Max depth for new divers

[zinnia7]

I don't exactly know what happened to the 2 who ran out of air. I wasn't there....I heard everything second hand.

When I saw them after that dive all they told me was "We screwed up, so we are sitting out the next dive."

I don't know at what point their air became critical, but I am assuming they blew the safety stop because one of the guys was worried about DCS. I guess they were OK though because they showed up for the afternoon dive and dove with us the rest of the week.

One of the guys is seriously overweight. I mean, he weighed 350 if he weighed a pound. I was always worried about him under normal dive conditions, and even more so after hearing about that. I read something somewhere about body fat absorbing more nitrogen or something like that. I don't know....it just didn't seem safe.

 

[CoyKoi]

Mark Vlahos is right. That's why deep and cave divers follow the very sensible rule of thirds: One third of your gas to get to the dive site, one third for the trip back to the boat and one third in reserve for emergencies. I don't follow the rule of thirds on shallow, easy dives, but I sure do on my deep or cavern dives.

 

[Diveral]

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.

Most of our dives were in the 80ft range.

End result - Fabulous trip and the diving was wonderful.

Thanks to all for your advice!

Fantastic, what a great trip, you had a wonderful time, expanded your comfort levels, and slew one of your phobias. It don't get much better than that. Gradually building up experience is the best way to do it.

"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's not the way to do it! Seems like they dove beyond their experience level.

I'm glad you had a great time!

AL

 

[orangelemon]

Not quite. First of all "legal" isn't an issue when it comes to a self regulated activity like ours. There are no laws that pertain to recreational divers.

Best,

Chris

This may be the case in the US but there are some countries that do have laws regarding recreational diving - I believe Egyptian law states 30m (100ft).

Additionally you probably are limited on your insurance to the level of your Certification and for Padi Open Water that is 18m (60ft)