Doomnova
Contributor
Get it one day you'll be doing 4-6 dives a day for a few days and there is no sense in spending a ton of money and banging your head against the NDL on the second day.
Pros and cons of Nitrox
- Thread starter Robertobowhunter
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
Bubbletrubble
Contributor
Get the nitrox cert at your earliest convenience. You'll definitely want to take advantage of using nitrox when you are diving Bonaire. Many dive ops on the island give a "free" upgrade to nitrox, so you might as well use it.
t-mac opined that your Galapagos trip will be a "once-in-a-lifetime" trip. Since you're already located in Ecuador, the trip to the Galapagos really isn't too far from home. I'd guess that, if you have a good time on this trip, you'll be back for more later. Considering your experience level, it might be best to discuss with your dive op the possibility of visiting easier/more sheltered sites. You can save the more challenging/exposed sites featuring strong currents for later dive trips when your skills are better and you have more experience.
Have a great time on your upcoming dive vacations!
t-mac opined that your Galapagos trip will be a "once-in-a-lifetime" trip. Since you're already located in Ecuador, the trip to the Galapagos really isn't too far from home. I'd guess that, if you have a good time on this trip, you'll be back for more later. Considering your experience level, it might be best to discuss with your dive op the possibility of visiting easier/more sheltered sites. You can save the more challenging/exposed sites featuring strong currents for later dive trips when your skills are better and you have more experience.
Have a great time on your upcoming dive vacations!
- Messages
- 1,075
- Reaction score
- 214
- Location
- Harker Heights, Texas, United States
- # of dives
- I'm a Fish!
More O2 equals more BT and less SI. These are the biggest reasons to use nitrox for the recreational diver.
Okay, so maybe not once-in-a lifetime for the Galapagos for you -- we should all be so lucky to be so close to such fantastic diving. Still, it will be an expensive trip (you don't own the dive op, do you?
) and you will want it for Bonaire too and the point is the same. Anyway, seems like the unanimous opinion is to do it! Have a great time!If cheap...do it, but the advantages aren't as great as they tell you.
No, or not much benefit on shallow dives. Can't be used on real deep dives. Less tired on the end of the day: If everyone is repeating it and believing it, than maybe...Placebo effect....
But specially if you dive more than 2 times per day, there are big benefits.
No, or not much benefit on shallow dives. Can't be used on real deep dives. Less tired on the end of the day: If everyone is repeating it and believing it, than maybe...Placebo effect....
But specially if you dive more than 2 times per day, there are big benefits.
Nitrox - ?
Nitrox has a place in recreational diving but not everyone needs it and not everyone will benefit from it.
Preface: I'm a Scuba Instructor with ratings from 4 agencies (and teach Nitrox,) a former dive shop owner, current commercial dive business owner, with more than 3000 dives. With all that said, others will disagree with what I'm about to say... so take what I say - and what they say - into consideration... and then make your own decision.
Nitrox can increase either bottom time or your safety factor, but not both at the same time. In other words, you can stay down longer using Nitrox then you can on air due to the increase in the partial pressure of oxygen in the mixture, however if you use this extra bottom time, the end result of nitrogen in your system is the same as it would have been on air in a slightly shorter dive.
The alternative is to dive Nitrox, but to dive the same profile as you would have using air. The same depth and the same time. Doing this builds in a greater safety factor by reducing the amount of Nitrogen in your body.
The limiting factor of Nitrox is the MOD or maximum operating depth. Nitrox is not for deeper diving. In fact, the higher percentage of Oxygen can become toxic at depth and kill you. For this reason I do not advise new divers to use Nitrox until they have mastered buoyancy. I further advise that they do not use Nitrox on wall dives or blue water dives where it is easy to lose track of depth. I have seen more than one diver drift deeper than their planned dive... in each case luckily they were just on air... which caused Nitrogen Narcosis. While this is bad, it's fix is easy - simply ascend, and with the help of others, they were safely escorted to shallower depth and the condition resolved itself. Had they been using Nitrox, they most likely would have convulsed and died from oxygen toxicity.
It is important to understand the risks vs the rewards. Too many of my scubaboard buddies simply throw out - YES, GET NITROX. The fact of the matter is I've been diving safely for 15 years... and while I'm Nitrox certified and certified to teach it - I have not dove it since 2003. I simply don't see significant benefit vs. cost and danger.
Most people I know who dive it do so for the safety factor moreso than the extended bottom time. They don't admit it... but it is obvious. When they dive Nitrox and I dive air - on the same wrecks, we all get in and out of the water at the same time. Yes, I often have to do a decompression stop because I'm on air - but I've come to enjoy these. Over the years some of the coolest things I've seen in the open ocean have come by while hanging on the line.
In any event, consider everything and then make your decision. You really won't be wrong either way... Just understand the proper way to dive and practice your skills.
Happy and Safe Diving.
Nitrox has a place in recreational diving but not everyone needs it and not everyone will benefit from it.
Preface: I'm a Scuba Instructor with ratings from 4 agencies (and teach Nitrox,) a former dive shop owner, current commercial dive business owner, with more than 3000 dives. With all that said, others will disagree with what I'm about to say... so take what I say - and what they say - into consideration... and then make your own decision.
Nitrox can increase either bottom time or your safety factor, but not both at the same time. In other words, you can stay down longer using Nitrox then you can on air due to the increase in the partial pressure of oxygen in the mixture, however if you use this extra bottom time, the end result of nitrogen in your system is the same as it would have been on air in a slightly shorter dive.
The alternative is to dive Nitrox, but to dive the same profile as you would have using air. The same depth and the same time. Doing this builds in a greater safety factor by reducing the amount of Nitrogen in your body.
The limiting factor of Nitrox is the MOD or maximum operating depth. Nitrox is not for deeper diving. In fact, the higher percentage of Oxygen can become toxic at depth and kill you. For this reason I do not advise new divers to use Nitrox until they have mastered buoyancy. I further advise that they do not use Nitrox on wall dives or blue water dives where it is easy to lose track of depth. I have seen more than one diver drift deeper than their planned dive... in each case luckily they were just on air... which caused Nitrogen Narcosis. While this is bad, it's fix is easy - simply ascend, and with the help of others, they were safely escorted to shallower depth and the condition resolved itself. Had they been using Nitrox, they most likely would have convulsed and died from oxygen toxicity.
It is important to understand the risks vs the rewards. Too many of my scubaboard buddies simply throw out - YES, GET NITROX. The fact of the matter is I've been diving safely for 15 years... and while I'm Nitrox certified and certified to teach it - I have not dove it since 2003. I simply don't see significant benefit vs. cost and danger.
Most people I know who dive it do so for the safety factor moreso than the extended bottom time. They don't admit it... but it is obvious. When they dive Nitrox and I dive air - on the same wrecks, we all get in and out of the water at the same time. Yes, I often have to do a decompression stop because I'm on air - but I've come to enjoy these. Over the years some of the coolest things I've seen in the open ocean have come by while hanging on the line.
In any event, consider everything and then make your decision. You really won't be wrong either way... Just understand the proper way to dive and practice your skills.
Happy and Safe Diving.
Roberto, are you and your wife diving with computers? Are they capable of adjusting for nitrox? Having the flexibility to dive with nitrox is a big benefit, but having a computer to fully realize the advantages should be your first concern. If you have them good. If not, that should be your first step.
Since you're new to diving, I would encourage you both to take a traditional course that will include a couple dives under the supervision of an instructor rather than going the online route. Asking a web app how to program your computer for 32% is pretty difficult, especially while on a dive boat or a desolate beach on Bonaire.
Since you're new to diving, I would encourage you both to take a traditional course that will include a couple dives under the supervision of an instructor rather than going the online route. Asking a web app how to program your computer for 32% is pretty difficult, especially while on a dive boat or a desolate beach on Bonaire.
Dive Bug Bit Me summarized it pretty well, but I'd like to add a couple of things.
Nitrox is not for deep diving -- the benefits of it are most relevant in the middle recreational range, between 60 and 100 feet. Below 100, you have to use such a light mix that your increased no-deco time is not substantial; above 60 feet, your no-deco time will often exceed the time you can manage on the gas you have.
Nitrox IS excellent for trips where you are doing multiple dives per day, over multiple days. Even those 50 and 60 foot dives can add up under those circumstances.
In addition, taking the Nitrox class will review your OW instruction about decompression, which is never a bad thing.
Nitrox is not for deep diving -- the benefits of it are most relevant in the middle recreational range, between 60 and 100 feet. Below 100, you have to use such a light mix that your increased no-deco time is not substantial; above 60 feet, your no-deco time will often exceed the time you can manage on the gas you have.
Nitrox IS excellent for trips where you are doing multiple dives per day, over multiple days. Even those 50 and 60 foot dives can add up under those circumstances.
In addition, taking the Nitrox class will review your OW instruction about decompression, which is never a bad thing.
Saxatilis
Contributor
- Messages
- 96
- Reaction score
- 28
- # of dives
- 200 - 499
Agreed on the no brainer comments. I also agree that if you find yourself most limited by NDL nitrox will be a big help. However, I don't feel that diving nitrox leaves you less tired than diving air. I know a lot of other divers who do feel that way though. Even so, I make a lot of dives to the 60-130 fsw range and it really does help your NDL particularly in the shallower ranges.
Watch your MOD and dive safe!
Watch your MOD and dive safe!
jhayes75
Contributor
Partially true, the end result at depth would be about the same, but you will off gas quicker because of the increased oxygen intake during your accent and safety stop. So you will have less Nitrogen in your blood once on the boat than you would with just 21%. This is why your computer or tables will show a lesser time frame for surface intervals.
Similar threads
