no safety stop after 53' dive

[scubadada]

Today was my 6th open water dive. Five divers following DM. MY friend goes thru air much faster than I do so DM took her back to the line so she could ascend. We stayed down a bit longer looking at turtles.

DM was leading thru a narrow passage, I was not comfortable with this, so I attempted to follow 10' above. Thought I was hovering just about them when I realized I had gently surfaced! I am concerned because I didn't do the safety stop at 15'. I was breathing the entire way up.

This was the last dive of the day. I stayed in the water for 5 minutes before climbing onto the boat platform. Should I be concerned about the lack of stopping for 3 minutes at 15'?

It's been 5 hours since & I feel fine.
Thank you for your help!

Safety stop for a NDL dive is elective, not required. Do better next time.

Good diving, Craig

 

[eelnoraa]

You are fine. You mention 53ft, I guess you read if off your computer. If that is true, it is you max depth. Your average depth is probably 30ft. You should be no where close to NDL limit. Like other said, safety stop is optional in recreation limit.

Not sure if this has been brougt up, but I am more concern about you letting your buddy ascent on the line alone. If you choose to dive with a buddy, you should stay together even she needs to cut the dive short. If you want to have a longer dive, you should buddy with someone else with more similar dive time with you.

 

[DandyDon]

You are fine. You mention 53ft, I guess you read if off your computer. If that is true, it is you max depth. Your average depth is probably 30ft. You should be no where close to NDL limit. Like other said, safety stop is optional in recreation limit.

Not sure if this has been brougt up, but I am more concern about you letting your buddy ascent on the line alone. If you choose to dive with a buddy, you should stay together even she needs to cut the dive short. If you want to have a longer dive, you should buddy with someone else with more similar dive time with you.

Wow!

 

[shellski]

Thank you to everyone who took the time to respond. I have learned many things from your advice, and have gone over the dive in my head many times. Next time I will pay more attention to many things... the feeling in my ears, the underwater topography, the "floaters" in the water, and my excited breathing at watching the group go through the narrow passage. One person said I may have inflated my bc instinctually... I don't think so, but perhaps I did! Many many things to improve upon & learn from.
To clarify, this was the last dive & I had already surfaced once with my buddy who was low on air. In between dives the DM discussed bringing her back to the line (where another instructor was underwater waiting) if she ran low again so I could continue. I didn't abandon her. Is this still considered bad form in a small group? Please advise.

 

[TSandM]

I don't have a problem with reordering teams underwater, to allow the people with better gas consumption to stay down longer. So long as no one does an ascent alone, and everyone has agreed on the basic dive plan, this is reasonable. I do have a big problem with going back to the line and just sitting there and watching your buddy ascend without you. Ascents (and descents) are times where things are changing and people can have problems, so they are the times when the assistance of a buddy may quite possibly be required.