When I was working in the Maldives the dive staff went on an exploration dive to discover new dive sites. Therefore, planning a 60 minute dive, the divers took 15L tanks and we all boarded the dive boat. Without the responsibility of guests on the boat, the staff were all having fun and looking forward to discovering a new dive site.
When we arrived at the proposed site, Pai (A Chinese instructor) was getting ready to jump in to check the current when he discovered he hadn't got his boots and his fins wouldn't stay on by themselves.
"Let's fine," he declared having arrived at a solution, "I will wear flip flop."
So he put his flip flops on inside his fins and jumped into the water, much to the amusement of everyone else.
After confirming the current, Pai asked another member of staff to throw his BCD from the boat into the water for him to put on, making the most of not having to be professional in front of guests and so that he didn't have to get in and out of the water again.
Someone threw it over the side but as soon as it hit the water, instead of floating on the surface, it started descending, rapidly!
"Awww #@%*!! My BCD! Help!"
It was immediately apparent that Pai's BCD would by now be on the bottom. Not knowing the depth, and it being too late to stop it on the way down, everyone looked around with he same bemused expression, not knowing what to do.
"Nobody? Nobody gonna save my BCD?!"
Pai was getting more and more distressed about his prized dive gear having been claimed by the ocean.
Areej was first to gear up and jump into the water and so he kindly volunteered to descend and see if he could reach it. With the law enforcing the maximum dive limit in the Maldives as 30m we all knew that if it had gone deeper there was nothing we could do.
However, a few minutes later and much to Pai's relief, his BCD popped up on the surface, and after checking it for damage he put it on and we all descended and did the dive as planned.
Afterwards Areej explained that he had found it at 29m and filled it with just enough air to send it to the surface, but was worried with nothing to control it's ascent it may have exploded before it got there due to the decreasing ambient pressure! Needless to say it was not a good day for Pai, who executed a 60 minute dive in flip flops, but he was extremely lucky that his BCD hadn't plummeted any deeper and surfaced intact.
This incident still makes me laugh out loud every time I remember it, however I am aware that it is most likely one of those 'you really had to be there' stories, but I hope that even if it doesn't make you smile, you will learn a valuable lesson from this... Don't throw a small BCD into the water if it is attached to a 15L tank, even if it is fully inflated.
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