To Nitrox or not to Nitrox

[Tunaman68]

Hi all,

Since I've gotten such good and prompt advice here on SB, I thought I'd pose what should be the final question before our Coz departure.

My daughter and I are diving with BA for 6 days. We're planning on boat dives every morning, and then getting as many twilight/night dives in as possible. If we don't go out on the boats for the two dives in the afternoon/eve, we will be doing shore dives instead. We're looking at 4 dives a day plus a day trip to the cenotes.

I have 800+ dives, and my daughter (16) will have around 30 by the time we get to Coz. We're both AOW but not Nitrox certified. We both dive Oceanic nirtox capable computers, but have older reg set ups (US divers conshelf SEA, and Mares) that are not specifically nitrox ready.

I have read a lot on the boards here and elsewhere all about the general Nitrox debate. I am not looking for voodoo gas to add bottom time or not feel tired after a day of diving. However, I do feel the added safety margin during 6 days of repetitive diving might be worthwhile especially in a place like Bonaire or on a live aboard where it's cheap/free.

Is Coz a good place to 1) get certified for Nitrox, and 2) use Nitrox on the shallower profiles that one usually finds? I have seen advice from Don about using it for the third dive of the day etc. but will the cost of the certification and the time for the class work plus the extra charge per tank really enhance our 6 days in Coz?

Looking forward to all your opinions!

 

[AXL72]

4 dives a day in coz may not nescescitate nitrox. Second morning dive will be les sthan 40 ft, usually.

Shore dive will be less than 30 ft in the afternoon.

and the twighlight / night dive will be less than 60 ft.

I would skip the nitrox, but see what others have to say.

Have fun!!!

 

[MMM]

To quote Shakespeare, that is the question.

I generally do all my 2nd dives with nitrox. Just because generally it gives me a bit better bottom time for 2nd dive and I'm getting long in the tooth. I'd classify my computer as moderate (not crazy conservative or crazy liberal). What the heck. It's only another $5 or so. And yeah, Coz is as good a place as any to get nitrox certified. I did.

BTW, your shore dives in front of BA are just a gigantic surface interval. Hard to go more than 20 feet unless you swim 'way out (which I've done but for no good reason ).

 

[ZenDiver.3D]

I just always prefer nitrox. If you take the basic nitrox course, you can't go past 40% ean, anyway, so your regs do not need to be O2 cleaned. I prefer to use nitrox when doing many dives daily. I often do 6 dives a day, during our main dive season here, because I am taking two boats out a day. I really like my nitrox for those.

 

[DandyDon]

I have seen advice from Don about using it for the third dive of the day

This Don? Yeah, I suggest that if doing morning and afternoon boat trips, as the third one is generally deeper than the second one, albeit after a 1.5-2 hour SI.

It's unusual to see a diver with that many logged who is not Nitrox certified, but you are from California. Just not very common there is it? Your regs do not need to be O2 clear for recreational Nitrox.

Now, you and your daughter may be much better on air than I, so if you last longer on a tank - Nitrox become more useful. My bud & I dived 100 cf tanks last trip and even tho we're air hogs, be had to do some lonnng SSs to get our Oceanic computers back into the green on the second dive of a day. Even on 80s, this might be a bigger challenge for you two. DAN does not recommend Nitrox for extra safety, but surfacing with your Pelagic computer in the green is safer, however you do it.

So, you may find Nitrox to be a good tool, depending on how the variables play out - but why wait until you get there to spend vacation time in class? It's just a 3 hour class now usually, often for $100 including card. Do it in Calf. Even tho not commonly used there, some shops surely offer it.

To quote Shakespeare, that is the question.

I generally do all my 2nd dives with nitrox. Just because generally it gives me a bit better bottom time for 2nd dive and I'm getting long in the tooth. I'd classify my computer as moderate (not crazy conservative or crazy liberal). What the heck. It's only another $5 or so. And yeah, Coz is as good a place as any to get nitrox certified. I did.

Where do you get Nitrox for $5? BA charged me $5 for 100 cf upgrades or $10 for Nitrox.

 

[jlyle]

Complete PADI EAN certification on-line, before you go!

We always dive 36% on the second dive of the day in Cozumel. (FWIW, EAN on the first or third dives of the day is more effective.)

If you are going to dive the C-53, dive nitrox.

No special cleaning of regulators is necessary.

If your dive guide is certified for EAN, do him/her a favor and buy an extra tank!

 

[Zman96]

4 dives a day in coz may not nescescitate nitrox. Second morning dive will be les sthan 40 ft, usually.

Shore dive will be less than 30 ft in the afternoon.

and the twighlight / night dive will be less than 60 ft.

I would skip the nitrox, but see what others have to say.

Have fun!!!

Most second dives in the morning are deeper than 40 feet, unless you are just doing Paradise. Also if its a twilight/ night dive double header the twilight dive may be deeper that 60 feet, I have done Santa Rosa on a twilight dive which can get deep.
While nitrox is not necessary in Cozumel, I do think it comes in handy. Do you have time to do the class before you leave so you don't have to do the class work on vacation?

 

[leabre]

For me, I'm conservative by nature. I'll use NITROX where available even tho I use it more for the better margin of safety than for extended bottom times -- tho nothing is ever guaranteed. If I were doing 4 dives a day for a week I wouldn't be doing it on air if NITROX was available.

It's unusual to see a diver with that many logged who is not Nitrox certified, but you are from California. Just not very common there is it? Your regs do not need to be O2 clear for recreational Nitrox.

Where do you get Nitrox for $5? BA charged me $5 for 100 cf upgrades or $10 for Nitrox.

I can't speak for all of California but in Southern California most shops that are local (to me) require a dedicated O2 clean tank and charge between $16-20 per fill and will make you wait over night because they'll bleed the tank empy before mixing. On occasion I've had to wait a week.

That has deterred me for many years (and quite a few I know) until I got a set of doubles dedicated and there's a place you can pay $200 /yr. for unlimited fills, makes it work out.

There are other places (not very local to me) that use banked or membrane systems that only charge like $5 or $10, lucky for those who wouldn't have a 70 minute drive each way to get there.

Generally most people don't care because the majority of dives people do are shallow. There's no perceived need to pay so much for a fill for a 45 minute 40-50 ft. dive.

 

[Diver Kat]

(FWIW, EAN on the first or third dives of the day is more effective.)

I think you're one of the few people I've seen say this. Diving Nitrox on the 1st dive of the day in Coz always made more sense to us and our DO doesn't normally do anything deeper than 80-90 feet, so no worries there.

 

[jbjclj]

sport chalet has a course that is short and reasonably priced, suggest you only buy one DVD and course manual as that saves 50.00 and you just don't need to buy two for you and your daughter. read the manual and answer the questions in both books before you attend class and you might be able to simply complete the required class time and test in one evening (three hours).

Total cost including class material was 250 for my wife and I. We took it because of an up coming live aboard doing several dives daily. We have approx 1000 dives and live in southern Cal too.