100' vs 130'??

[rick00001967]

dive operators can make rules governing the dives they will allow you to do with them. Many of them will not allow you to do deeper dives without the equivalent of an AOW certification from some agency.

i agree this could be true with some dive ops. i personally have never seen this at any shop i have ever been diving with. i typically see the shop being more concerned about what the skill level of the diver is, rather than what their c-card says.

that said i have def seen shops that insist you do at least one dive with them so they can see for themselves what your skills are before they allow you on a deeper, or more challenging dive.

 

[rick00001967]

I've been on 2 liveaboards in Thailand where OW divers were limited to 18m (60'). To go deeper you all you needed was AOW.

and that is their right to do so. pretty silly though. many very experienced divers have no formal training beyond the ow level.

i would repeat my comment to john above....imho they should have simply assessed the skill level first, and then make the decision on whether to limit their depths or not. but perhaps it is some type of insurance requirment ?

 

[lowwall]

and that is their right to do so. pretty silly though. many very experienced divers have no formal training beyond the ow level.

i would repeat my comment to john above....imho they should have simply assessed the skill level first, and then make the decision on whether to limit their depths or not. but perhaps it is some type of insurance requirment ?

It just appears to be the way training has evolved in that part of the world to cater to the PRC diver which is the largest customer base. Most of these folks just want the cert and a few underwater selfies as a bucket list item, so training is all about getting marginal swimmers to barely meet the minimum requirements with the expectation that the dive ops (who often also double as the training centers) will keep them alive by restricting them to easy guided, shallow dives. In other words, they've reduced OW to PADI Scuba Diver except for allowing them to go to 60' instead of 40'. Those who are actually interested in diving for its own sake go on, often immediately, to take AOW. With the drastic reduction in classroom time due to e-learning, the OW/AOW combo takes about as long as just OW used to.

It has sort of worked out. The so-called OW divers are kept safely confined to dives that suit a low skill level and, not incidentally, kept physically away from more capable divers on the same trip.

To directly your question, I doubt it's an insurance requirement. These were not luxury trips and I think the operators were trying to keep things simple for themselves by avoiding individual assessments and the inevitable ensuing arguments with OW divers who feel entitled to go deeper. Perhaps the high end boats do check out dives. I do know the large day trip boats out of Chalong usually had the same restriction if you use the boat DM (if there is one). But if you bring your own guide, they would defer to the guide's assessment.

 

[boulderjohn]

i agree this could be true with some dive ops. i personally have never seen this at any shop i have ever been diving with. i typically see the shop being more concerned about what the skill level of the diver is, rather than what their c-card says.

 

[Marie13]

Were you planning on going that deep on a twin set with deco? 130 in cold dark water on a single Al80 NDL is a very short dive without a lot of room for complications.

If that’s the wreck I’m thinking of, it’s the Milwaukee Carferry. 300-something foot long railroad car ferry that sank off Milwaukee in 1929. It’s massive. I also got dark narked bad on that wreck. I did it on a HP80 slinging an AL30 with a buddy who wandered a bit. I got down to 117ft when we dropped off the stern to see the huge twin props. It was dark and bad viz.

 

[Wibble]

If that’s the wreck I’m thinking of, it’s the Milwaukee Carferry. 300-something foot long railroad car ferry that sank off Milwaukee in 1929. It’s massive. I also got dark narked bad on that wreck. I did it on a HP80 slinging an AL30 with a buddy who wandered a bit. I got down to 117ft when we dropped off the stern to see the huge twin props. It was dark and bad viz.

Sounds like a great dive.

 

[Blackcrusader]

I've been on 2 liveaboards in Thailand where OW divers were limited to 18m (60'). To go deeper you all you needed was AOW.

Mainly they do that to sell AOW courses. There is no legal requirement. IT's a good idea though to progress to AOW.

 

[El Diablo]

Ok, probably a newbie question. I've got my open water certification and plan on getting my advanced open water this coming February. Looking at AOW training, the certification gets you access to 100' depths vs my current 60' OW limitation. Yet, most sources say that recreational divers are limited to 130'. So, why would AOW not certify me for 130' instead of 100'? Is this just to maintain a safety buffer or is there some other knowledge to be had diving between 100' and 130' or is this just another way for the agencies to sell another specialty course?

Just curious

SSI & PADI are limited to 30m, CMAS & I believe NAUI (not sure about the last) 40m.

Unless there's something really interesting to see, stay around those 30m max depth. The main reason some agencies are more conservative is Nitrogen Narcosis seems to 'kick-in' around that depth (for the average diver). Anything below that and you put yourself under unnecessary risk.

If I can give you a little word of advise: make sure to create and follow a little UW protocol with your dive buddy if you go below 30m. What I do is I throw a random number with my fingers (one hand) and my buddy needs to calculate double that number and reply back (he / she can also initiate the exercise at any time). IF he / she takes more than a second or two that might mean early narcosis symptoms and automatically we ascend a few meters

 

[Blackcrusader]

If I can give you a little word of advise: make sure to create and follow a little UW protocol with your dive buddy if you go below 30m. What I do is I throw a random number with my fingers (one hand) and my buddy needs to calculate double that number and reply back (he / she can also initiate the exercise at any time). IF he / she takes more than a second or two that might mean early narcosis symptoms and automatically we ascend a few meters

Another thing is that most people diving deeper than 30m are on air not always on Nitrox with max 34m depth.

Do watch your NDL at depth.... I went to 38m on air to get video of these red toothed trigger fish. The dive outfit I was with prefer divers to have 4 or 5 minutes NDL so they do not accidently go past that into deco. You can see in my video I pay attention to my NDL.

 

[Centrals]

My personal experience only.
1. AOW was to 40m when I did my PADI course in 96.
2. Dive operator has every right to set depth limit for OW/AOW. It has nothing to do about selling course.
3. In Maldives the depth limit is still 30m.
4. I was limited to 18m even with AOW in LoB(GBR) because I did not have a computer. I managed to get round it because I knew how to use The Wheel to plan the dive.
5. Narcosis is the main thing you have to pay attention if go deeper than 30m. Not everyone suffer though. Gas burn quicker in depth.