As divers age, getting in and
out of gear and the boat gradually
becomes the more difficult part of
the sport. With aging, many people
become increasingly less fit.
Knees fail, hips get replaced, backs
ache. People aren't as stable or as
strong. Yet many aging divers want
to keep getting wet. They have
done their adrenaline dives and
seen their sharks, so many look for
quieter waters, often to spend
more time on photography. They
want help with their gear and
don't want to risk their backs toting
50 pounds up a ladder.
Smart dive operators address
the aging market. They're aware
that these empty nesters have
more disposable income, more
free time, and are repeat visitors.
So, to tap this market, the staff
picks up a diver's gear at his cottage
door the first day and returns
it clean, rinsed, and maybe even
packed on the last day. On diving
days, gear is on the boat, ready to
go. The crew does all the heavy lifting
so divers can avoid lurching
around the boat with tanks on
their backs. Divers sit on the transom,
wait for their gear to be
brought, and fall in. Afterward,
staff hauls up the gear while the
diver is still in the water, freeing
him to climb aboard without all of that back-bending weight.
Not many years ago, divers
who were helped were often considered
wusses. No more. Marc
Pothier, who operates Paradise
Divers on Little Cayman, says that
when these services are offered,
guests overwhelmingly take advantage
of them. Pothier says that
"occasionally we get customers
who prefer us not to touch their
gear at all, but they usually change
their tune after a few dive trips."
You still have to check
your gear
One concern for a diver, however,
is letting someone else hook
up your gear. While you wouldn't
expect a dive crew to install a regulator
upside down, they could easily
put a regulator or computer on
the wrong tank. So divers must
check everything including little
things such as ties on the regulator
mouthpiece or the inflator connection
on the BC hose. After all,
individual divers are ultimately
responsible for verifying their gear
is rigged properly.
Steve and Cheryl Lathrop
(Coopersburg, PA) told us how
they got rigged at Little Cayman
Beach Resort. "Getting your equipment on when the waves
were up was easy. They do it for
you. Valet diving. You and your
buddy carry your fins/mask, sit on
two platforms on the stern and
they carry your equipment to you.
Equipment, self, and buddy checking
must be done first and again
in the water, but it still is great to
be waited on. ... I unknowingly left
my VHF that I travel with on
board and was happy to receive it
in the mail."
At the Riding Rock Inn on
San Salvador in the Bahamas,
Hans Menco (Pittsford, NY)
noted, "As you are ready to enter
the water they put the tank and BC
on your back and help you out of
it when you return. Dive gear stays
on board overnight and gets
rinsed by dive guides."
JoAnn Doino-Ingersoll (NJ)
reports that Aldora Divers of
Cozumel takes care of all equipment
"from the first day to the last
-- you don't have to lug it off the
boat to soak it; they do it all for
you. Your equipment is set up on
the boat every morning."
Sometimes valet service goes
beyond diving assistance. John and
Nancy Nakamura (Littleton, CO)
reported that at Mike SevernsDiving of Maui, "they set up and
verify all your equipment for you.
... Once you're on the boat, they
greet you with Kona coffee, juice,
water, fresh fruit, and great pastries
from a local bakery."
Likewise at Matangi Island
Resort in Fiji. Besides the towels,
hot drinks, and cookies offered
between dives, Gerry Gherardi
(Bayonne, NJ) was impressed by
the helpfulness of the staff. "Out of
shape divers can find the reentry
procedures daunting," he points
out, "but help is available for those
asking. Merely raise your arms and
the muscular boat captains lift you
up and onto the platform."
Many live-aboards, notably the
Aggressor and Hughes fleets and
other top of the line craft, are
exceptionally skilled with their Diving of Maui, "they set up and
verify all your equipment for you.
... Once you're on the boat, they
greet you with Kona coffee, juice,
water, fresh fruit, and great pastries
from a local bakery."
Likewise at Matangi Island
Resort in Fiji. Besides the towels,
hot drinks, and cookies offered
between dives, Gerry Gherardi
(Bayonne, NJ) was impressed by
the helpfulness of the staff. "Out of
shape divers can find the reentry
procedures daunting," he points
out, "but help is available for those
asking. Merely raise your arms and
the muscular boat captains lift you
up and onto the platform."
Many live-aboards, notably the
Aggressor and Hughes fleets and
other top of the line craft, are
exceptionally skilled with their valet diving services. On the
Odyssey in Truk Lagoon, Russ
Snyder (Stockton-on-Tees, OH)
said, "They even put your fins on
your feet on the dive deck. It doesn't
get much more convenient
than that!" Diving off the Nai'a in
Fiji, Walt and Angie Redmond
(Austin, TX) found that when the
skiffs were ready, "you only had to
walk to the rear platform carrying
your mask, fins, and camera."
Once on board a skiff, a crew
member would help you into your
BC. At the end of the dive, "skiff
driver Bale would lift BCs and
tanks out of the water."
Just because a resort claims to
have valet diving, it still has to pull
it off and that didn't happen at
Cayman Brac Divi Tiara in July,
says Ken Metz (Cincinnati, OH).
"The resort had been overbooked so they were trying to handle twice
what they claimed was the normal
diving load. This resulted in boats
designed for 16, and normally carrying
less, being jammed with 20
and 21 divers. On the afternoon
dive the staff insisted on pre-loading
the gear for the next morning
dive resulting in even more crowding,
not to mention the abuse of
the equipment. The morning
boats had to leave a half hour earlier
than normal to allow additional
time to get divers on and off the
boat onsite, thus further inconveniencing
the guests. One couple
found no room on the morning
boats for them. When they asked
for tanks for shore diving, they
were informed that all the tanks
were on the boats. The dive staff
tended to be short tempered with
the crowding. They strongly
encourage valet diving that
involves complete handling of
your gear for you, but I observed a
lot of rough treatment including
one instance of actually tossing the
gear bags off the boat. At one
point they ridiculed us for asking
for a new tank O-ring because it
wasn't leaking enough."
Don't hang up your fins
too soon
In response to our September
article on aging divers, Al Tisch
writes: "Just when I think I'm getting
too old to dive, you come out
with the most pertinent issue for
me I've seen yet! I've been diving
for 20+ years with [various conditions
all medically controlled], but
continued diving has given me
pause, despite the inspiration of
the similarly aged Halsteads and
Taylors. I got my wife to dive with
me for the past 15 years thanks to
Max Benjamin and his 'valet diving
service' (as you so aptly put it)
at Walindi Plantation, PNG. Larry
Smith, of Indonesia, and Manik, of
the Manthiri (Maldives), are truly
the epitome of what valet divemasters
can be, to the benefit of all
who know them. The sport in general, and Undercurrent in particular,
has the following it does because
of people like Max."
So rather than give in to those
aches and pains that start creeping
into the second half century
of one's life, sign up with those operations that cater to you --
those with valet diving services.
You'll find plenty of places in our
2004 Chapbook. You can also
become an online member
(Undercurrent) and
research the last seven years of
issues and chapbooks. And, if you're still undecided, e-mail
before you make reservations,
explain what you need, and see if
they'll take care of you. Smart
operators will.
-- Ben Davison