So how did I end up alone, in choppy seas struggling to catch my breath?
The three people in this photo, plus Jose the dive guide, the mastermind behind the dive plan. That’s how.
When Ivan proved to be a dangerous and disastrous dive partner/buddy, I became Jose’s buddy.
Only Jose was busy shooting video. He wasn’t paying attention to me OR the other seven divers in our group, IMHO.
Now, Jose has a ton of experience in the tricky Galapagos waters – he works there. I don’t. Which meant I sucked down the air in my tank a lot quicker than him. Buddies are supposed to surface together, but there was NO WAY Jose was coming up with me.
So, he pointed out Flo and Eduardo (remember he was her private guide) and indicated via hand signals that I should surface with them.
Jose and his GoPro
When it was time for me to go to the surface (I couldn’t stay down any longer because I was low on air) Eduardo and Flo didn’t come with me.
Panga (aka zodiac)
Buddy separation is how divers die. Perhaps I shouldn’t have gone along with Jose’s plan. That would have meant NOT diving. After I’d paid roughly $10,000 CDN for this bucket list trip, all in.
The dive operator didn’t indicate, when I made my reservation, that a safe and suitable buddy system wouldn’t be provided.
Remember, AT LEAST two women divers on this vessel have drowned since 2009. One was an unaccompanied diver like me. The other, a Chinese national, was travelling with a dive club and buddied up with a useless Ivan-like character, I’ve been told.
Oh, did I mention the operator was expecting a minimum $500USD tip at the end of the week for this crew?
To be continued…..
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