Max depth for new divers

[Diver Dennis]

Possibly in the US. Under Dan Europe, the standard plan covers Compressed Air/Nitrox diving to a depth of 50 meters, and trimix/heliox diving to a depth of 130 meters.

Sorry, I didn't see you were from the UK.

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

I just keep going deeper and deeper until it gets really hard to breathe, or else the colors start coming back.

 

[CD_in_Chitown]

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?

................

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

Wow I can't believe I read the whole thing, just to say there is no such thing as overly cautious (well opting to wait on the boat maybe...) You're responsible for your own safety, and if the people you're with are doing things you don't feel comfortable with, maybe waiting on the boat isnt' all bad.

Understanding the logic behind the standards helps people make informed decisions ... which leads to ...


Quote:
Originally Posted by Nemrod
Your the person calling your shots, don't do things your not confident of, that is just common sense, good luck to you.


Common sense is better employed when it is augmented by knowledge. When people understand the reasoning behind what they were taught in their scuba training, they will invariably make better decisions.

So ideally you push your limits gradually and try and stay close to your own comfort level. Today I am certified to go deeper than I have ever been, but I got that way by pushing limits just a little at a time. In my history I have exceeded the "recommendations" when conditions warranted and called for it, but pushing your limits by 10-20 ft is exponentially more conservative than pushing 60-80 ft past them.

 

[Halthron]

Possibly in the US. Under Dan Europe, the standard plan covers Compressed Air/Nitrox diving to a depth of 50 meters, and trimix/heliox diving to a depth of 130 meters.

DAN Europe doesn't have a Standard plan (which is what was being referenced) and they base their limits on various depths (as noted) as well as different a series oxygen and nitrogen partial pressures.

 

[Diver Dennis]

Thanks Halthron.

 

[Diveral]

Diveral-

It's a 20 foot Wellcraft.

Well last night hubby and I went to practice in the pool at our LDS. This was the first time I have used SCUBA in a pool. Very interesting. No fish down there!

Anyway - we practiced some skills and buoyancy and got comfortable with the equipment. I am ready to go now!

Speaking of buoyancy, I went in the water with 11 pounds. Then took 4 off. Still could not do the neutral buoyancy thing. I finally just took the whole belt off and then got it. Wow. I know I will need more weight in salt water, but certainly not 14 pounds! I think I have been WAY overweighted in the past and that might be why I had trouble keeping my legs from dragging. When we get down to Roatan, we will do some practice shore dives to get that weight thing right.

Nice boat!

One of the things you can do to set your weight is to put all of your gear on except your weight belt or weights. Jump into the water. Make sure your BC is deflated. And start picking up and hold weights in your arms until you submerge. That is the amount of weight that it takes to offset your bouyancy. If you do this in a pool and are planning on going ocean diving you should add 2-3 lbs to compensate for the salt water. You will also need to account for the change in your tank. I believe, I am sure someone on this board knows, that an aluminum 80 will go from about 2 lbs negative (full) to about 4 lbs positive (empty) during a dive.

AL

 

[zinnia7]

Thought I would bring this subject back to the front! I started it after all.

I just wanted to report back after my trip. Roatan was great! Dives were awesome. Groupers and eels and dolphins - oh my!

Oh and that depth thing? Whatever. Why do I worry so much? I did the Aguila wreck and my max depth was 98. Still have not hit the 100 mark, but I am no longer worried about it.

I talked to a lot of people before doing the wreck dive. Some good - some bad. There were 2 guys on our boat who were just certified before this trip and they did a different wreck dive earlier in the week. Spent too much time below 100 ft and BOTH ran out of air on the ascent. That did not scare me away though. I know what I am doing and felt totally confident in my abilities to handle things.

Most of our dives were in the 80ft range.

End result - Fabulous trip and the diving was wonderful.

Thanks to all for your advice!

 

[aboalreem]

Through PADI, if you have your C card you can go up to 130 feet...It does not matter if you are Advanced or not. But some dive operations for saftey reason will not take you to a deep dive unless you are an advanced or have 20 logs.....
If you are not comfortable at a certin depth, just work on your tan on the boat...or get a buddy to get with you to a shallower depth...

 

[H2Andy]

Spent too much time below 100 ft and BOTH ran out of air on the ascent.

ack!

don't let this happen to you.

do you know your SAC rate so you can calculate how long you can stay
at 100 feet and still make it back up and give your buddy air should they
run out of air?

do you know the "rock bottom" figures so you can do roughly the same thing
without knowing your exact SAC?

 

[Markdone]

Spent too much time below 100 ft and BOTH ran out of air on the ascent.

Zinnia7 -
I really like your attitude, and your posts. It's an interesting thread.

Just curious what happened to the two that went out of air. Did they free ascend (CESA)? Did they have to share air with someone?

Thanks again for the great posts!