PADI OW diver - depth limits?

[driftin' by]

To answer the OP's question, Yes, you can request to be on a boat with other's that do not want to go below 60' if that is a concern. However, nothing will prevent you from going deeper. As many have said, I've never been asked to show my dive log or evidence of advance training in Cozumel. However, any reputable op and DM in Coz is going to passively check out your water skills on your first day of diving unless they know you from previous trips. You won't realize that the DM is keeping a close eye on you and that you're being 'tested'. A lot of information about your experience can be gathered the moment you step on the boat in the manner you conduct yourself. Subsequent dives will be arranged based on your first day's performance. IMHO, this is a good approach as we all know that a fancy, shiny new c-card and all that theoretical knowledge is useless without experience.

Contrary to an earlier post, I don't see anything wrong with getting your AOW in Coz as it pertains to dive structure. There are many spots suited for training dives. To think instructors would drop a bunch of students off in the channel with swift currents for their deep adventure dive is ludacris. However, you'll be involved doing 5 adventure training dives instead of simply enjoying the reefs at your leisure. You may find this not to be the best utilization of your time. IIRC, AOW is a prerequisite for Deep Speciality therefore, simply doing the 1 day, 2-dive deep speciality course won't work either.

I would suggest you not rush it. Request to go on shallower dives with other new divers. That's not to say you won't have the opportunity to go deeper if you're willing and possess sufficient skills. There are plenty of excellent sites and stuff to see shallower than 60 feet and many Coz Veterans will agree.

FWIW, On our trip in September, we were with a couple of new divers with less than 15 dives each. It was our first day but their third day of diving and we did Columbia Deep- a solid 100+ fsw dive. The next day we did Devils' Throat. With them not having anything other than an fairly new ow c-card, they both possessed exemplary in water skills with a high level of respect, knowledge and maturity that I was quite envious of.

 

[driftin' by]

I'd also like to add on the subject that Damselfish touched on is one's own comfort level about going deep. In Ohio where I didn't my AOW, we were only able to get 65 feet deep in our local quarry. As we all know, in Coz, that's a walk in the park. In Ohio at White Star Quarry, that was pretty significant bundled up in 7mm of neoprene with a hood and gloves in 51 degree water. To achieve this depth we had to find our way in 0 viz, to an underwater concrete structure referred to as "The Crusher" as all other parts of the quarry were only 30-40 ffw in depth. Later that year we did our first dive in Cozumel on San Francisco Wall to 97 fsw which would then be my new deepest dive to date but comparatively speaking it may as well been a 20 foot dive in one of our Ohio quarries.

Just wanted to share that but the point I trying to get to is that the most important thing to me with ever going deep for a particular condition, was that I was with a far more experienced diver that had experience at the planned depth with the same conditions that I could trust to keep an eye on me in case I got narked and did something stupid. If the planned depth was depth I wasn't 100% comfortable with, I'd simply let other's in the group know and request they watch me carefully.

 

[nilsdiver]

2. Air consumption is greater the deeper you dive. As you dive past 60 feet your air use climbs exponentially. Many divers do not realize how deep they are in clear water and fail to check their SPG often enough. I will leave the rest to your imagination. The solution is to be shown the difference between a shallow dive and a deep dive by a competent diver. Guess who? Yes! give that man a cigar, its your friendly dive professional.

Not quite correct. Air consumption is closer to a linear function of depth. Definitely NOT exponential.

 

[tedtim]

Well, if you dig into the standards and knowledge reviews it is interesting to see how PADI makes a couple of statements.

OW Course Knowledge Review Section four
9. Match the following by placing the correct letter in the blank.

a. Maximum depth limit for Open Water Divers.
c. Maximum depth limit for divers with training and experience
beyond the Open Water Diver level.
b. Maximum depth limit for divers with Deep Diver training.​

a. 18 metres/60 feet b. 40 metres/130 feet c. 30 metres/100 feet

OW Course Standards and overview.

PADI Open Water Divers are qualified to:​

• Dive with a buddy independent ​

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of supervision while applying the knowledge and skills they learn in this course, within the limits of their training and experience.​

• Obtain air fills, scuba equipment​

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and other services.​

• Plan, conduct and log open water ​

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no stop (no decompression) dives when properly equipped and when accompanied by a buddy in conditions with which they have training and/or experience.​

• Continue their dive training with​

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a specialty dive (Adventure Dive),
in the PADI Adventures in Diving program or in PADI Specialty courses.

(I have added emphasis)

What is not stated anywhere is that the only way to gain additional training and/or experience is to take the Adventures in Diving Program.

To the OP. I have seen folks take the AOW course while on vacation. They spent too much time reading and doing the knowledge reviews when they could have been relaxing. If you have the time to do the course at home before you go, then I suggest doing so. ​

 

[caseybird]

To the OP: I just returned from Coz and diving with Blue XTC. I had specifically requested shallow dives, since I prefer the longer dive times and better light. Only one of my dives went below 80'. Contact some ops, tell them your concerns and see what they say. You can even hire a personal DM for a few dives until your comfort level increases.
Have fun,
Steve

 

[richerso]

Everthing that I have read in this thread is good information. IMHO, I would never do any AOW work or Deep Diver cert work while on vacation. Work is contradictory to vacation. We are all vacationing in Coz to relax; not work.

My advice to FIReanG3L would be to take an AOW course in the States prior to leaving for vacation. Not that this is necessary as has been adequately discussed; but simply because it will make her feel better. There's nothing wrong with that. Also, take the AOW course with a deep dive in CONUS will undoubtedly involve much lower visibility than you will encounter on Coz. The result will be an improved feeling of confidence while in the better vis. waters. Just my humble opinion. Driftin' By makes some really good comments regarding low vis. quarry diving vs. blue water diving.

Also, you might find some operators on Coz willing to conduct shallow dives only; but in my experience. all the dive ops pretty much run the same routine (no offense here). The first dive of the day is a deep dive. They do this because, inevitably and expectedly, the dive boat contains a number of experienced divers who want to do that deep dive. If the operators didn't do the deep dive, they would quickly lose business.

But you might find a dive op willing to run an exclusive shallow dive operation. I simply don't know. I have never asked for a shallow dive excursion.

 

[driftin' by]

The first dive of the day is a deep dive.

It's all relative to how deep the second dive is, isn't it? Good diving practice dictates the first dive is the deepest whether it's to 60 fsw or 120 fsw.

 

[ggunn]

Everthing that I have read in this thread is good information. IMHO, I would never do any AOW work or Deep Diver cert work while on vacation. Work is contradictory to vacation. We are all vacationing in Coz to relax; not work.

It all depends on what one wants to do with his/her vacation time. A friend of mine went through his AOW course on Cozumel last year, and he really enjoyed it. He read the book(s) at night and dove during the day, and he and the instructor struck up a lasting friendship.

 

[mstevens]

I prefer the longer dive times and better light.

I certainly agree with longer dive times. On the light, I'm not so sure. I've done night dives at Paraiso around 60 feet where lights were not necessary since moonlight was perfectly adequate. You've got to go very, very deep in Cozumel before light starts being a problem. I suppose if you're a videographer without supplemental lights it might be an issue.

 

[anzac65]

.....Somebody has already listed a couple of the issues with deeper diving, those being narcosis and the rapidity with which one goes through one's gas. Not listed was the increased work of breathing at depth, which can result in CO2 retention and increased narcosis, anxiety, shortness of breath, and eventual panic. Experienced divers, who avoid strenuous exertion and who use quality regulators that are properly adjusted and well-maintained, avoid a lot of the problem. But new divers, using rental gear and unfamiliar with currents, are setups for retaining CO2, and the problem with it is that blunts thinking and raises anxiety, not good preparation for anything that might go wrong.........

Amongst the best few lines I've ever read on the board.