Diving deep or night diving with OW cert?

[ScubaFreak]

I agree with dorsetboy, the problem nowadays is normally with the dive centres or insurance agencies. If you had insurance with DAN, but had an accident on a deep dive, it's unlikely you will be covered as you are diving beyond your certified recommendations. And as mentioned, a lot of centres wont allow you on certain dives without the adequate cert.

OTOH there are DM's out there who shouldn't even be out of the pool yet...but that's a whoooooole other days work

 

[The Kraken]

D-O-H,
I wouldn't be concerned about not having a c-card for the night diving, etc.
As has been posted, it's a matter of ability and comfort.
There is a member of the board who has recently become a PADI "Master Scuba Diver" with whom I'd never make a dive, regardless of the number of c-cards the diver has.
It is prudent, I feel, that when you take your diving to the next level that you have a diver experienced at that level to help you out of any sticky situations, should they arise . . .

Safe dives, safer ascents . . .

 

[D_O_H]

Thanks for all the thoughtful replies.

I agree that 130' may have been a bit much for my first deep dive and I'm not in any real hurry to go back that deep, though I think I will allow myself to fudge past the 60' depth to 100' or so if the conditions are right.

 

[DandyDon]

If you had insurance with DAN, but had an accident on a deep dive, it's unlikely you will be covered as you are diving beyond your certified recommendations.

I don't think that's right? Their better-than-nothing cheapest plan does have a depth limit, but the other two do not, and I don't think there are any requirements for coverage. Indeed, I don't think one actually has to be certified to be covered. :11:

 

[Walter]

What was your deepest dive prior to the 130 ft dive? How much experience do you have exceeding 60 ft. Did you gain it by going gradually deeper than your previous deepest dive or did you make a sudden leap? BTW, the recommended depth limit for AOW is 100 ft, not 130.

 

[D_O_H]

What was your deepest dive prior to the 130 ft dive? How much experience do you have exceeding 60 ft. Did you gain it by going gradually deeper than your previous deepest dive or did you make a sudden leap? BTW, the recommended depth limit for AOW is 100 ft, not 130.

My deepest prior to the 130' dive was 80 feet. Up to about 100', I haven't noticed any real difference from 60' (other than increased air consumption and decreased no decompression time limits).

Incidentally, the 130' dive was very well planned and run. I received an excellent briefing on what to expect from the divemaster, there was a very clear plan about how deep we would go, how long we would stay there, where we would make our safety stops, what to do in the event of emergency etc. They also dropped a tank, reg and big weight down to the location of our last safety stop and some of the divers in our group hung on to the weight to make sure they didn't surface accidentally.

Blue hole seems like a pretty decent spot for one's first deep dive, since you just drop down, bob around for a few minutes in no current looking at the sharks and formations and ascend.

 

[simbrooks]

I would call 80-130 a substantial jump, but you wouldnt be the first person to do it.

In my first dozen or so dives beyond OW i went into caverns, went incrementally from 60-100 ft in 10ft jumps, dove at night, in zero viz, off boats, off the shore even though my training cert dives were all up to 36ft in a lake. My most enjoyable dives have been at night. I finally completed my AOW at around 50 dives mostly to be able to get on boats which would take me out to deeper sites - although that has only been the case on one or two ops. Even now i havent been deeper than 120ft after 100 dives, no great rush to go deeper at this time. You can gain experience from other more experienced divers and get most of what you need to stay fairly safe. The courses put it in a more structured form and try to point out the dangers or things you should be aware of before attempting such dives (and the cert cards show the dive ops you have "some" experience doing this type of dive), but even though people feel they are ok and safe there may be things they overlooked or didnt realise. In further overhead training i have seen how foolish some of those first few cavern dives were. A good instructor will hopefully be able to show you the types of problems, thought process needed to plan and conduct your dive (ie not just listening to the DM) so that you are better prepared as a diver, it just happens that those dives usually involve going deep, navigating around, possibly night diving and whatever else takes your fancy.

I would still go and get the training, i dont know if there are gaps in your knowledge, but its always a possibility for many of us newer divers and its never a bad thing to learn new skills/ideas from someone more experienced - the card just offers proof you have training of some sort that covers this kind of knowledge and did the dives as well.

 

[FreeFloat]

I don't think that's right? Their better-than-nothing cheapest plan does have a depth limit, but the other two do not, and I don't think there are any requirements for coverage. Indeed, I don't think one actually has to be certified to be covered. :11:

You don't have to be certified scuba diver to be covered - I asked DAN about insuring when I was still an avowed Freediver Only Not Scuba diver. They weer more than happy to cover me.

I should go read the details booklet carefully to make sure it doesn't rule out diving beyond one's cert level... then I can do that single-tank 218'-on-air dive I'm planning (KIDDING!)

 

[miketsp]

You don't have to be certified scuba diver to be covered - I asked DAN about insuring when I was still an avowed Freediver Only Not Scuba diver. They weer more than happy to cover me.

I should go read the details booklet carefully to make sure it doesn't rule out diving beyond one's cert level... then I can do that single-tank 218'-on-air dive I'm planning (KIDDING!)

I confirm what DandyDon and FreeFloat stated. This was discussed recently on another thread which made me go and check with DAN. We found nothing in the fine print even requiring you to be certified. They just had to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that it was not a suicide attempt.

As a result of this I am upgrading my own coverage to "unlimited depth" as before I used to think it was a waste of time paying for coverage which would not be valid below my qualified limit. Now I think it's worth it because that's exactly when I am most likely to have problems.

 

[jbd]

On my last scuba trip, my divemaster talked me into diving the blue hole in Belize to 130 feet and we also did a night dive. Both went very smoothly, though I did feel pretty narked on the blue hole dive.

This kind of thing happens alot. I wonder what in the world is the DM thinking of when he or she decides to take someone on a adive like this? Are they not concerned about liability? Does a DM have the "authority" or credentials to take divers beyond recommended limits? If its not really a big deal to dive to the recreational depth limit without prior training, why bother with any certifications beyond OW? Maybe the only certifications there should be are OW and instructor and leave it at that??

For D_O_H--- If something had gone wrong, and you were injured, disabled or died, would you file a lawsuit against this DM? If so, why? If not, why?