Recreational Limits, confusing or is it just me?

[Bob DBF]

Out in the weeds of another thread I found a discussion of the limits of various certifications and thought it would be interesting to start at that point and see where it goes.

It is my understanding that OW certification allows you to dive within recreational limits (130'), however PADI and others recommend your limit to 60', also it sounded like there was a recommended depth limit for training classes as well. In addition, recreational training agencies “recommend diving within your experience and training” which would mean to me that if you are trained in 30’ of water, then that should be your recommended limit rather than 60’.

Some Dive operations will enforce the recommended limits and others will let you plan your own dive within recreational limits under "my boat my rules" policies. So sorting this all out should be interesting.

What are the differences between recreational limits, recommended depth and recommended depth for training of OW, AOW, and Deep? Toss in a why if you like.

Wouldn't it be quite easy to stamp the depth limit on the card to stop any confusion?




Bob
--------------------------------------
“I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught.”
― Winston Churchill

Trained when J-valves solved the OOA problem.

 

[redacted]

I suspect that most limits are recommendations and should be responsibly handled as such. (An exception being NDLs.) My "recreational" dive computer will assist me through 160 ft. dives.

 

[Basking Ridge Diver]

Honestly - it only matters on the boat you are diving... Years ago I went to 110 feet on a warm island dive before PDCs - we had depth gauges, watches, single tanks, no redundancy, and YMCA OW certification... Now you can hardly get on a boat in NJ more than 80 feet without AOW and lots of equipment. My boat my rules - commercial boat captain's rules... The captain of the boat always wins... So you either acquiesce or get get your own boat...

Does it make me a safer diver on either boat? Not sure but I am a lot more relaxed on my boat/shore diving with my rules...

 

[TSandM]

There are no scuba police. Most of the enforcement of limits that I have seen over the last nine years, where there has been ANY, has been from dive operators who will limit the dives you are allowed to do, based on what training you can prove you have had. In Indonesia, we were limited to 80 foot dives because I hadn't brought my Deep specialty card. It didn't matter; there was nothing in the next 20 feet that was really different from where we already were!

Recommendations are just that. We tell our students they are certified to dive in conditions similar to, or better than the ones in which they got certified. That means they shouldn't take off for the depths, or jump into a high current drift dive, the day after they finish with us. But six months later, things may be quite different; a diver who has been diving actively here can easily log 50 or more dives in that time, and would you still think it reasonable to try to limit that diver to the 45 feet he managed in OW class?

 

[t4e]

Wouldn't it be quite easy to stamp the depth limit on the card to stop any confusion?

not really, because they are just suggestions, in the case of PADI

as for ACUC, which we certified with, it has different rules, you don't really have to take the AOW

The ACUC Open Water Diver course isthe first mandatory diver level within the ACUC training ladder. The main characteristics of this course is that the students that successfully complete the course, will be properly trained and able to dive, without supervision, accompanied by divers of any level, to the maximum allowable depth for Scuba Diving,which is 40 meters (130 feet). Nevertheless, students are not to exceed the depth of 25 meters (80 feet) until they have gained experience (logged at least 20 dives - 10 hours bottom time - or taken the ACUC Deep Diving Specialty).

 

[KeithG]

it is confusing since the official rules are vague: "within training and experience". what kind of training? how much experience?

but this doesn't matter since it really boils down to the dive op rules.

 

[t4e]

it is confusing since the official rules are vague: "within training and experience". what kind of training? how much experience?

but this doesn't matter since it really boils down to the dive op rules.

dive op should follow the guidelines of the agency that certified each diver

 

[drrich2]

People vary in how intimidated they are by depth, how prone to narcosis, how comfortable they are in the water and how quickly they develop proficiency.

None of that's easy for a dive op., insurance company, judge or jury to measure. Certifications are. Thus the imperfect system we have now.

I've got one more cert. & probably a good 50 dives more than my main dive buddy, yet he's better in the water than I am.

Richard.

 

[chrisch]

There are no scuba police. ...

Yup. That's the key point. Also there are no "qualifications" only certification that you took a course. In countries where there are legal restrictions on recreational scuba divers then there are depth limits and the level of certification required is defined (usually by a CMAS equivalent).

I would imagine that having a depth on a certification card would increase the liability of the issuer of the card as some people could interpret it as "I am safe to that depth". The US training agencies like PADI are pretty keen not to go down that route.

 

[Peter_C]

My highest training level says 100ft on nitrox. Any deeper and the diver should be on trimix with the proper certification. So far I have been content at staying above 100ft. Most of my dive buddies are content doing the same, and typically our dive plan calls for a max depth of 90ft. My boat, my rules