaire? I'm going on cruise in December. Shore dives at these locations appear to be the only option. I only have a couple shore dives under my belt and I remember them being pretty mediocre.
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Never been to Curacao. For those I know that did I don't recollect hearing much about shore diving. Please let us know how it is!!

I think I am at about 70 dives in Bonaire over 2 trips and have our 3rd trip already booked for early March. Bonaire shore diving is one of the coolest ways to dive. The reef is very close. You can park the rental truck within 15ft-30ft of the waterline. Rarely any current. Rough surf is quite rare - think waves about 2-3ft high. There are basically (2) cons. #1 Leave absolutely nothing in the vehicle and leave it unlocked or it (stuff, not car) will magically disappear. Phones, sunglasses, cameras, any equipment - gone!. #2 Not all sites are wading in a white sandy beach - most have some ironshore and uneven spots as you get in. To combat that you really want dive boots with thick soles and that go up over your ankle so you don't roll your ankle. Not all sites are that way but many are.

The sites up north like 1000 steps, Karpata, Witches Hut are nice and quite. A lot of people do their first short dive at Oil Slick leap. You jump off the ironshore shelf about 5ft down into the water. And they have a nice ladder to come back up! My favorites were always down south. We are hoping there is no ship at the Salt Pier and that is a really great camera dive. I really, really like Invisibles but its a double reef. First trip there a girl joined me for a shore dive. After the first reef where it got deep and nothing in sight she kinda freaked. Back then my wannabe Navy diver uw compass navigation skills were spot on and ee found the second reef and it was just epic. Large bait ball of Jacks, a couple of big green moray eels, a frog fish. Another trust in the force swim back and now my favorite dive there! I would even rate that in top 10 of all dives anywhere.

I hope this time is better than the second trip. The second trip was right after the 2008/2009 financial collapsed. The mega lush Plaza Resort was run down. Several dive resorts not doing so great or shuttered. Many restaurants closed or just not the same. On the epic first trip it rained and lightening so hard one night while eating at the then top rated Casablanca - it transformed into a unforgettable evening. All the island power went out. Drinks were served to candle light only, they managed to cook everything managing a favorite meal of all time along with hours of everyone mingling - basically turned into a party!

Bonaire can be a great place. Windy, Windy, Windy. Hot. Cactus. Donkeys. Massive piles of pure white sea salt, Pink flamingo's. Fun little restaurants. Lots of neat small stuff underwater and with no current its easy to just get into it. if you have the time try a dive on the "Wildside" (the windward side) over by Lac Cay (sp??) where the windsurfers are going. On just one dive we saw at least 50 tarpon, 30 turtles and a couple of Dolphins while the zodiac was circling to pick us up. Just don't sit in the front of the boat on the way thru the break :)
 
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kell490 said:
18x "Other illness" diagnosed in your entire life catch all I think I read somewhere medical records are only kept for 7 years have no clue how the FAA thinks can get records going back 11 years.
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You read wrong. There's no strict limit on record retention though most standards hold it to ten years. Seven years is the consumer credit reporting time frame.
The FAA will ask for records on any event they determine significant even if it was 50 years ago. In most cases, you won't be able to provide it, but you'll have to make a statement to that effect and provide the best information you can.
 
flyingron said:
You read wrong. There's no strict limit on record retention though most standards hold it to ten years. Seven years is the consumer credit reporting time frame.
The FAA will ask for records on any event they determine significant even if it was 50 years ago. In most cases, you won't be able to provide it, but you'll have to make a statement to that effect and provide the best information you can.
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Doesn't matter anyway not going to bother with a medical. Getting my Sport Pilot after looking everything over what I want to do there is no need for a PPL. If they get MOSAIC done like they are proposing that just be a bonus but not required.
 
I'm not sure why the hostility. Yes, they are going to ask for information. No, it shouldn't be a big deal (other than the time delay). You aren't the first pilot to get bent. I have a friend who had to go for the chamber ride after a dive and I don't think it really made much of a bump in his certifications (and he had other issues: recovered bladder cancer, which his wife tells me contributed to him getting bent in the first place).
 
Sinistar said:
Never been to Curacao. For those I know that did I don't recollect hearing much about shore diving. Please let us know how it is!!

I think I am at about 70 dives in Bonaire over 2 trips and have our 3rd trip already booked for early March. Bonaire shore diving is one of the coolest ways to dive. The reef is very close. You can park the rental truck within 15ft-30ft of the waterline. Rarely any current. Rough surf is quite rare - think waves about 2-3ft high. There are basically (2) cons. #1 Leave absolutely nothing in the vehicle and leave it unlocked or it (stuff, not car) will magically disappear. Phones, sunglasses, cameras, any equipment - gone!. #2 Not all sites are wading in a white sandy beach - most have some ironshore and uneven spots as you get in. To combat that you really want dive boots with thick soles and that go up over your ankle so you don't roll your ankle. Not all sites are that way but many are.

The sites up north like 1000 steps, Karpata, Witches Hut are nice and quite. A lot of people do their first short dive at Oil Slick leap. You jump off the ironshore shelf about 5ft down into the water. And they have a nice ladder to come back up! My favorites were always down south. We are hoping there is no ship at the Salt Pier and that is a really great camera dive. I really, really like Invisibles but its a double reef. First trip there a girl joined me for a shore dive. After the first reef where it got deep and nothing in sight she kinda freaked. Back then my wannabe Navy diver uw compass navigation skills were spot on and ee found the second reef and it was just epic. Large bait ball of Jacks, a couple of big green moray eels, a frog fish. Another trust in the force swim back and now my favorite dive there! I would even rate that in top 10 of all dives anywhere.

I hope this time is better than the second trip. The second trip was right after the 2008/2009 financial collapsed. The mega lush Plaza Resort was run down. Several dive resorts not doing so great or shuttered. Many restaurants closed or just not the same. On the epic first trip it rained and lightening so hard one night while eating at the then top rated Casablanca - it transformed into a unforgettable evening. All the island power went out. Drinks were served to candle light only, they managed to cook everything managing a favorite meal of all time along with hours of everyone mingling - basically turned into a party!

Bonaire can be a great place. Windy, Windy, Windy. Hot. Cactus. Donkeys. Massive piles of pure white sea salt, Pink flamingo's. Fun little restaurants. Lots of neat small stuff underwater and with no current its easy to just get into it. if you have the time try a dive on the "Wildside" (the windward side) over by Lac Cay (sp??) where the windsurfers are going. On just one dive we saw at least 50 tarpon, 30 turtles and a couple of Dolphins while the zodiac was circling to pick us up. Just don't sit in the front of the boat on the way thru the break :)
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I love Bonaire. This is where we stayed on my trips:

Beautiful diving right off the end of the dock. We'd even sometimes see dive boats moored on "our" reef. I loved doing night dives there. It was great to come out after a long dive at night and be "home" already.

On one trip, there was a large tarpon living near that reef who had learned to feed by dive lights. We'd go out at night, and he'd hang beside my tank. If I held my dive light on some tasty-looking fish for a moment, he'd shoot out in a flash and nail it. Scared the crap out of me the first time it happened, but it became fun every night for us to go out and feed our pet tarpon.

There was a small octopus living on that reef, too, that we'd see at night. A bit shy but very curious, he'd duck into his little den when you came close but if you moved slowly and put your hand down near his hole, he'd reach out a tentacle and explore your fingers and wrap a tentacle around one. Very cool.

Ah, great times.
 
flyingron said:
I'm not sure why the hostility. Yes, they are going to ask for information. No, it shouldn't be a big deal (other than the time delay). You aren't the first pilot to get bent. I have a friend who had to go for the chamber ride after a dive and I don't think it really made much of a bump in his certifications (and he had other issues: recovered bladder cancer, which his wife tells me contributed to him getting bent in the first place).
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You consider not seeking a medical as hostility or are you referring to my previous posts from last year yes those were hostile, I agree with that. Now that SP is what I want relieved me of having to deal with it. Your friend had bladder cancer maybe caused the bend who knows. The doctors who treated me said people get bent all the time without reason they see it all the time. They also said once you get bent it's easier to get bent in the future they see many repeat customers mostly DM's, and instructors who are diving on a daily basis. He said multiday diving off a boat where you stay for a week, they do 2-3 dives a day pushing the limit of loading. The way he put it was not everyone is made the same and a % will get bent even if they follow the rules perfectly. I'm not claiming that in my personal experience, but I was one of those who pushed the limits.
 
I just booked the Bonaire dive. About one month out. I'm on the fence about Curacao.
 
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