Photo Frenzy Diving

Underwater videos shot of you by a dive operation while on a trip can be a nice memento to bring home. However, high-pressure sales tactics or, even worse, planning the dive around shooting the video earns a big thumbs down.

Paul A. Behrens (Dallas, Texas), staying at Cooper Island Resort and diving with Underwater Safari last February, says two young hot-shots picked him up for the morning dive. One was with the dive operation, the other with a local video group. “Although there were only six of us on the dive, we were treated like cattle. ‘Dive now, go through here, come over here, surface now.’ We had no freedom. We were told not to go below 50 feet and to limit our bottom time to 40 minutes. Then I figured it out. The entire trip was geared to take and sell the video — the briefing, the follow-the-leader dive, and the shallow depth. They not only wanted me to buy the $50 video, they expected it. During the surface interval I was asked 14 times if I wanted to buy the video, and a 15th time as I disembarked from the boat: ‘Last chance to buy the video.’ The constant badgering detracted greatly from the dives.”