Why so Deep?

[SolarStorm]

In reading it seems that a lot of people are into "Deep" diving. My question is: "Whats down there?".

I have very limited experience, and I admit to being fascinated with the pretty fishes around a reef. Some of my best experiences, like the time the dolphins came to check me out, were done snorkeling in 20' - 30' of water. My deepest dive so far is only 86' and to be honest, the more interesting stuff was around 60'.

If there was a wreck or cave that was deep, I could definately go for that, but if I am on holidays, most of the more interesting stuff has been in the 80' and up stuff. And just to qualify, most of my diving has been in the coz, playa area of mexico, so I really dont have a frame of reference.

This summer the plan is to head to Vancouver Island, but again, the stuff I have been reading about isnt that "deep". What am I missing?

 

[ScubaSteve]

My question is: "Whats down there?".

For ALL, down there you will find the ability to go through more air and shorten your dive as well as less light and (in many but not all places) colder water. For some, they believe going deeper makes them look cool (I have seen these people and cannot stand them). And other times there actually is some really neat stuff that makes the shorter dive worthhwhile.

I personally would rather spend 1.5 hours at 30' rather than 40 minutes for a dive to 110' (I just picked numbers here for example so no need to dispute the numbers). That is of course there is something to see. I love diving for diving so it does not always take much to keep my intererst underwater.

 

[Rhone Man]

Lots of different possible answers, but for me it is normally the wrecks. Deeper wrecks tend to survive longer and last longer (in salt water especially) than shallower wrecks. Wreck of Rhone went down nearly 150 years ago, but it is still structurally sound in the deeper parts (well, I hope so anyhow).

Plus the narcosis is a really good buzz.... (troll comment - do not take seriously).

 

[Mike Boswell]

That thing I am holding up on the end of my speargun (1982).

 

[mikemill]

Being buzzed by a bird swimming at 30' is cool. Being buzzed by that same bird at 90' makes you go WTF!

What makes me go deep: Life. There is a ton of life down there.

I actually like the less light. Perhaps I'm just used to it. I know when I do warm water diving and have a ton of light it almost seems too much.

 

[Queen]

I enjoyed deep diving when I was younger, it felt kinda daring and penetrating wrecks was just cool! Now I'm happier at 30', watching the fishies and enjoying the colors.

 

[battles2a5]

Like Rhoneman I go for the wrecks. I also go for the caves. When I first started technical diving, I would rack up bottom time of go deep whenever I could for the sake of doing deco and getting experience. But once you realize how boring and tedious it becomes, you get over the "cool" factor really quickly. My dives now are all about the objective. Depth and deco are secondary.

 

[Web Monkey]

In reading it seems that a lot of people are into "Deep" diving. My question is: "Whats down there?".

Sometimes the only interesting stuff in the area is deep (wrecks, for example), and sometimes the geography just happens to be that deep (caves), however a lot of the time, it's just testosterone and thrill seeking.

In any case, what you'll always get on deep dives is less time, more risk, and almost always more narcosis. I did a very deep wreck once. It's supposed to be very cool. But I don't remember much of it. About all I remember is that no matter how many times I looked at my computer, I couldn't remember what it said.

While I've done a number of interesting wrecks that were in the 100'-130' range, my personal favorite dives have been hovering in one spot in less than 40' of water watching the fish. Air and no-deco time lasts almost forever and there's pretty much zero stress.

The more I dive, the less interesting deep dives seem to be.

Terry

 

[Teamcasa]

It's an ego thing for many newer divers. A requirement for others in that they dive commercially, deep wrecks, caves or they are looking for a specific thing that thrives at depth.

Speaking recreationally, it just seems to be something so many newer divers feel the need to do. The only real benefit is that most figure out that their gas goes fast, there is not that much to see, their pictures come out too dark and they did not bring enough light. They also decide that all the good stuff is in 80' or less.

 

[FireInMyBones]

There is a sunken forest in our local lake. We are building an underwater tree-house (no kidding). The forest starts at 110'.

I too enjoy a good wreck.