Rant: Overheard a young diver talking about 'just getting into saturation' like it was nothing

I was grabbing coffee near the dock last Tuesday and this kid, maybe 22, tells his buddy he's 'thinking about sat diving next month.' Like it's a weekend course. I remember my first sat dive back in '09 off Port Fourchon - I was so nervous I almost puked in the bell. The training, the money, the whole lifestyle shift. It's good the barrier's lower now but I wonder if they know what they're really signing up for. Any old-timers feel like the whole game got softer?

2 comments

2 Comments

evan_dixon6723d ago

Wait till he finds out sat pay ain't what it used to be for the new guys.

martinez.anna23d ago

Evan's right about the pay drop, but I think people blow this whole "soft" thing way out of proportion. I mean yeah, sat diving is serious, but it's not like the old guys were doing brain surgery down there. The training today is probably better than it was in '09 with all the simulators and whatnot. That kid might be overconfident, sure, but acting like it's some superhuman thing is just gatekeeping. I've seen young guys handle lockout just fine, same as the grizzled vets. Maybe the barrier got lower, but that also means they learned from our mistakes.