Worlds Deepest Pool

[Zef]

...these pools are really just novelty dives..

It is important for folks to realize that there is nothing different about diving in a pool like this from a physiology standpoint. The affects of nitrogen narcosis, absorption of nitrogen in the tissues, bubble formation, etc, ect, etc are not diminished because one is in an indoors environment. While one does not have to worry about things like fishing line entanglement or marine predators, a dive to the bottom of Nemo33 or Y40 should be thought through and planned. Yes there is novelty in the sense one is in a very warm, crystal clear, man-made environment, but it would be a mistake to treat a dive to the bottom of these pools with any less thought than a dive to a similar depth in open water. The saving grace is that there is someone on the surface at all times ready to call an ambulance should one's lack of judgement lead them to injury.

-Z

 

[AfterDark]

I live in Belgium and Nemo 33 is about 30-40 minutes from my house. The water is warm and crystal clear but there is nothing spectacular about diving there...its a nice distraction for a certified diver on miserable winter day, but it is expensive to do quite often. I have heard similar sentiments from folks that I know who have ventured to the similar pool in Italy which is slightly deeper.

The fact is that there is not much to do at the bottom of a 30m, 40m, or 45m pool except watch your no-deco time tick down rapidly on your dive computer. The fact that you are in an indoor pool does not change physics and magically give you extended bottom/no-deco time. Plus, one is usually limited to the timeframe of a scheduled session so the chance of extending one's bottom time with multiple tanks and mixed gas and conducting decompression stops outside of a normal course is fairly out of the question. At Nemo33, when at the bottom of the deepest area, one typically has 8 minutes of no-deco time, cut that by a few minutes in the pool in Poland.

Bottom line is that these place are great to say that you have been there and done that, but the reality is that there is nothing particularly interesting about diving in these pools aside from the initial novelty of being in a really deep indoor pool.

-Z

My impression was it is for training. Why would anyone want to dive in a pool unless it was for training? I quite agree, boring.

 

[Zef]

My impression was it is for training. Why would anyone want to dive in a pool unless it was for training? I quite agree, boring.

Every dive, regardless of where it is conducted, in a pool, deep inside a cave, along a wall, a top a reef, etc, is a training dive.

Nemo33 is too expensive to "train" there with any frequency. The 40-45 minute session often feels a bit rushed, and any discussion at the surface chews into time underwater. It is not the best place to go specifically to conduct "training". It is a good place to go and dive with a more experienced diver and have them observe you and give feedback on what you can work on elsewhere, but a more experienced diver can do that in open water environment as well.

Nemo33 restrict what gear you can bring...basically you can bring a bathing suit, mask, and dive computer. The water is so warm that even a microfiber shirt will feel like too much at the beginning of the dive...not only is it unnecessary to wear exposure protecting it is forbiden unless you purchase a wetsuit new from their shop on that day and you want to "test it out". Nemo33 provides the tanks, BCD, full foot fins, and regulators. They offer stubby 12L steel tanks that are fairly negative pre and post dive, this is good because they do not allow weiight pockets or weight belts....not are they needed since one is only in a bathing suit and BCD.

Diving in their gear configuration may not allow one with marginal or moderate skills to perform well and it may not translate well when one is back in their own kit in other confined or open water environments.

While their rules are that one must be AOW qualified to dive down to the bottom of the deepest section, this is not enforced as there is no staff in the water to police this and the pool staff have no idea what the cert levels of the mass of people who arrive on the pool deck for a session.

You don't simply show up and dive at Nemo33...they have a published schedule of sessions and limit the number of people who can be in the pool at any given time. A group of divers, whether they arrive as a club or individuals, begin a session at the same time....most end at the same time but obviously if you run low on air or just want to get out of the water to change and leave you are free to do so.

Like I mentioned in my first post, diving in these types of pools is typically a distraction that one does on a cold miserable day or when one has not dived in awhile and wants to scratch the itch, or to have bragging rights to say you " have been there, done that" . At 25 euros a session (they do not have a frequent diver punch card) the cost is the biggest inconvenience to diving there with any frequency for any purpose, fun, training, or otherwise.

-Z

 

[Sbiriguda]

I quite agree, boring.

When you will see plenty of beatiful girls practicing mermaid freediving in this kind of pools you will change idea

 

[xmass-Eve]

It's nice for once... But even after half an hour you get so bored. Especially, like in Nemo33, where everyone wants to go into the deep part. There is no place and tons of bubbles...

 

[Sbiriguda]

It seems the other pools are just pools but the Y-40 is in a place of hot springs of thermal water, that would be the main attraction of the area, there are sauna, wellness, spa etc. Anyway for divers that place is not really like the Maldives, that’s for sure

 

[CT-Rich]

Sounds fun as a one-off. Like diving a missile silo or a mine dive. Check it off the not really on my bucket list list.

Do they have someone do sweep for dead divers before opening in the morning? When I worked at an aquarium, we would do a sweep to make sure the there were any dead fish trapped where the guest might notice them after openning...

 

[Zef]

Sounds fun as a one-off. Like diving a missile silo or a mine dive. Check it off the not really on my bucket list list.

Do they have someone do sweep for dead divers before opening in the morning? When I worked at an aquarium, we would do a sweep to make sure the there were any dead fish trapped where the guest might notice them after openning...

I have never dived in a missile silo but I imagine a dive at Nemo33 to be similar except the environment is warmer and more sterile with perfect visibility and good lighting. The pool at the surface is about 15 meters long +/-, from my estimate, with two squared areas that drop to 10 meters deep. The two square areas are connected by a tunnel/alcove that one can swim through. At the bottom of one of the 10 meter areas the pool changes shape from a wide square to a narrower circular area that drops down to 33 meters....this is the area that I imagine would be like a missile silo.

At Nemo, since there is not a constant flux of people entering/exiting the water throughout the day, but instead they have fixed sessions that begin and end at specific times, they know how many people are in the water at any given time as they log your name and cert level (from your certification card) at the counter where you pay in the lobby. I believe they also have cameras to monitor, there are also windows in the lobby/restaurant/bar area that one can peer into the pool. It would be very difficult for someone to die at Nemo and their body go unnoticed especially since the pool should be empty of people between sessions.

-Z

 

[JBFG]

When I dove at NEMO33 I gave the guy at reception my OW and Tec card. He then asked me which one was the highest certification level.
It was a cute dive that I wanted to do just to say that I did it but I certainly would not return there. It’s too crowded at the bottom.

 

[Neilwood]

I am in Brussels in July so I am going to dive Nemo just for the sake of it. Not expecting it to be anything other than a simple pool training dive except to a greater depth.