Pre-Newbie Has Questions

I'm not even a newbie yet, because I've just barely signed up for scuba lessons (with my two sons). Here are our plans: complete scuba certification here in Utah on November 13 and then go to Manzanillo, Mexico, over the Thanksgiving holidays (we're going there because my daughter lives in Guadalajara). We've made arrangements to spend a day and a half diving.

Any suggestions? Because Manzanillo will be our first dive after certification, do we need to tell the guides that we can dive only to a depth of X feet, and what would X be?

Here's a dumb question, but the answer to which might give me some confidence and piece-of-mind. If I'm diving down, say, at 30 feet below the surface, and something goes wrong with my regulator or I have some other oxygen problem, can I just quickly swim to the surface without adverse side effects? I'm sure this will be answered during my scuba class (which starts in one week), but I'd sorta like to get an idea before I take the big plunge.

Any thoughts, ideas, encouragement would be appreciated. BTW, I'm a 58 year old in top physical condition (marathoner, triathlete). (Shoot, I don't even know if I'm posting this on the right forum.)

Sounds like a fun trip. Hope your classes go well. You should let the Boat Capt. and the Divemaster on your boat know that you guys are new divers. Let them know how your class went too. Good, Bad, etc. etc.

As far as surfacing fast. You can't do that due to gas expansion and your instructor throughout class will explain all this to you very well.

Have fun and good luck.

> can I just quickly swim to the surface without adverse side >effects?

Not likely - If you want to get ahead of the game read the course book - if you don`thave ot yet - go to the dive shop and pick it up early

As an OW diver you are considered certified to 60 feet. This is generally true for most agencies.

For the kids it depends on age.

My understanding is 10-12 not past 40 feet.

13 - 15 not past 60 feet.

Once they are 16 then its training and comfort level.


Personal opinion - keep it under 60 feet for the first few dives regardless.

Your question is about an Emergency Swimming Ascent. I would not recommend it, but it is to be done when a serious emergency occurs. Your instructor should go in depth about dive injuries such as pneumothorax and the most popular one, "the Bends". While surfacing the gas in your body, (this includes blood, lungs, and everything) expands. When diving we normally tend to talk about depth/time. This is really the only clear way to even give a rough assessment of possible conditions. If I was at 30 ft of saltwater for less than 10 min, I would have no problem going to the surface quickly in case of a dire emergency, I would just make sure that I was breathing out the entire way up and get ready for a ride on the iron pony, (this isn't guaranteed but just for contigency sake you have to assume it could happen). Overall you would live if you had to ESA from a dive where you were no deeper than 30ft, if done properly, just make sure you breath out so you don't pop a lung.

And you will learn this in your class, just because you have a problem at lets say 30' doesn't mean you will have to do an emergency swim ascent. That's what your buddy is there for, to be your backup. You can share air (you should learn in class) and make a safe ascent to the surface.

Have fun!

Oooh. I like this forum. Fast, good responses! I can see that my questions (a) are premature (I need to just relax, read the manuals, and take the certification course) and (b) have answers that are a bit more complex than a simple yes or no.

Thanks for your notes. I'm exciting about learning a new skill.

Scott,

With regards to an emergency ascent from 30feet :- This is about 10Metres in metric, and if you really, really need to, then simply put the answer is yes. You can swim directly to the surface. But in general you should never have the need to do so.

You will be taught how to do a CESA (Controlled Emergency Swimming Acent), and you will practice doing this in the pool and in the open water from about 6Metres.

The reasons you should never need to do this are as follows:

1. You watch your pressure gauge, this details how much air you have available and you can generally see you consumption if you check the pressure gaugue on a regular basis.

2. If for some reason you do deplete your air or run in to a problem the person you are diving with will have a second regulator from which you can also breath in the event of a problem. Failing this (And in some cases people decide against the second regulator (idiotic!!!)) you can always share your buddy's primary regulator.

If you decide to do an emergency ascent, there are a couple of things that could happen.

1. (Serious) When ascending, your air volume doubles every 10Metres, this therefore means that if you have a lung full of air and do not exhale it......Your lung becomes the equivilant of an over expanded balloon! (This is covered in your course!)

2. (Less Serious) You could ascend too quickly from a depth, thus not allowing time for you to disperse the Nitrogen in your blood. This then causes the Bends (Decompression Illness). In general a trip to the nearest Decompression Chamber will resolve this.

I hope my comments help, one thing I would like to say, is that although I have written about some of the negative aspects of diving, if you simply follow the rules for safe diving, then you will not run in to any problems. Diving is meant to be fun, and is remarkably enjoyable. But as with any sport you have to consider the safety requirements.

I hope this helps; Keep us updated on your OW course!

Paul

Never, ever, hold your breath on the way up! and never dive beyond your training.

By all means, thell the boat capt. how deep you feel comfortable going and dont worry about the other divers if they complain. More than likely, the capt will find a happy compromise for everyone on board.

have fun

It's a good question 'cause a natural human response to being under water is to head for the surface. Before you start diving, you wonder how you'll feel, trapped under all that water, and you are just looking for a safe escape route.
Perfectly natural.
But after some time in the pool, you'll feel more at ease breathing underwater, and you'll realize that the best way to solve a problem while scuba diving is to do it UNDERwater. Sounds strange at first, but before long you'll actually gain a feeling of comfort knowing that your skills will keep you down, not send you to the surface.
Here's my suggestion for Mexico: Book more dives!!
Have fun!