Dive knives in Cozumel

[DRhodes]

We just got back on the 21st from a long weekend trip to Coz. At least 3 divers in our group, and they were from the dive shop we went with, had knives not shears. I asked about knives not being allowed. They said that they had never heard that. All 3 of them agreed though about the no glove rule.

Is it just up to the Dive Op your with?

Just curious if anyone else had anything on this.

Thanks

[mark44883]

they told me no guns too, thats a shame

[obrules15]

There is definitely a no knife rule island wide but a lot of dive ops and divemasters are reluctant to tell their clients because they do not want to lose the tips which they depend on for their livelihood.

[DRhodes]

Well, what was also kind of odd was that in all the dive shops we went in I only saw a few pairs of shears, but a whole rack of knives. Anyway I just found that kind of strange.

[fire diver]

Interesting. When I dove in Coz, they made very clear when we booked, that no dive knives are allowed. Maybe it just depends on the charter, and maybe the captain for that boat.

The glove/knife issue was a moot point when I dove though. It was right after the big one. There was very little coral life left at that point. I bet it looks a lot nicer now.

[ReefHound]

I always dive with my knife in Coz. It's a standard part of my kit and I'm diving my rig. I promise not to pry any coral. I suppose since many clueless divers kick the coral that next they will have a rule against using fins.

[obrules15]

Originally Posted by fire diver

Interesting. When I dove in Coz, they made very clear when we booked, that no dive knives are allowed. Maybe it just depends on the charter, and maybe the captain for that boat.

The glove/knife issue was a moot point when I dove though. It was right after the big one. There was very little coral life left at that point. I bet it looks a lot nicer now.

It does and the marine life has recovered better than I have seen it in seven years.

[obrules15]

Originally Posted by ReefHound

I always dive with my knife in Coz. It's a standard part of my kit and I'm diving my rig. I promise not to pry any coral. I suppose since many clueless divers kick the coral that next they will have a rule against using fins.

I used to think this way, I figured if you told divers don't touch anything and don't kill anything and don't hack into coral they wouldn't so what was the purpose of banning gloves and knives. That was until I dove with this young woman who begged to be allowed to wear her gloves because she needed them to not be cold. Myself and the divemaster specifically told her just DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING, and she agreed. When we went down despite the warnings and her promises she touched EVERYTHING. She touched coral, anemones, tried to touch fishes. I have never been so mad in my life. So since then I just think you have to treat everyone like idiots, if you don't have a knife you can't pry coral, if you don't have gloves you are less likely to touch things.

[Black-Gorrilla]

i would have dragged that dumb lady back to the surface and thrown her on the boat. or steal her mask from her or something.
in the keys we see alot of divers with the fins in the coral... i make sure i drag their fins out of the coral if i can get to them... and not in a nice way either... yank on them... then try to warn them, and talk to them on the boat. i wanna be able to enjoy diving those sites for the rest of my life.

[CaptainRon]

When I was in Cozumel in January, I left my knife at home. I still had the empty sheath attached to my BCD. When we finished the first dive, our DM saw it and thought I had lost my knife on the dive. When I told him I didn't bring it because I heard knives were prohibited, he said most people bring them anyway and he hasn't heard of anyone being harassed because of it as long as they are not pulling them out unless needed for an emergency situation.