Newbie question RE "How Deep do you Dive Poll"- How deep SHOULD I dive?

[FastDen]

Hi y'all-
After reading the "How Deep do you Dive" poll thread, I realize I have what may seem to be a dumb "newbie" question, but I figure I can get great answers and help here on Scuba Board! So here goes:

How deep SHOULD I dive?

I have about 45-50 dives in my log, all in Caribbean waters, most in Cozumel. I'd self-evaluate my skills as advanced beginner to intermediate (at least for those waters), most of my dives have been to an average max. depth of 60-85ft. or so, and my deepest dive so far was 110ft. this past February in Coz. And after reading the above poll thread I started to get the feeling, based on a lot of your own responses, that 110ft. was WAY TOO DEEP, but (and I hate to admit this) I'M NOT SURE WHY! :blush: What exactly is TOO DEEP?

The circumstances of the 110ft. dive: first dive of the day, Columbia reef, beautiful surface weather, but my first dive to any real depth in a year or so (the day before I had done a "refresher" shore dive with the DM in shallow water, 25-35ft., and checked out fine). But just to be safe, I asked her to "keep an eye on me" the first few dives of the week as I re-established my skills.

There were 6 other divers on the (fast) boat, most of whom were advanced level divers. I was traveling solo, so the DM paired me with another intermediate level diver, described our planned route, the reef and potential critters, the currents, and set the dive profile as max. to 80-85ft. with the bulk of the dive at 50-60ft. before a gradual rise ending with a safety stop at 20ft. Then she told me to stay close and follow her and she'd check out my skills at depth. So I did! I followed her to 110ft.! :wow:


I was a little surprised when I looked at my computer and saw our depth, but stayed with the DM. The currents were pretty strong and tricky, and we soon rose to 70ft. or so to find milder current. We finished the dive pretty much according to profile, although I had to surface before the rest of the group because I was sucking air like a jet engine ( mostly from the nervous excitement of being back in the water after so long). Later, during the surface interval, I mentioned to the DM that I was surprised that we went to 110ft., and she said that only the advanced divers were doing 110ft. and I was supposed to stay ABOVE them at 80-85ft., as planned. But, I said, sheep that I am, when she'd said to follow her...well... I did!

I know I'm rambling here, so I'll get to why I'm confused: I felt fine with the dive and the depth- and no, it wasn't narcosis! :loopy: No problems on the dive (except for the aforementioned air sucking), no problems with my skills (I was a little over-weighted but corrected that before the next dive), and even though the current was very strong and tricky (even the DM and the advanced folks found them a little challenging) I didn't have any real problem with it. Yet as I read the responses to the poll, I got the sense that I had actually done a risky and dangerous dive for my experience level. Did I? And if so, how do I determine beforehand if a dive falls within my "range"? In other words, how do you know when too deep is too deep? I have no real compulsion to dive deep just for the sake of diving deep, but someday I would like to try some wall dives that fall in the 100-130+ft. range. When and how do you know that you're ready to do so safely?

For those of you who are still with me, thanks for reading so far, and thanks in advance for your responses and advice! Let me know what you think!
FastDen :rainbow:

 

[WreckWriter]

It's a personal choice of course but you have very few dives so I would suggest a limit of around 100' or less. I assume you're diving single tank, no redundant air supply? Could you punch out successfully from 110'? Are you sure?

If you have no redundant air (spare air doesn't count) I think you should be very wary of going below 100'.


Tom

 

[jbd]

I agree with WreckWriter.

IMHO its something only you can answer. Was your life hanging by a thread so to speak? IMHO, probably not from a histrorical perspective. Was the overall level of risk greater than a similar dive to 30 feet. IMHO yes. Was that greater risk acceptable to you? Only you know that answer.

 

[MikeFerrara]

IMO, and I do not mean to be sarcastic, but If you feel the need to ask if you should do a dive you probably shouldn't do it. When we extend our limits gradually we are usually very comfortable and confidant in taking the next step. We have a good idea what we are getting into and we feel prepared and in control. Just to reinforce my point of view, you were suprised that you ended up at 110. The dive was not planned (on your part). This is what is known as a trust me dive. Your plan was to follow someone else with little or no input into the planning process. Plan your dive and dive your plan, is more than just a catchy saying. IMO, it is ok to rely on a DM for info and guidance (they know the area) but never rely on anyone else for your safety. You are responsible for you. Anytime one member of a team has more responsibility for the teams safety than another there is a potential for problems. Even on a guided dive, I would want to know the planned profile and a bunch of other stuff before getting in the water. The guid should be your backup and make things easier they shoul not be your primary plan for getting through the dive. I'm starting to repeat myself so I'll end with something I try to drum into my students. If you don't feel comfortable doing a dive alone (or leading it) you probably shouldn't be doing it.

 

[Ber Rabbit]

When you plan a dive to a certain depth stick with the depth no matter what the DM does. While on vacation one year we were following a DM on a guided group dive. The plan was for 100 feet on a wall that dropped to 3,000 feet. We were at 90 feet when the DM suddenly started a descent, I looked at my buddy questioningly and gave the narced sign and pointed to the DM. We followed to 100 feet but couldn't catch him due to his rate of descent. We stopped at our planned depth and watched him go down to (we learned later) 160 feet. He turned and began his ascent and finished guiding the dive. When we got on the boat I asked him what the heck he was doing. His answer "Just a quick bounce dive to 160 feet." I told him if he was going to violate any more dive plans I'd appreciate some advance notice.

You say you'd be interested in doing 100-130 foot wall dives, why so deep? At that depth the colors are all gone (except for blue) so you have to bring a light to shine on anything you want to see. The walls I've been on had more life at shallower depths anyway.

Glad to see you asking questions. You'll get a lot of good answers from the people here. Keep training and advancing your certification level it makes a difference.

Happy diving!
Ber

 

[ScubyDoo]

From a purely technical perspective (as per PADI), divers with a Basic Open Water certification should not dive past 60 feet. Divers with an Advanced Open Water certification are certified to 100 feet. Going past 100 feet was frowned upon in my AOW course unless there is a very specific goal, even though the recreational limit is 130 feet.

I already have my Advanced certification, but I do not have much experience yet at deep dives. In fact my deepest dive thus far was my AOW deep dive to 71ffw (a lake). Even though I carry an Advanced certification and certified to dive 100+ feet, I will probably keep my dives no deeper than 70-80 feet until I feel very comfortable at that depth. I plan to dive some wrecks off Panama City later this summer which are in the 85-90fsw range, but I will making those dives with my AOW instructor.

I cant see any reason to dive any deeper than what is necessary. On a wall dive, what will you see at 100fsw that you cant see at 50fsw? Most of the fish and ALL the color will be at the shallower depth, so going any deeper adds nothing to the dive but increased life safety concerns.

If your diving a wreck, the hull may be in 90fsw, while the deck and wheelhouse may be in 60fsw. If your not comfortable going to the sea bed, one can always cruise around the deck and wheelhouse at 60fsw, and still have a very enjoyable dive.

By the way......this is the exact reason why I went ahead and took my Advanced level course. I knew that I planned to dive wrecks in the gulf, and later in other parts of the world. I know most wrecks are in water deeper than 60fsw, and some dive operators require an AOW C-card before allowing divers to dive those sites. I personally believe that everyone who plans to dive deeper than 60 feet should go ahead and take the advanced course. There are reasons why the 60 feet limit was placed on Basic OW divers. The reasons are attributable to the rate of accidents (including fatalities), which occur with divers with basic OW certs who dive beyond thier training. Too many divers take thier safety for granted, and diving beyond certified depth is arguably the most often broken rule. Personally, I value my life enough to not play around with the tried and tested wisdom of those who wrote the rules.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Diversauras]

I pretty well agree with Mike F, if you are asking you probably shouldn't be doing the dive though I think it depends to whom you are asking and what in particular you are asking.

For those of you that think that deeper than 100' is a problem or a major event, don't do the graveyard of the Atlantic. There 100' is normal to shallow and 130' average. As to what you can see, in clear water there is still pleanty to see at 100 - 150'.

Is it for everyone? No it isn't, but it ain't black magic either.

If you are asking you are probably working your way deeper. Expanding your comfort zone is one description of what you are doing and only you can expand it. Certainly there are non issues on shallow dives that become huge issues on deep dives. Get trained, get comfortable, and learn the difference between comfortable and dumb.

My log has 500+ in the 120 - 140 range, but with some exceptions like "you use air more quickly" and "deco is a major factor" it is just everyday diving.

 

[Texas Tek-diver]

Hi ya FastDen,

I don't know what your certification level is, but when you're in doubt, get more training. You increase safety for you and your dive partner through knowledge and experience. Its good that you ask...situational awareness is very important to keep in mind when going beyond your limits. You're on the right track, just take your time getting there.

 

[large_diver]

No answers, just another opinion ;-)

I am a conservative diver and like the "gradual" approach. I like to work my way up to deeper dives, if at all possible. If I haven't been diving in a while, I'll start shallow and work my way up to deeper dives.

Diving Frequency: If I haven't been diving recently, I keep things shallower than 60 feet.

Experience & conditions: I think your depth decisions should be guided by your experience to date as well as the conditions on past and future dives. If you've been to 100 feet, what were the conditions like? Obviously a 100 foot dive in 100+ vis warm water is much different than a 100 foot dive in 10 foot vis cold water with lots of gear.

Buddy selection: If trying a new, deeper depth, who will you be diving with? Do you know and trust them? What experience and skills do they have? There are certain dives I will only try with someone I know.

Gear: Have you just started using new gear? How familiar are you with it? Using new gear for the first time on more challenging dives (deep, night, low vis, unfamiliar site) can lead to problems.

Just some issues to ponder......

-LD

 

[tonyjk]

I would like to add that once you eclipse that 100 foot mark, it is very important to consider your equipment. You want to make sure that your regulator is made for deep diving. Also make sure that it has been well maintained. Also make sure your BC is in good condition and has good lift (you may need it if you ever had to help someone else up, in the event they had a dump valve stick open). Also I would strongly recomend having a second tank with a set of regs and practice using it, in case you ever had to.
Deeper diving makes everthing much more critical, from your equipment to your ascent rate and safety stop. Also equally if not most important watch your air. Plan on starting your ascent with at least 1000 psi (on a 80 cubic foot tank) if you are at a depth of 100 feet. Add 100 psi for every ten feet deeper than 100 feet to the 1000 psi.