Max depth for new divers

[zinnia7]

Oh I do! I am the Queen of Safety Stops. I am usually the last one to surface now. I had a bad experience on my first dive post-certification. My hubby/buddy sucks air like nobody's business and got really low so our DM told us to ascend. Well I thought the situation was more dire than it was and totally threw all my training out the window. Blew through the safety stop and surfaced.

I KNOW I KNOW everything I did was wrong and I have learned from my mistake. That is probably why I am overly cautious now and do everything by the book. And then some.

 

[SmileMon]

I'm sure you know, but one of the basic things they teach is don't make a second accident...

 

[zinnia7]

Mark,

I totally agree with you and that was my point. When you get on these dive boats, you are not in control of your own destiny. It is very hard to say...OK today I will do 60 feet. Tomorrow 70. And so on....to become more comfortable and learn. You sign up for the dive and you are at their mercy on where to go.

I don't have the luxury of living near the sea and being able to dive whenever I want. We dive once a year and it's very hard to master these things.

 

[Vayu]

H2Andy said, the depths are "recommended". Just like safety stops are "recommended".

As new divers, it is easy for us to make believe that the people that instruct us or that run boats know what they are doing. Unfortunately, this is seldom the case. The first thing I would do here is recommend that you stay within the recommended depths of your agency. The second thing is to plan your gas for that depth. The third thing, as andy suggested, is to realize that all dives are decompression dives. You are gonna decompress whether you take that safety stop or not, the variable here is how easy you make it for yourself.

Maybe I just don't get it... I don't see what is so great about going deep. Looking for someone to ok a greater depth is arbitrary... with no SCUBA police around you have the luxury of going to whatever depth you please. Coming back up might be a problem, though.

One of the things I've always enjoyed about SCUBA is the power of breathing underwater. At this stage in my diving, i'm happy in 10' of water. 60' on a reef is sublime. Either way, there will be cool things to see and I will have fun. If you are not having fun, like me, at extended depth ranges then do not dive within those ranges. Call a charter boat and make reservations to dive sites that are within your comfort level. Plan the gas yourself. Dive your plan with your buddy and do not rely on the DM to tell you when to ascend. Call a dive when you are not comfortable. The water is not going anywhere. Good luck. If you ever take a vacation to Florida, let me know. You can shore dive all the shallow springs and enjoy great visibility without worrying about charter captains and peer pressure.

When you get on these dive boats, you are not in control of your own destiny.

You could not get on the boat... or not get in the water. The best advice I have had recently is to consider the boat captain as part of your team. This means pre-dive planning before you get on the boat and much before you ever take your trip. You control your dives. They are working for your money. With a little effort and a little discretion concerning your charter, you will have the benefit of having reasonable control over your destiny.

 

[Fun Diver]

On charters in my region, they will require AOW (or OW+experience, subjective call by the divemaster on board) to dives to 100', and they require the PADI Deep cert (or equivalent) to dives to 130'. PADI also requires the Deep cert (or equivalent) as a pre-requisite to it's new DSAT technical program.

Ok. I have a question.

In my PADI book it says that the maximum depth for people with an Open Water cert is 60'. Advanced Open Water is up to 100' and should not exceed 130'. Right?

 

[Diveral]

Man the state of training today. This is perhaps the one subject that makes my jaw hit the floor every time it comes up.

1) You should not dive beyond your capability and training.
2) There is nothing magical about 60 feet. It is more like one of those yellow highway signs with a recommended speed than an actual limit.
3) There is plenty of stuff to see at shallower depths and you can spend more time looking at it. I like shallow depths I get more bottom time there.
4) There is some fascinating stuff at deeper depths as well including a lot of wrecks
5) If you are going to be diving at deeper depths you need to be prepared, Your NDL is going to be shorter, air consumption greater, you will be less bouyant and chill faster, your ascent is going to take longer so you will need to start up sooner, it is darker and bluer, but it is still fascinating and can be done safely.

More than 20 years ago OW divers were diving below 100 ft and some of us were doing decompression dives. Tha's before most of these specialty classes were created and our OW classes were longer and more difficult. This stuff was taught in the OW class.

 

[dreams4divers]

Dont listen to anyone who has a "your one of those" mentality as they are the ones that tend to stretch themselves and end up having problems, they also tend to be the sort of people that have a disreguard for the fact that they are in an entirely differnet world with its own rules and idiosyncracys. You stick to doing what you feel comfortable with. And if a dive company or guide does not accept this ask for a full refund and go elsewhere to a company that cares for its divers needs. then post an article naming the company and guide on scuba board. I,ve worked in the industry along time and you often find guides that think more about what they want than what there divers need, these people should not be allowed Guide dives, I,ve had to take out many divers and rekindle there love of diving because guides have put them in situations they were not ready for and they,ve almost given up diving all together. Diving is about your enjoyment and interaction in the underwater world not about what your guide wants or other divers think.
Enjoy your diving,

 

[PaulChristenson]

On charters in my region, they will require AOW (or OW+experience, subjective call by the divemaster on board) to dives to 100', and they require the PADI Deep cert (or equivalent) to dives to 130'. PADI also requires the Deep cert (or equivalent) as a pre-requisite to it's new DSAT technical program.

Well for the DSAT Tec Diver Level One
Here's what you need to start...Deep Diver is just part of it...

PADI Advanced Open Water Diver (or qualifying certification from another organization)
PADI Enriched Air Diver (or qualifying certification from another organization)
PADI Deep Diver (or qualifying certification from another organization)
Have a minimum of 50 logged dives, of which at least 10 must be enriched air dives, 12 must be deeper than 18 metres/60 feet and at least six must be deeper than 30 metres/100 feet
Minimum age: 18 years old

 

[Nemrod]

"I just don't understand why these guidelines were established if nobody follows them. Or am I being overly cautious?"

Because I don't recall voting PadI in as the universal authority on all aspects of diving. Beyond PadI there is an entire universe. That said, don't sign up for boats that take divers to places you do not feel comfortable with and don't expect the other divers to nanny out if you decide too. If your on a boat to dive a wreck at 110 feet, like, what might you expect, ask in advance, I have never had a boat kidnapp me and force me to go out.

"More than 20 years ago OW divers were diving below 100 ft and some of us were doing decompression dives. Tha's before most of these specialty classes were created and our OW classes were longer and more difficult. This stuff was taught in the OW class."

This is true, my NAUI card for the mid 60s says "Scuba Diver", it don't mention open water or any of that, the courses were long and often challenging and covered everything that is now split up into boutique courses by PadI. Many divers, if not most, do not feel obligated to abide by some other persons standards which are really quite arbitrary and a product of our lawyer induced "airbag world."
Your the person calling your shots, don't do things your not confident of, that is just common sense, good luck to you. If I had agreed to partner with you I would have dived within your limits and made no complaint but I prefer to go it alone. N

 

[PaulChristenson]

"I just don't understand why these guidelines were established if nobody follows them. Or am I being overly cautious?"

Because I don't recall voting PadI in as the universal authority on all aspects of diving. Beyond PadI there is an entire universe. That said, don't sign up for boats that take divers to places you do not feel comfortable with and don't expect the other divers to nanny out if you decide too. If your on a boat to dive a wreck at 110 feet, like, what might you expect, ask in advance, I have never had a boat kidnapp me and force me to go out.

"More than 20 years ago OW divers were diving below 100 ft and some of us were doing decompression dives. Tha's before most of these specialty classes were created and our OW classes were longer and more difficult. This stuff was taught in the OW class."

This is true, my NAUI card for the mid 60s says "Scuba Diver", it don't mention open water or any of that, the courses were long and often challenging and covered everything that is now split up into boutique courses by PadI. Many divers, if not most, do not feel obligated to abide by some other persons standards which are really quite arbitrary and a product of our lawyer induced "airbag world."
Your the person calling your shots, don't do things your not confident of, that is just common sense, good luck to you. If I had agreed to partner with you I would have dived within your limits and made no complaint but I prefer to go it alone. N

Do a search for the CESA threads...I think that is where the limits came from...

From what depth can you reach the surface via a CESA???

That is the real limiting factor...