How deep can I go

[jbd]

Working2hd,
I Cozumel you will most likely being doing some drift diving. This can be very relaxing and fun becasue it takes so little effort and you can cover a lot of terrain which means you can see a lot of stuff. The real key is to have really good bouyancy control so you can set your depth and just let the current carry you along. This allows you to spend lots of time looking for creatures out in the open as well as hiding under coral and rock out croppings. The drift dives I've done there were mostly in the 65 to 80 foot range with most of us right at 70 feet. The ones that enjoyed the dives the most were the ones with good buoyancy control. The ones that enjoyed it the least, because they missed most everything, were those that were up and down in the water column becasue they lacked bouyancy control skills.

The DM that led our group encouraged us to stay close to 70 feet so we could have a longer dive than if we went to 80 or 90 feet. He also knew from so much experience that at 70 feet he could show us some real neat coral formations as well as some hiding places for some monster sized lobster and other creatures.

 

[TheRedHead]

Dont you need AOW before you can do Nitrox?

No.

 

[DandyDon]

How deep can I go

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Here's my question, I am going diving in Cayman in a month and a half. I have read that some of the dives can be maybe 70-90 feet MAX. I am OW only and am taking my nitrox course next week.

When I scheduled my trip with a reputable dive company I asked if I could go to that depth with the group (I am going alone on this trip so I'll be buddied with someone there I presume) and I was told yes.

The way it was explained to me was there are "tubes" that can start at that depth and you'll exit around 40 feet or so which is why I asked. He said I didn't have to go that deep but if I wanted to there wouldn't be a problem as long as I was OK.

Will I run into any problems when I get there because of my certification? I did tell them I was OW cert only.


I ask because of a previous post I just read regarding going past 60'

Ever been to the grate in Blue Hole, Santa Rosa NM? 90 ft dives in the Caymans should be a lot less challenging. Those BH dives to 84 ft are altitude & cold adjusted to 110-120, depending on whom you quote.

Remember your training, listen closely on briefings, remind the DM that you are new, dive safely with slow ascents. And you & your bud can dive 10 ft above the group but still be with the group. Your biggest challenge could be re-boarding the boat, but that's how you really learn anything - by doing.

The tubes is another matter. I'm sure there will be options to avoid those.

 

[bdshort]

I went to 95 feet today, but I was with a DM buddy who was keeping a VERY close eye on me. I also didn't go down to the 95 foot depth until I felt comfortable with everything. I'll be going diving with a buddy from my OW class on Saturday, and you can bet there is no way we'll go much deeper than 60, if that, and not to areas we're not familiar with.

Brian

 

[lamont]

I went to 95 feet today, but I was with a DM buddy who was keeping a VERY close eye on me. I also didn't go down to the 95 foot depth until I felt comfortable with everything. I'll be going diving with a buddy from my OW class on Saturday, and you can bet there is no way we'll go much deeper than 60, if that, and not to areas we're not familiar with.

Brian

For the 95 foot dives, make sure that you've got a rockbottom pressure and leave depth when you hit it. My initial rockbottoms when I started going to 100 fsw were between 1600-1800 psi in an Al80...

 

[grazie42]

Originally Posted by TheRedHead
When I had my Sudden High Intensity Training happen in Devil's Throat, I first went to my octopus, which at that time was in the conventional triangle, then I sorted my mask problem out and realized I was stuck on the top of the swimthrough. I had about a foot of clearance under me, but I was stuck. I try my inflator hose and can't vent, finally vented with my dump valve and then I couldn't move. It took the longest for me to realize my octopus was caught in the overhead. The DM and my buddy came looking for me, but by that time I had sorted it out, but I was pretty narced from the depth and stress. And it made me rethink the way I dive.

But Red, didn´t you argue on the board before that that the practise was perfectly fine and safe? Sorry...couldn´t let that one pass by

 

[TheRedHead]

But Red, didn´t you argue on the board before that that the practise was perfectly fine and safe? Sorry...couldn´t let that one pass by

True, Grazie, but I never thought it was a dive for beginners. I never felt like I was going to die, but it made me realize that some changes would have greatly improved the situation. I have new tools in my tool box and I would do the dive again, but differently.

 

[cerich]

If you bolt to the surface at deeper depths, there is a greater chance of getting bent. I don't care what PADI says about stops being optional, you make bubbles and they come out. It's harder to breathe at depth, and if you get stressed out and start hyperventilating you can get into a cycle of overbreathing your regulator and it's very hard to stop. You're not venting the CO2 from your lungs and you could pass out and drown.

lets say you are at 100 for 2 mins and bolt, hardly any chance of getting bent, then lets look at at 60 ft dive for 40 mins and you bolt, much more likely to get bent.

Depth is only part of the equation.

 

[Buoyant1]

That's a goal I've set! :light: I can't wait for that to happen! hahaha!!!

Just keep going till you can hear Pink Floyd

J/K

 

[brutus_scuba]

Just playing devil's advocate:

How is that more dangerous at 70-80 feet than 40-60?

I"m not an expert on dive physiology so don't take this as a lesson but more of an openign for discussion. Doesn't fast loading tissue start to builid nitrogen below 60 feet where as at a debth less than 60 feet the type of tissue that is loading won't off gas the nitrogen as fast upon accent which is why you see a NDL drop off at about 60 feet.

That being said I personally think that the 60 foot 100 foot and 130 limits are for diffent certification levels should be taken as a good suggestion but not as a firm line that you can't cross. I wouldn't dive below 70 feet as my first dive that deep with someone I had never dove with before but if you do a dive with somebody and learn you can trust them or feel comfortable and as long as you would feel comfortable going deeper I would let myself make that decision and not my OW book. Everyone that is on here telling you that you'll get narced an unable to make decisions and you should leave being narced up to them I guess forget that they at one time got narced for their first time and maybe they were all instructor trainers before they got narced. My deepest dive is 80 feet I'm AOW I've never been narced does that mean that I shouldn't go deeper b/c accourding to some of the other post I thought that AOW class was the magical time when you realized what it was like to get narced. I guess what I'm saying is you need to go with someone you trust that if you do freak out whne your mask comes off your face b/c your narced you know you're buddy is gonna be there you have to come up to lose the sensation of being narced. expierence it sometime. do what YOU are comfortable doing.